Jessica Chávez

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What is Lifestyle Portraiture?

Lifestyle Portrait of Book Author and Entrepreneur, Dr. Cesia Estebané. Photographed by Yeya Monroig.

Hey friend!

I’m so excited with this journey of talking about the different styles of portrait photography and effectively communicate your message and connect with your audience and clients. In my previous blog posts, I discussed What is Editorial Portraiture? and how it can be used to represent a business, but also use it to express your personal taste and photographic creativity with the subjects.

Lifestyle portraiture is a type of portrait photography in which the essence of a person's life and personality is captured candidly and naturally. It is a popular portraiture style in which photographers capture their subjects' real-life moments and emotions rather than posing in a more formal and traditional manner. It’s one of my favorite forms of portraiture, since it gives the subject the freedom to be themselves and enjoy their environment, while I, as a photographer, capture them, as if it were a documentary. The cool thing is that you can direct your subject to develop that kind of hybrid style, between candid and posed portraits.

One of the best things about this style is that it can be shot anywhere, from the subject's home to a park or other outdoor location. It can also include a single person or a group of people and can be shot in a studio or on location. The most important aspect of the portrait is that it captures the subject's personality and essence in a natural and authentic manner.

Lifestyle portrait photography of actress, Isabel Arraiza. Photographed by Yeya Monroig.

Why is Lifestyle Portraiture Important for Photography?

Understanding lifestyle portraiture as a photographer can help you create meaningful and impactful images that capture your audience's attention and effectively communicate your message. 

Here are a few reasons why lifestyle portraiture is important for photographers:

Helps to tell a story!  

One of the primary goals of lifestyle portraiture is to capture the subject's real-life moments and emotions. Photographers can help their audience connect with the subject and get a sense of who they are and what they do by using portraits to illustrate the subject's life and personality. This can help to make the viewer's experience more meaningful and engaging.

Showcase your skills!

A combination of technical skills and artistic vision is usually required for lifestyle portraiture. Creating successful lifestyle portraits as a photographer can demonstrate your ability to work with a wide range of subjects, lighting situations, and locations, as well as your ability to capture candid and natural moments. 

Perfect to build your portfolio! 

Lifestyle portraiture can be an excellent way to diversify and deepen your portfolio. You can demonstrate your range as a photographer and your ability to create meaningful and impactful images by creating portraits that capture real-life moments and emotions of your subjects. When you have a solid portfolio, you can easily book more clients because you are establishing authority and reliability.

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Why is Lifestyle Portraiture Important for Businesses?

Lifestyle portraiture is important not only for photographers but also for businesses looking to showcase their products or services and build brand awareness. Here are a few reasons why businesses should invest in lifestyle portraiture:

Build Brand Awareness & Connection with Customers: 

Lifestyle portraiture can be an effective way to build brand awareness and showcase a business's products or services in a natural and relatable way. By featuring portraits of business owners or employees in a real-life setting, businesses can reach a wider audience and increase their visibility, because it may be a more human and authentic approach to their business . This can be especially valuable for small businesses or startups that are looking to establish themselves in a competitive market. 

By featuring portraits of business owners or employees in a natural and candid setting, businesses can show their human side and give customers a sense of who they are and what they stand for. This can help to build customer loyalty and create a sense of community around a business.

Stand out!  

It can be difficult for businesses to stand out and differentiate themselves in today's crowded and competitive market. Lifestyle portraiture can be a powerful way for businesses to stand out from the crowd by representing themselves differently than other businesses. The candidness of lifestyle portraits are used to capture the essence of a business without trying to be overdeveloped and embracing an in-the-moment aesthetic. I personally love this approach, because it’s a more relatable setting for a business. 


Overall, lifestyle portraiture is an important aspect of photography that can be used to benefit businesses. Businesses can effectively use lifestyle portraiture to grow their business and achieve their goals by capturing real-life moments and emotions of their subjects, establishing credibility, building brand awareness, connecting with customers, and standing out from the competition. Whether you're a photographer looking to create meaningful and impactful images, or a company looking to showcase its products or services and build brand awareness, lifestyle portraiture can be a valuable tool in your arsenal. 

I hope this blog post helped you understand what is lifestyle portrait photography, how it can be used for your photography clients and its importance as a way to demonstrate authenticity for your business.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog! I look forward to sharing more on being a portrait photographer.

Stay tuned for the next blog post!

xx, Yeya

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