Hey stranger!

This is my first blog ever and I couldn’t be more excited to start and share this photography journey with you. I’m originally from Puerto Rico, but I moved to Boston, Massachusetts in March 2022. So, I can now officially say: I’m a Boston Photographer! Just so you know a bit more about me, I’ve been a portrait photographer since the day a camera graced my hands at the innocent age of nine years old. I began documenting my childhood, my sisters, my artist mother, my musician dad and every detail that I felt connected to at that age. As I grew up, I understood that I can make personal connections with friends and even strangers through my camera. This became the beginning of what I came to understand later in my life as Portrait Photography.

So, what actually is Portrait Photography? Portrait photography is a type of photography that focuses on capturing the likeness, personality, and mood of a person or group of people. This sounds a bit mundane or even easy, but it certainly is the opposite. There are many factors that contribute to capturing the personality and feelings a person, but we’ll discuss these in my next blog. What we must know is that portrait photography has a long history, dating back to the earliest days of photography and over the years, portrait photographers have used their art to capture the likenesses of famous people, as well as to document the lives of everyday people, their family members, friends and even pets!

To understand a bit of the importance of portrait photography, we must know the history of this beautiful art form. The history of portrait photography dates back to the early 19th century, when the invention of the camera made it possible to capture the likeness of a person in a photograph. The first portrait photographs were daguerreotypes, a type of photograph produced using a silver-plated copper sheet. These early portrait photographs were often expensive and time-consuming to create, and as a result, they were typically reserved for the wealthy and the famous.

Over time, the technology of photography improved, and portrait photography became more accessible and affordable. Photographers began to experiment with different lighting, composition, and posing techniques, and portrait photography became an important way to document the lives of ordinary people. In the 20th century, portrait photography continued to evolve, with the advent of new technologies and artistic movements, such as studio lighting, candid photography, and photojournalism.

Today, portrait photography is a popular and important genre, with portrait photographers using a wide range of styles and techniques to create striking and expressive images. From traditional studio portraits to candid, documentary-style images, portrait photography continues to evolve and inspire. To me, as a photographer and a person who loves other people, portrait photography is one of those art forms that is highly influenced by the way you connect with the subject in front of your camera. If the person is shy towards the camera, shyness will be the result, and if the person is confident, the photograph will exude that confidence. Whether it’s shyness, confidence, or any other trait, as a portrait photographer I love capturing the essence of a person.

As a Puerto Rican photographer recently moved to Boston, Massachusetts, I’ve had to adapt myself to a new way of living and new personalities in this environment. For me this is very exciting because I get to learn about the Bostonian culture and also know new people that are willing to present their personalities to me through my camera. As we’ve learned portrait photography is more than just taking a picture - it's about capturing the essence of a person and creating a lasting memory.

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