The hardest part of my job is fighting uphill against the history of portraiture.
Because let’s be honest – it’s got a bad rap.
We hear “portrait painting” and we think “vanity”. Fame. Notoriety.
We think it’s not for us – either because we don’t want to be seen as vain, or because we feel like we aren’t young enough or pretty enough or whatever metric you might feel like you’ve fallen short of.
We think portrait painting only has to do with the external, the outside. That like a snapshot taken with your phone, it’s just here to document how your hair looked that day.
Portrait painting is so much more.
It has the power to tell your story in a way that is rich and nuanced. It can capture the depth and complexity of your character in a way that few other mediums can. It is both literally and metaphorically layered.
It can convey not just the outer achievements – which are great, don’t get me wrong – but also the quieter pride we feel at knowing the obstacles we had to overcome to get there.
Portraits tell the story of the inside, not merely the outside.
We know the ways we had to grow and change to achieve our dreams. We know how hard that was. No one will ever give us an award or acknowledgement for the ways we transformed ourselves to go after our dreams. The things we sacrificed, the tough decisions we had to make.
Portraits are the way we can mark that for ourselves. Not out of vanity, not to be ostentatious. Not to prove you’re the prettiest or the youngest or have the thickest head of hair.
But as a reminder of your grit, your resilience, your tenacity.
Portraits are a way to celebrate the things that you’ve achieved, the obstacles you’ve overcome. They’re something that lives with you every day, creating an emotional anchor in your everyday environment.
Portraits are a living mirror.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a portrait is worth a lifetime of them.