I realize you can read irony into what I wrote. ;)
But it's actually true. In any social situation, we have layers of emotional defenses that we build up, and they're especially brought out in a portrait session. Am I attractive enough? Is my smile genuine enough? Am I confident enough? Am I trying too hard? Not enough? Am I wasting my money? Is this worth it? Should I just leave now and cut my losses? This makes us tense and pretty much as far away from our authentic emotional self as we can be -- and it shows on our face, clear as day.
The job of the headshot photographer is to undo all those layers so they can capture your expression when you feel totally at ease, believing in yourself, without all those worries and tensions layered on top. They're almost amateur psychologists or acting coaches in this way.
So I get why it seems ironic, but being emotionally authentic in an extremely artificial situation isn't a natural thing. It takes a lot of work. But it's still authentic -- it's not creating something fake, but rather working to bring out what's most real about you.
(At least, this is what the good headshot photographers do, which is why they make $$$. Bad/cheap photographers will just tell you to smile, get a forced uneasy expression from you, take a bunch of shots, ask you to choose one, and call it a day.)
It's the same way speaking on stage. There is absolutely nothing natural about getting up on a stage with hundreds or thousands of your "closest friends" looking on. And, yes, good speakers are acting at some level. But many/most of them are acting to get back some of the authentic interaction that would be there if there were talking to you individually over a beer.
I've seen plenty of awe-inspiring photography across many genres, but I have literally never seen a corporate headshot or a dating photo that does anything like this.
The closest not-really-corporate shots are probably the official NASA pre-launch astronaut portraits, which do indeed do a great job of humanising the astronauts.
But as soon as you see someone in a suit, you can pretty much guarantee they're going to be smiling a little too hard while trying and failing to hide that they're stiff, stressed, and guarded. Or possibly slightly dazed. Or overcompensating by trying to look in-control and dominant.
Grey, white or black studio background, corner window shot, corridor shot, water cooler shot, in-focus background, out-of-focus background - none of it seems to help.
But it's actually true. In any social situation, we have layers of emotional defenses that we build up, and they're especially brought out in a portrait session. Am I attractive enough? Is my smile genuine enough? Am I confident enough? Am I trying too hard? Not enough? Am I wasting my money? Is this worth it? Should I just leave now and cut my losses? This makes us tense and pretty much as far away from our authentic emotional self as we can be -- and it shows on our face, clear as day.
The job of the headshot photographer is to undo all those layers so they can capture your expression when you feel totally at ease, believing in yourself, without all those worries and tensions layered on top. They're almost amateur psychologists or acting coaches in this way.
So I get why it seems ironic, but being emotionally authentic in an extremely artificial situation isn't a natural thing. It takes a lot of work. But it's still authentic -- it's not creating something fake, but rather working to bring out what's most real about you.
(At least, this is what the good headshot photographers do, which is why they make $$$. Bad/cheap photographers will just tell you to smile, get a forced uneasy expression from you, take a bunch of shots, ask you to choose one, and call it a day.)