AVAILABLE LIFE – portraits
Perhaps a little later than expected, it’s high time for this travelling, documentary and urban street photographer to come out of the closet. I am a portrait photographer.
Xavi, from Seville, Andalucia.
Ale from Andalucia.
A stranger, with clay on her face.
Having a bad hair… clay.
Perfect stranger, from Colombia – also with clay.
Remember the rule “the best light for portraits is soft and evenly distributed.” And then break it. Another perfect stranger.
In case you were wondering why these people are not wearing shirts, it’s because all these pictures were taken on the beach.
This guy saw me toying with my camera and asked for a portrait. It really doesn’t get much easier than this.
As all the above shots are a few years old, i wanted to test if i still had the eye for portraits, so i took this snapshot of my four-year-old niece. isn’t she stunning?
Some say the camera can capture a person’s soul. At least sometimes, it really can.
Hope you enjoyed.
Alessandro Ciapanna
ciapannaphoto 
48 Responses to “AVAILABLE LIFE – portraits”
I think you still got the eye. Your niece is adorable!
Thanks! I am one proud uncle…
She certainly is!
She thanks you for the kind words…
Wonderful range of portraits-each has such a unique composition.
Thanks, doublewhirler!
Your portraits have the same magic as all your other work Alessandro! 🙂
Whew – what relief! I was hoping someone would say this. I’m glad it was you, Deb! 🙂
Reblogged this on Tangent and commented:
Great images.
Thanks for the reblog!
No Richard Clay-demain? Your niece will break many hearts in her life. Such a beauty, so young.
Thanks, Andrew. She’s fantastically clever, too – she speaks three languages already…
Great job… And beautiful niece!
Thanks from both of us.
Truly beautiful portraits! 😀
Thanks and glad you think so – this encourages me to post more… 🙂
Brilliant, love them. Looking forward to lots more!
Thanks Lianne. Will try my hardest to keep the standards up.
Great shots, Sir!
Thanks, Mister!
It looks like you have been in sculptor’ s paradise – so much clay 🙂 But yes, really powerful photos with so much revealed, Alessandro. The photo of Xavi makes me think of “The Old Man and the Sea”…somehow… And your niece – precious!
I had thought of The Old Man and the Sea myself – incredible. Thank you very much for your kind words, Ese’s Voice 🙂
Beautiful, Alessandro! Really, the world is such an amazing place when able to contemplate it through your lens.
I also like the topic: where is the need for words when a glimpse of a face already tells the whole story?
So true, Aaricia. Every face tells a story. And some faces speak volumes… Many thanks for your kind comment!
Good shots.
Beautiful bambina, your niece! You still haven´t lost the touch and it seems the last portrait was shot with a wider angle. I like that: a good portrait with some perceptible context in background.
Thanks Antonio. I will keep that in mind, about the wideangle. Context is sometimes essential to the story, but if the background is cluttered or badly illuminated, i prefer to zoom right in.
Ahhh … portraits… when I do an event, random close facial shots seem to calm and ground my work. Their story is told from each of your shots, you have exposed something in each of them… big like!!!! Ok… I have to ask… whats up with the clay???
Thanks MikeP!
The clay occurs naturally near the beach in layers between rocks. It is crushed with a stone into powder, mixed with a little water and applied to the skin and/or the hair. When it dries and is washed off, it removes loose skin cells and cleanses the skin pore-deep, leaving it soft and feeling generally heavenly.
I don’t know which stranger that looks the best. All of them. Keep up doing portraits (also), Alessandro.
Yes, i will. I’ve been doing too much street photography for too long. Now it’s time for a little street portraiture. Thanks for the encouragement, Bente!
Your 4 year old niece is indeed, gorgeous!
The expressions in this series are all genuinely lovely and those smiles are wonderful.
Thanks on all counts, Karen. I’ll be doing more headhunting in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed, we’ll get more handsome expressions…
You captured these portraits so very fine. It is obvious that you have been close to these people and therefore get caught their personality and expression really well.
Thanks, Truels. Some of these people i do know well, while some others hardly at all. But all trusted me for a snap or two…
And the winner is… your niece! An expressive portrait of very sweet girl 🙂 Great captures, Alessandro!
Thanks, Iltana. The real winner is… the lucky uncle of the niece – he managed to get an active 4-year-old to hold still for a full two or three seconds… 😉
Lovely – is this the lucky niece who received the dolls house? Adorable..
Indeed she is – (wow, what memory!). She is currently sharing it with her younger sister… Thank you!
Your niece is a doll! Great pose too. Love these portraits and want to see more! (hint: book!) 😉
Ann – thanks. Am slowly, painstakingly working on more portraits… Thanks! 🙂
love them all… all of the subjects are beautiful and have somehow let their natural expressions come out
Thanks, abu zar. In portraiture, my main job is to get the subjects to feel completely at ease. Once done, the shooting part is easy.
you definitely havent lost your touch…hope to see more of the portrait photographer! 🙂
Thanks! Slowly working on more portraits. In the hope they work as nicely as these did… 😉
Love. A portrait photograher? You manage to photograph every subject with your own personal touch. your neice is a stunner & looks to have sense of humor too, perhaps from her Uncle? 🙂
Thanks, Amy! Oh, that little one certainly does have a good sense of humor – we laugh and laugh together all the time…
I appreciate the kind words re: the personal touch. It means a lot 🙂
Love these, Alessandro. The playful light in the sixth one is wonderful, and you’ve captured what I perceive to be your niece’s mischievous spirit. Mischief must run in your family. 🙂
Thanks for the lovely words, Tricia. And yes – my family boasts a long, long history of mischievous souls. Proudly, unabashedly so… 🙂