Guest Post: The Uncommon Portrait – Male Subjects by Trudy Hamilton

In the last year, if social media hasn’t become an even bigger part of your life, then there’s something wrong.  It’s no longer about just having great marketing skills or a good website, it’s about your network and the people who come in and out of your life every day, people who share the passion.

For me, one of the most exciting things about Facebook and Twitter, is my ability to meet more photographers.  It’s about seeing exciting concepts and techniques being done in other areas of the country and for that matter, the world. Well, meet Trudy Hamilton from Washington.  After she made a comment about one of my Tweets I went and took a fast look at her work. 

What struck me immediately was the power in her images of men.   Virtually every beautiful image we see is always of a woman, yet at every wedding, for example, the groom and his family represent half the target audience.  I first heard David Ziser talk about bridals vs. “groomals”.  The groom’s family want images too!

The fun of Twitter is the doors it opens and the way it starts new friendships.  A phone call to Trudy and a request for a guest post started it all.   She may not have been a professional photographer for very long, but with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in the behavorial sciences, together with a passion for the arts that started as a child, she certainly has demonstrated her ability to capture the personality of her clients. 

I can’t think of a better way to start the new year than with a guest post and some terrific images from a new friend!

When I create portraits, I tell the person’s story through their personal style, interests, body language and at times with their face and eyes alone. Often, I combine the external environment with their personal internal environment, or their personality to create images. My portfolio incorporates a variety of cultures, both genders and an array of personal style. 

One of my favorite sections of my work is my men’s portfolio. I enjoy photographing men. It is about  revealing who they really are as opposed to who they and the world thinks they are supposed to be.  They are…softer, sometimes more intense and always very real.  It’s endearing actually.  

Within the industry, most solo portraits of men often fall under the career-oriented categories (i.e. high fashion modeling, corporate executive headshots) or bridegroom portraits. However, I often create portraits of men outside of these genres. Though in the industry most expressive and non-traditional portraits are of women, I think that men have stories to tell as well and definitely can have a style. Style is more than fashion or attractiveness; style is apart of the outward extension and expression of the personality. 

I like it when my photographs of men convey both their beauty and strength, as their personalities often contain both softness and intensity.   I like to play with light, shadows, and the angles of their faces and sometimes I will obscure parts of their face with objects, lighting or other parts of their bodies. To me, many of my images are juxtapositions between a revealed self and a hidden self; both are relevant, both are true. 

 I do use many of the same techniques and compositions when creating portraits of women. However, men are often confined by expectations of when and how (i.e. corporate career, wedding) they should be photographed and I like to think that by photographing them this way, I assist in breaking that confinement.

The four photographs of the three subjects are of an actor, a creative director and a CPA.