Smile, please.
To look good in photos, you don’t need to be a model, or handsome, or have a perfectly proportioned body. You don’t have to be outgoing, and you don’t even need to have a special rapport with the photographer. Although all of the above help.
Smile, because what’s important in a snapshot isn’t the beauty of the face or the proportions of the body portrayed, but what lies beneath the surface, the soul of the person being photographed, the moment that is captured.
It’s the magic of that which isn’t seen until you look at the photo, that will remain for posterity. Smile, even if you then become serious for the portrait if that’s how you want to be remembered.
A photo shoot doesn’t have to be torture, although some people experience it that way. They don’t recognize themselves in the photos, they don’t like what they see, they don’t understand why they always end up with the same expression they can’t stand, or with their eyes closed or their lips pressed together.
On the other hand, others seem to have a special connection with the camera, and they always look good. They know how to look—or not look—and are able to express themselves naturally. The camera loves them, it’s said of an actor who knows how to command a scene, or of those supporting actors who steal the show from the leads.
The great masters of photography know well the importance of telling stories through still images. Because photogenic quality doesn’t depend solely on one person being in the camera’s good graces; rather, it’s a team effort, a collaborative work between the person who chooses the shot, prepares the lighting, sets the focus, and takes the picture, and the person behind the lens.
The former provides the technique, the experience, and those tricks that work for them when taking a photo or recording a video, setting the guidelines, but the subject of the image holds the final result in their hands. What a responsibility.
“As a professional, I’ve often wondered what it means to be photogenic; it’s difficult to put into words. We all have a point where the camera likes us, where we look our best, but you have to know how to find it; I think it has to do with each person’s essence,” says photographer Manuel Outumuro, who points out that a person may not conform to today’s prevailing beauty standards, but they may possess a spontaneity and a certain attitude in front of the camera that makes them photogenic. “Ultimately, it’s about transcending, about making the image the photographer captures of you go beyond a simple snapshot, about communicating many things,” he adds.
Outumuro specializes in fashion photography and regularly works with professional models, who know what they’re doing, but he maintains that his best portraits have been of people who lack that experience. The success of a photograph, in his opinion, lies in a quid pro quo: “It’s an exchange of generosity between the photographer, who contributes their skill, and the subject, who must trust them and surrender themselves, let go, which isn’t easy because the camera can be intimidating,” he adds.
From there, those who are most generous with the camera are the ones who turn out best. “It’s not about laughing, but about looking at the lens as if you were looking at someone, with whatever feeling you want—with affection for a child, with seduction for a lover, with complicity for a friend. That point is very important, and the photographer must know how to bring it out; you have to talk a little beforehand,” he assures. When both parties already know each other, it’s easier.
“They’re more relaxed, they give more of themselves, and the magic happens,” Outumuro observes.
Model Judith Mascó doesn’t need advice on posing. She always looks good, but she’s so adept at it that for her, the hard part is not posing when she sees a camera. “My family and friends sometimes tell me not to put on a model face for the photo, because I’ve mastered the technique so much that it just comes naturally,” she jokes.
Mascó’s twofold advice is to be yourself and capture the moment: “If you’re celebrating an anniversary, laugh happily, forget your insecurities, show yourself as you are,” she advises.
If it’s a souvenir photo from a vacation, it’s best to bring a pleasant thought to mind. “Laugh or not, but let your eyes sparkle, internalize the feeling that makes your face light up,” she points out. “You have to relax, to be yourself. Keep one hand in your pocket if you don’t know what to do with them, and shift your weight to one leg,” she adds. All that’s left is for the photographer to take the shot at the perfect moment.
How to capture the decisive moment, the very thing Cartier-Bresson so desperately sought, keeps professionals awake at night. Photographer Pedro Madueño spent two years pursuing Salvador Dalí, when the painter withdrew from the world after Gala’s death, hoping to photograph him.
More than 25 years have passed, and Madueño, who has taken thousands of portraits, recalls that when Dalí finally granted him access to his private world, he was so nervous that he couldn’t capture the best of the moment.
The photographer’s attitude, he emphasizes, is key. “You have to control the situation, command your subjects, or they will immediately perceive your weakness,” he points out.
The subject appreciates the professional’s sense of security; even a professional model wants to be in front of someone confident, he insists. In his professional work, Madueño’s parameters are news and current events; he’s interested in capturing the soul of the subject, more than their beauty.
He’s a rare bird, he says. “I’m going to take photos of people who, in most cases, won’t like themselves. I’m not aiming for them to look good, but something else. I seek to delve deeper into the person; I’m interested in reaching their innermost self, which is the challenge you face in a portrait,” he points out.
A person’s photogenic quality, he believes, depends on what they’re looking for; it’s not the same for a woman who wants to look beautiful as it is for a minister who wants to convey the weight of her position. Naturalness is the secret for a person to recognize themselves in the photograph.
However, the camera presents an obstacle. It’s an imposing presence, inspiring respect, even fear. “You have to avoid the camera because, as a rule, people are uncomfortable having their picture taken; it’s as if their image is being stolen, a fear that persists in some cultures,” Madueño emphasizes. His method is to try to put the subject at ease.
“I try to talk to them beforehand, to create an atmosphere of rapport. We talk, and the camera is the last thing I bring out; sometimes they’ve asked me if I wasn’t going to take their picture because they see us talking and talking and the camera doesn’t appear,” he adds. He notes that the portraits he’s most satisfied with are usually of people he’s been photographing for years: “I try to establish a relationship with the people I’m interested in because portraiture is a long-term process.”
In real life, faces aren’t always a reflection of inner life, but in fiction, the viewer does expect a face to communicate the essence of a character. In advertising and film, the models and actors who work best are those who respond well to the camera, who know how to look and communicate.
“Finding an actor for a role is very laborious; they must not only have the physical attributes but also display a personality that fits the part, because the camera captures the soul behind the character,” observes casting director Pep Armengol. “Some people have a special intensity and strength that distinguishes them as extraordinary actors.”
A star, he asserts, is someone you enjoy watching more and more; some are like long-distance runners because they gain confidence and improve their technique. But casting directors have to take chances on new actors and know how to spot a diamond in the rough.
Armengol, who was responsible for casting the award-winning film Pa negre, points out that Marina Comas was almost overlooked during the auditions, but she went on to give an extraordinary performance, for which she won a Goya Award for Best New Actress.
For an actor, responding to the camera is about communication, and scripts sometimes lead them to extraordinary experiences. How do you get into the skin of a mermaid, a creature as mysterious, almost magical, as the one in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides? “Astrid Bergès-Frisbey comes from the French school and has a different way of acting. There are thousands of girls who could have done it, but they don’t have her heart; Astrid’s mermaid is tender,” Pep Armengol points out.
Unlike most people, actors have diverse ranges; they embody very different characters and come across as believable. They know how to reveal the soul behind the character. “Actors are hunters of life’s moments, and their success depends on a combination of talent, but also technique, which is what will help them develop their art. They have to be good communicators. And to play a character, you have to put yourself in their shoes, and from the actor’s own imagination, from their own truth, recreate the character’s experiences, suffer with something that made them suffer,” emphasizes Armengol, who shows his students at film school documentaries of the first casting of renowned actors, such as Dustin Hoffman or Sean Connery, “so they don’t get frustrated if the first time it doesn’t go as planned,” he jokes.
Not all faces are equally expressive, but it only takes a second to infer another person’s emotional state from what their face conveys. A highly complex and specialized neural circuit allows us to see the person behind the mask, and to capture the mental state underlying visible behavior, the facial features aren’t evaluated separately but as a whole, so that this configuration persists even if gestures change. That’s why acting experts recommend believing in the character before portraying it.
And photographers ask that you look at the camera as if it were a person, because the camera records your thoughts. “The gaze is the most powerful element; you can hardly say more than with your eyes, even the most complex emotions,” emphasizes photographer Pedro Madueño.
He refers to the subjects of his portraits as “characters,” among whom are the leading figures in current political, social, and cultural affairs. “I don’t always ask them to look at the camera; some don’t need to because I can see that it will make them uncomfortable. But to those who do, I say to look at the reader. A direct look at the camera is the most sincere,” he adds.
Photogenic quality is a combination of physical appearance and attitude. Manuel Outumuro is convinced that “the most photogenic thing is for the photographer to find a person attractive and bring out their best.” He adds that photographers don’t need perfectly harmonious faces and notes that, in his experience, people with a striking feature, such as large eyes or noses, or a strong jawline, bring something to the portrait that creates magic.
With the permission of the light, or perhaps with its help, portraits are sometimes taken in which the subject looks so good they are unrecognizable. “These are surprises of light, which sometimes paints in unexpected ways,” Outumuro points out.
Madueño is more emphatic: “Photography is cruel; the reality of a portrait is harsh, very different from the image reflected in the mirror, and that’s why the result isn’t always pleasing. But a good portrait is something magical, and no one can teach you when to take a picture; it’s an impulse of the heart,” he concludes.