Artpress Dossier Explores Photographic Portraiture and Cinema

A dossier published in artpress in December 1987 examines the centrality of the portrait genre to photography, arguing that portraiture is the very heart of the medium—what animates its stillness, drives its purpose, and constitutes its primary vocation. The text poses that photography's deepest affinity lies in capturing the human face, suggesting that the portrait is not merely a subject but the core project of photography itself, a fixation that defines the medium's identity and evolution. The dossier also considers the relationship between photography and cinema, focusing on close-ups of the portrait.