"Visual Quotations"

Photographs by Richard Freeman

Street Portraits

What do I mean by "street portraits"? First, they are portraits because the prime focus of the image is a person, or people. Secondly, none were taken in a studio-- they were all in a natural environment; be it work, play, or some other activity. Thus I placed the word "street" in front of "portrait" to help define a type or style of image. In the majority of cases the subject or subjects are interacting with me and my camera directly. A few subjects are conscious of the fact that I am taking their image and have reacted but chose not to look directly at the camera. And a few are candids in which the subject did not see me, although in all of them, I was quite visible. A key marker of a successful portrait is whether or not the image conveys a sense of the subject’s personality, or soul. This can be seen as similar to what a good ethnography can do for a culture. In all these images, this is what I strive for. I enjoyed putting this collection together because I was able to select images from throughout my archives. It gave me a reason to think about where I had been, and where I may go next.