Project 26 | Post 2 | Theme: Faceless Portrait

Two weeks later and it is time for post 2 of my Project 26.  The theme for this post was Faceless Portrait.  Each of the 13 photographers in the group was responsible for a theme idea and this one was Celeste Jones'.  Might as well start it off with a bang, right?  Whew.  This intimidated me.   While I take shots all the time that don't include a face, I was stumped at what makes an image a portrait and what just makes it just an image.  Portrait has this stuffy, posed, stoic, traditional connotation in my mind that I can't seem to shake.   I asked my fellow projecteers for help in interpreting, and Celeste answered.  "A portrait is a reflection of that person's character, in a sense. "

That helped tremendously.  I'm trying to capture my subject's essence.  Communicate through the image who the person is.

About two days later, what I needed to shoot hit me like a ton of bricks.  The Little Lady's curls (which I may or may not have an obsession with.....).

Curly hair.  It's unpredictable.  Unbending.  Goes its own way.  Follows its own path.  It isn't influenced - it is what it is.  Springs right back into shape.

This is my Lady.  Her curls are her.  She has been blessed with the most wonderful curly hair upon which she refuses all adornment, always.  No bows, no clips, no hairbands, no ribbons, no nothing!  "Just down.  Curly."

She is fiery.  Feisty.  Spirited.  Independent.  Unruly.  Unpredictable.  Adamant.  Perseverant. Quirky.  Beautiful.  Yet Tender.  Soft.  Beckoning.  She needs no adornment.  She is captivating all on her own, just as her hair must remain only itself.  Every facet of her curls demonstrates her essence, and I'm so thankful for who she is.

Faceless Portrait

Please visit the next artist in the project circle, Lora Swinson, Shawnee, OK Photographer, and view her take on the Faceless Portrait.


I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4