Portraiture

Aleksandr Rodchenko argues that portraiture can be replaced by photography. Early portraiture was done as paintings, which photography tried to eventually mimic. Photographers attempted to capture the subject in a single shot but didn’t really capture the sum total of moments observed as a painting does. This synthetic portrait in a way captures the subject as a whole rather than a single moment. Rodchenko on the other hand, disputes this claim and says that photography can capture the sum total of moments observed through multiple snapshots. Instead of just a single photograph a set of a thousand (arbitrary number) photographs can capture the sum total of moments because it is a sum total of moments observed and taken by the photographers.

The two images of Jackie Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis were taken by Ron Galella. Galella is a paparazzo that was obsessed with taking photos of Onassis. He took hundreds and possibly thousands of photos of her. In one of the photographs Onassis is smiling out the window and captures her obvious popularity and need for people to watch after her as she goes anywhere. This photograph also shows her status, elegance, and charm. In the next photograph Onassis walks by turns and smiles as the wind blows her hair. This photo shows how she smiles all the time and really is a great candid portrait of her. Galella said that he actually had the taxi driver honk at her as she passed and snapped the photo when she passed by. Without realizing that a photograph was going to be taken she still smiles as she is rudely honked at. Galella always tried to capture the candid moments, this differs from other paparazzi because he always wanted to seem like he wasn’t there by hiding and shooting from far away. He also has boxes of similar images that portray Onassis. These candid photos of Onassis can be all looked through and show a true portrait of the former first lady, only when considered as a whole.