Portraits with personality

This portrait has an elegance and honesty to it that's truly affecting, owing to the natural light and the direct eye contact from the subject. The use of colour is effective, as the subject's skin tones have a warmth to them that draws the viewer in further still. The pose works wonderfully, too.

This image is extremely compelling, thanks in no small part to the shadow, which is reminiscent of the 'Jekyll and Hyde' shadow effects favoured by horror and ghost film directors. It almost feels as if we are being presented with two different portraits of the same individual.

This portrait conveys a lot of very genuine feeling and appears entirely spontaneous, which is always important to see when looking for an image that portrays personality. The use of black and white does a lot to simplify the effect and enable the viewer to focus on the emotion.