Portrait+Assignment



Gregory Heisler is an American portrait photographer for TIME Magazine, particularly known for his many shots of the “Person of the Year”. He has produced over 70 covers for TIME Magazine, and has also worked on campaigns for Nike, Merill Lynch, and American Express.



His pictures often use dramatic shadows and artificial light, especially his shots of prominent leaders. His shot of George HW Bush, a double exposure, showed the two sides of the man. The President with his head held high represented his strong foreign policy skills, while his more brooding side represented his lackluster performance on domestic policy. The shadows and the rim lights had to be repositioned exactly so the two portraits would be cohesive as two halves of the same picture. Doing this on film could not have been easy.

His shot of Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the September 11, 2001 attacks for the cover of TIME for the Person of the Year also involved many large strobes. He colored the lights green to match the sodium-vapor lights of the skyline, and lit him completely from below while on the outside of 30 Rockefeller Center. The view camera he used also allowed him to introduce some extremely subtle tilt-shift effects on the right side of the portrait, when you compare the amount of blur between the left and right halves.

Diane Arbus, the daughter of two wealthy Jewish store owners, was known for her portraits of people on the fringes of society. Her stark and often unflattering portraits of people still provoke a myriad of reactions from those who see them.



Her pictures are black and white, usually square, and often spontaneous. One of her most famous photos, Boy With A Toy Hand Grenade, was shot in Central Park. The extremely skinny boy was exasperated with the amount of time Diane was taking in shooting the portrait, so finally lost his temper and asked her to “take the picture already”. His awkward posture, the misplaced shoulder strap on his overalls, and his clenched fist all add to the tension in the photo.

Her photo of twins are also awkward and unflattering. The father of the twins suggested it was the worst likeness of his daughters ever created. Their similarities in dress, haircut, and pose lead to an eerie sort of atmosphere. They were spotted at a Christmas party for twins and triplets by Arbus, another example of the photographer searching for the unusual.