ABSTRACT
In 1947, two years before I was born, The Camera Inc. of Baltimore, USA, published a very up-to-date handbook on Portraiture in their Camarette Photo Library series. The anonymous editors explained in their Foreword that: ‘Amongst all the branches of photography, perhaps portraiture is the most fascinating, for it is the story of people and the interpretation of personality.’4 This admirable and most illuminating text has much to say on such topics as Portraiture at Home (including sections on ‘photographing thin subjects, photographing heavy subjects, groups of two, subjects with glasses’, etc.); Glamour Portraiture (‘star photographs, corrective make-up …glamour photographs for society and royalty’, etc.); Hair-Dos in Portraiture; Principles of Portrait Lighting; Draping the Model; Child Portraiture (including ‘timeless qualities in pictures, holding the child’s attention’, etc.); Portraits for the Home Record; and Portraiture of Men (including ‘use of lighting to bring out features and hair, getting sitter at ease’, etc.).
