It’s Just A Head Shot, Right?

It’s Just A Head Shot, Right?

By William Lulow

Many people think that headshots are just throwaway things that don’t matter much in the scheme of selling a service, person (an actor say) or company. Well, here are some headshots used by performers at the Opera:

One would think that these star singers, probably the best of the best, would invest a bit to get better shots knowing also, that they would be reproduced very small but in a great many playbills. But, like so many performers, when asked for a headshot for publication, just give out what they happen to have, no matter the quality, age or even it’s a “selfie.” Many of these are not well lit and don’t showcase the performers for who they are currently. Sometimes, more informal portraits are wanted, which is okay as long as they are of professional quality. But the lighting on these images is just atrocious and don’t display any personality.

Here is a head shot I did recently, reduced in size to almost the size of these:

This was the original. This is what it might look like reproduced in B+W. Note the lack of shadow, making the person’s face totally visible. The pose, lighting and expression let the subject’s personality come through even with a small reproduction:

Now compare this with those shots from the Metropolitan Opera!

To my mind’s eye, there is simply no comparison. With a little care in lighting, background and exposure, the real subject is allowed to shine through the page.

Headshots, even for mundane uses should be the best they can be. But too often, even performers who are in front of the public in the roles they play, don’t pay enough attention to how they are portrayed on the printed page.

Now there are times when a portrait can have a lot of shadow and obscure some detail, but that is when the photographer wants to be more creative with the lighting perhaps to make a point:

This is an image I made early in my career, around 1974. It was made for a Scholastic Magazine poster on crime:

This was a special use of lighting used to elicit a scared response from viewers. It is purposely made with shadowy lighting from below with a direct light and no fill-in light.

This image was made during an actual performance. There is an ample amount of shadow and a dark background, but the face is almost fully lit, showing the performer’s personality. His gaze was actually meant to ask me to stop taking pictures!

Is there a use for photographs with shadows? Of course, but headshots are mostly designed to show what the performer looks like, not in actual performance, but sort of in “real life.” Portraits can be anything the photographer wants. Headshots should show the person as he or she is, but at their best.