An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used as a genre of photography.

It is a shot that captures a subject at work, at home, or in another important location. Good environmental portraits will tell strong stories of their subjects. Their immediate surroundings will give the viewer insight into where these people are, what they do, and who they are.

These are some examples of environmental portraits:

As with all photographs, the main photographic components of a portrait are light, composition, and moment. This creates a good environmental portrait.

Portraits tell us about an artists intentions and what they are trying to say about the model, e.g. thoughts, feelings, or what they are known for. They tell a story, but also hide secrets.

Environmental portraits can create a short biography by incorporating a constructed or real background of the subject’s life seamlessly into the photograph as there is no significant separation between person and place. The subject and environment depend on each other for meaning.

This is a mind map I have created for ideas on what makes a good environmental portrait. Adjust your camera settings, use ambient light, use a wide-angle lens, communicate with your subject, use props naturally, and focus on the essential details.

Here is a mood board of environmental portraits.

August Sander (1876 – 1964)

August Sander, born in Germany- died April 20, 1964, A German photographer who attempted to produce a comprehensive photographic document of the German people. His portraits were usually stark, photographed straight on in natural light, with facts of the sitters’ class and profession allude to through clothing, gesture, and backdrop.

The environmental factor of Sander’s portrait meant that the subjects in his photos would always be surrounded by the environmental they work in, in the background of the full-body shot, so their occupation was clear to the viewers. Here are some of them.

He used Zeiss lenses, an orthochromatic plate with corresponding light filter and clear fine grained glossy paper. He made his photos on 13 x 18 cm plates, enlarging them to 18 x 24 cm.” Which is about like a 5×7 large format camera.

The son of a mining carpenter, Sander apprenticed as a miner in 1889. Acquiring his first camera in 1892, he took up photography as a hobby and, after military service, pursued it professionally, working in a series of photographic firms and studios in Germany.

One of the first photographic typological studies was by the German photographer August Sandler.

Sanders approach to photographing the world has had an enormous influence on later photographers, such as Bernd and Hila Becher. 

Sander sought to create a record of social types, classes and the relationships between them, and recognised that the display of his portraits as a collection revealed so much more than the individual images would alone by themselves and he showed so much within his work . it was so powerful that it was a record.

The term ‘Typology’ was first used to describe a style of photography when Berend and Hila Becher began documenting dilapidated German industrial architecture in 1959. The couple described their subjects as ‘buildings where anonymity is accepted to be the style’. Each photograph was taken from the same angle, at approximately the same distance from the buildings. Their aim was to capture a record of a landscape they saw changing and disappearing before their eyes so once again, Typologies not only recorded a moment in time, they prompted the viewer to consider the subject’s place in the world.

A photographic typology is a single photograph or more commonly a body of photographic work, that shares a high level of consistency. This consistency is usually found within the subjects, environment, photographic process, and presentation or direction of the subject.

Here are some useful links related to this piece of work.

 Dusseldorf School of Photography

 August Sander’s 

 Bernd and Hilla Becher

He used movement that sought to depart from abstraction and artifice and return to realism, Sander wanted his photographs to expose truths. “Pure photography allows us to create portraits which render their subjects with absolute truth,” he said.

Another fascinating artist who took these style of photographs’ and structured them this way is..

Arnold Newman.

Arnold Abner Newman was an American photographer, noted for his “environmental portraits” of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images.

Born in Manhattan to a Jewish family, Newman grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey and later moved to Miami Beach, Florida. In 1936, he studied painting and drawing at the University of Miami. Unable to afford to continue after two years, he moved to Philadelphia to work for a studio, making 49-cent portraits in 1938.

Arnold Newman used many different techniques

and also favoured prime lenses, and clarity in his images. Newman was also known to use a range of lighting techniques to create the desired mood and atmosphere in his portraits. His skilful use of natural light, as well as studio lighting setups, helped him achieve a balance between the subject and their environment.

He frequently used medium format cameras, such as the Rolle flex and the Hasselblad, which allowed for greater detail and higher image quality. He also favoured prime lenses, and clarity in his images. Newman was also known to use a range of lighting techniques to create the desired mood and atmosphere in his portraits.

Here is some of his work.

Arnold Abner Newman was an American photographer, noted for his “environmental portraits” of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images.

To conclude
I think that this is very interesting and useful for peoples live, to show what they love to do and shows them happy doing what their doing which is nice to see, Portrait photography, also referred to as portraiture, is a type of photography in which the subject is one or more people and the aim is to convey something about the subject’s identity, personality, or story.

An environmental portrait is a photographed portrait that captures subjects in their natural surroundings instead of in a studio or other artificial setup.

Good environmental portraits will tell strong stories of their subjects. Their immediate surroundings will give the viewer insight into where these people are, what they do, and who they are. Locations that help to tell a person’s story could be places where they relax, and or work.

There are many different types of portrait styles you could take, and it gives you an insight on their life , especially if they have lived a long life, such as this mood board.

This.

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.

It can show many things such as backgrounds, ethnicity, culture, religion, past and future, work, job, family and friends.

Environmental art is art that addresses social and political issues relating to the natural and urban environment.

The main aims of environmental art are to: Raise awareness of the dangers facing the planet and promote its conservation. Encourage communication and citizen participation to protect nature. Incentivise political commitment to fight global warming and its impact so that we can help each other and not single each other out.

Here’s an old image of this selective type of photo vs a today photo…

These types of photos are good for showing ethnic background’s and how people live the way they do and their lives revolving around jut one image. One photograph can show so much about someone and their life, past, future and present. It tells a story.

Environmental photography is a powerful conservation tool. There are many ways you can raise awareness about the importance of protecting our environment, but the most popular strategy is often through showcasing natural beauty, as in the case of Ansel Adams. Another tactic: demonstrating a visible problem.

A good photographer for this style of photos is..

Here’s a mind map of the main elements’ of environmental photography.

Why should you shoot environmental portraits?

When going for a more “real” depiction of a person in their workplace, an environmental portrait will deliver a better result. This is a way to describe the subject’s life in their everyday job from an authentic and spontaneous perspective.

Nature photography can also play a direct role in environmental work. Photography can be used to document and record the state of the landscape and how it has been shaped by human activities.

To conclude

I think that I am going to well on this project and am going to take loads of photos with different people and backgrounds, hopefully distributing a hidden and deeper meaning within the photos.