What is An Environmental Portrait - Tips & Examples

An Environment is something that is totally integrated with the physical and biological factors along with their own chemical interactions which further forms to serve any form of living. So what does it have to do with the word Environmental Portrait – in simpler terms any portrait which gets us to know about the life terms, their physical and biological interactions with the local ecology, showing their nativity can be called an Environmental Portrait.

To further study this interesting aspect let us divide it into 4 classes.

Photos by Akilan Thyagarajan

#1 The Character

The Character of the Portrait. The Importance of every aspect of it, their presence, their forms, and its significance. What makes them special there, the locality their adaptation to that environment, and what changes have this brought into their Physique or Mental ability. To capture these elements makes it very interesting and then it happens to be an Environmental Portrait.

#2 Location And Its Relation

The Place they stay, it can be of wide range anything from a tribal village, duplex apartment, or a typical slum. But one needs to understand to what extent this locality has influenced their attributes. How do they carry them-self when inside their home ground their physical language, since their behavior tends to change when outside their zone. All put together, capturing the essence of any portrait inside their comfort zone with more environmental values constitutes an Environmental Portrait.

#3 The Wider Frame

By the term “Wider Frame” we mean you the photographer to show a lot of it. The details covered are not to be on the face, this story is more about where they belong, how well they have adapted to stay here. And for clearer interactions, it becomes necessary for you to show where they belong. A Small trick is to show it large and wide to get a lot closer to what we call an Environmental Portrait.

#4 What Does It Convey?

What are you trying to convey with this Environmental Portrait? Simple – This is a person who lives, in this locality which is visible itself in the Photograph. He/She belongs there, that is how they dress up, carry themself their food, their family, the weather they live on, the problems they face, their mood, their character it’s all visible in this one single photograph – the Environmental Portrait.