Telling stories with portraits.

A storytelling portrait must be more than just a description of a human face. It must define the character and personality of the subject and tell a story about that person to the viewer. When I am making a portrait, I look for spontaneous body language, references to the work the subject might be doing and, most important, symbolic clues offered by the environment in which I find them.

That's why I call most of my portraits "environmental portraits." They tell a story by integrating a person with a place. Although most of my subjects look directly at me, I never direct their responses. I prefer natural expressions to self-conscious grins. I want them to relax and allow me to express their character and personality, instead of merely recording a likeness of someone having their picture taken.

My first example is an environmental portrait of a Laotian coffee grower (above). I did not confront her. She neither faces the camera nor looks away. I built this image around her kind spirit. Her pose, which is natural, expresses self-confidence. She gladly stood there while I photographed her and never showed any self-consciousness or tension. The bags and broom behind her add visual context, telling us that this is a working home. She stands out of the sun, and the soft, indirect light soothes the signs of a hard life. I see gentility, kindness and graciousness in her demeanor, which tell us more than what she looks like. These qualities tell us who she is.

The second example (left) is also a blend of the candid and posed image. This fast-food sidewalk-shop worker in Saint-Malo, France, knows he is having his picture taken, but he is not really posing for me. He is simply spontaneously reacting to the presence of a camera. He pauses in his work to look at me, and in that instant I tell his story. He instinctively displays his pride, makes us feel welcome, and shows off the details of his work: the ingredients he uses to make his crepes, his knife, the plastic shield that defines his tiny work area, and the menus detailing the nature of his work and its location. He uses every inch of space available to him and seems pleased that someone cared enough to photograph him. He looks right at us, we can look right at him, and if we wish, we may come to know him.

The third storytelling example is an environmental portrait of a Hmong rice farmer framed in the doorway of his house on the banks of the Mekong River in Laos (right). He does not even look at me--I think he was very tired after a hard day at work. Doorways make good contexts for portraits. They often provide dark backgrounds, making the subject stand out, and in this case giving him a place to rest. This is home and this is also where he works. We see him here at the door to his world.

The final example tells the story of a Chinese woman who has been displaced by the construction of the world's largest dam (far right). She has lost her farm and her way of life, yet she is resolved to farm again one day. I photographed her at the entrance to her new home, which is on high ground above the Yangtze River. I asked my guide to have her stand before a pair of baskets used by farmers to carry loads of produce on their shoulders, symbols of her former life. She looks at us without emotion. She has been through a lot and is tired. The baskets are empty now, but the glowing light, as the most important element in the shot, brings her out of the shadows, creating a setting that implies that the worst is now behind her. This portrait, which is intended to work with words that will provide context for meaning, offers us the human side of an economic issue.

Philip N. Douglis, ABC, directs The Douglis Visual Workshops, entering its 34th year of training communicators in visual literacy. Douglis, an IABC Fellow, is the most widely known consultant on editorial photography for organizations. He offers his comprehensive six-person "Communicating with Pictures" workshops every May and October in Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona, Arizona. For registration information, call +1 602.493.6709 or e-mail [e-mail].

Send photos for possible use in this column to The Douglis Visual Workshops, 2505 E. Carol Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85028 USA.

You can view Douglis' multi-gallery cyberbook on expressive digital travel photography at www.pbase.com/pnd1.