Portraits through history
People have been creating portraits of themselves since we first began making marks. Even pre-historic cave dwellers would attempt to leave a part of themselves with their art by leaving handprints on the walls of the caves.
Through time, we've found more intricate and accurate ways of displaying who we are to others. We have also found other uses for creating portraits. The rich and powerful noble class found that they could use portraiture to display their wealth and power and retain their status. They could also manipulate portraiture to give off a perspective of themselves that showed off specific qualities and forced others to see them in a specific way.
The portrait above is of King Louis XIV of France. He lived at Versailles in a world surrounded by materialism. Life was run by etiquette rules and repetitive schedules and enormous wealth. All these things in place in order to keep nobles dependent to the king. He used all facets of life there to control the nobles, including the art on the walls. This portrait shows the king as a figure of authority, surrounded by wealth and luxury. It is designed to be intimidating to the viewer. Everything in the painting is specifically designed to show the king in a certain light.
There are currently many contemporary artists that create self-portraits to show we we can share our identity with other and manipulate it in different ways. Through the use of formal elements and conceptual ideas, they create portraits that allow us to question their honesty and also reflect on why they would portray themselves in that specific way.
There are currently many contemporary artists that create self-portraits to show we we can share our identity with other and manipulate it in different ways. Through the use of formal elements and conceptual ideas, they create portraits that allow us to question their honesty and also reflect on why they would portray themselves in that specific way.
Presently, the most popular form of portraiture is selfies. Taking quick self-portraits and uploading them to the internet to share with everyone within minutes. This images are also easily manipulated to show a certain perspective of the subject. Through things like composition, lighting, what you wear, what you are surrounded by can all affect the way others will view you in the image.