It is such a thrill to see the creativity pour in through your submissions each day.
As this assignment continues on, I’ve been more aware of the many ways we use faceless portraits. Of course, there's "The Son of Man," Magritte's classic faceless portrait. Beyond that, we use them at National Geographic as well. On My Shot, National Geographic’s photo community for kids, photos with children's faces in them are not allowed. For this reason, the children get very creative when photographing themselves and each other. GabbyB made a portrait drawing on a wall, Riley21 drew a face on her hands, and State of Grace made a portrait with a reflection. They are all fun and creative!
We use faceless portraits in the magazine as well. This month’s issue of National Geographic magazine features a stunning and powerful story, "Healing Soldiers," that includes portraits by Lynn Johnson of veterans that make masks that help them heal.
I hope you are all as inspired and excited by these examples as I am, and please feel free to share other sources of inspiration in the discussion board.
Before things get too far along I wanted to send another update. I thought I had an idea of what I was looking for when I conceptualized this assignment, but as always, you all send new ideas and thoughts my way every hour of the day!
I wanted to address a few things from the discussion boards. First: animals. I never intended this assignment to include animal portraits, but I also do not like to set hard rules, as you all often pleasantly surprise me. I am not looking for animal portraits, but if one blows me away, I will not turn it down!
Second, and most important: photos taken from behind. I’ve seen quite a few photos of people turned around that intrigue me, that are well composed and well lit. On the other hand, I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of images of strangers from behind: sometimes one, sometimes a dozen strangers simply turned the other way on the street or the beach or a park.
I want to emphasize the intentionality that comes with making a portrait. I want to put the emphasis back on the portrait aspect of this assignment. Being faceless is a confinement I added to it, but first and foremost I want to see portraits. I want you to know this person, and I want you to tell me something about them through the image.
Spend some time, get creative, and get to know someone!