Quasi-portraits
by Robert Cressy
A photographic portrait is normally defined as a face-on photo taken of a single person with their consent. By contrast I define a quasi-portrait as a photo of a single person taken face-on or in profile where consent was neither requested nor obtained. So the following photos fall into that category. They are Street portraits. Often the ‘sitter’ in these portraits is unaware or hardly aware of me taking the shot. So to that extent they may be considered to be more ‘natural’ than the normal portrait. But opinions on this may differ, and skilled photographers may obtain reactions which can be remarkably revealing. One thing is certain: quasi-portraits are likely to reveal something different about the person than would be revealed by a standard portrait.
