Photographing Women

As I have got to enjoy portrait photography more, I have continued to read stories from great photographers who are well recognised worldwide. One of the things that I have learned so far is that there is a big difference between photographing women compared to men. From a posing perspective, there are far more options available for women to show off their curves and body lines. However, photographing women is far more difficult and I found it hard to put into words until I read a book by Gregory Heisler. Gregory Heisler is a professional photographer known for his evocative portrait work often found on the cover of magazines, such as Time, for which he has produced a number of Man, Person, and People of the Year covers. In his book “50 Portraits and Techniques from a Photographer’s Photographer” (that’s a very long title) there is a section that I believe explains the challenge of photographing women.

“I rarely get to photograph beautiful women, one of the great sadnesses of my career. It can be tricky territory, though, because it’s never not about their beauty. Still, that can be plenty to chew on. Yet I find that I have more options available to me when photographing men than women, simply because the range of what society deems attractive in a man is far broader. The clear message I’ve gotten from clients, art directors, editors, and writers through the years, whether they’ve been male, female, straight, or gay, is that men just have to look interesting but women have to look good. Guys can be tall, short, fat, or thin. They can be bald or bushy-haired, bearded, shadowed, or shaven. They may have big noses, prominent ears, rough complexions, and flat feet. For a photographer, this is great news. It offers tremendous creative freedom. The scrutiny of women (especially by women), however, is merciless. Great emphasis is placed on their beauty, which is defined very, very narrowly. For a photographer, this limitation can be terribly frustrating. In a sense, it means that if there are a hundred ways to photograph a man, there are six for a woman. Flattery becomes the name of the game. Unfortunately, not all lenses are flattering, not all light is flattering, not every angle or point of view is flattering.”

As that is the challenge - for men there is a lot of leeway in how they look whilst with women they must look good - real good - irrespective of pose, lighting or expression. In the end, it doesn’t matter, it’s a challenge, one that I am up for, but it’s also a lot of fun.

Mind you I also love photographing men because of the leeway that you have, especially when it comes to expressions and looks. But there is one rule I always follow - never take a photograph that would embarrass an individual.

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