Image details
Date: 3 November 2020
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/20s
ISO: 640
Licensing: Image of a Bowes Museum asset. This image cannot be licensed.

Portraiture is a very old art form going back at least to ancient Egypt, where it flourished from about 5,000 years ago. Before the invention of photography, a painted, sculpted, or drawn portrait was the only way to record the appearance of someone. A portrait is an artistic representation of a person intending to display their likeness, personality and even mood.

But portraits have always been more than just a record. They have been used to show the power, importance, virtue, beauty, wealth, taste, learning or other qualities of the sitter. Portraits have almost always been flattering, and painters who refused to flatter tended to find their work rejected. Among leading modern artists, portrait painting to order became increasingly rare. Instead artists paint their friends and lovers in whatever way they pleased. At the same time, photography became the most important medium for traditional portraiture, making what was formerly an expenensive luxury product affordable for almost

Image details
Date: 14 June 2019
Camera body: iPhone 7 Plus
Lens: Wide Camera 28mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 28mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/9s
ISO: 100
Licensing: Image of a North East Museums asset. This image cannot be licensed.