Photographing groups of people can be an especially challenging and rewarding exercise in creative composition. A modern approach to a posed group portrait might focus on subjects physically touching and emotionally connecting with each other. Something more old-fashioned might recall the formal poses of classical painters, where subjects are often rigid, carefully posed and emotionally restrained. With the resurgence of film and the popularity of post-processing techniques that emulate film, this old-school approach to posing groups of people is especially trendy right now. A lifestyle approach to group portraiture is similar to street and travel photography (and other types of photography that recall a photojournalistic style) in that it is is often more candid and seemingly spontaneous than a carefully posed portrait. Using this approach, a photographer must often exert deliberate patience in order to capture what Cartier-Bresson famously called “the decisive moment.” The effective use of depth and subject separation in this candid style of group portraiture can make for a very powerful image.
To view all of the images in this week’s dynamic gallery, please click here.
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