‘Portraits without people’ sounds like a contradiction in terms but it refers to the collection of
important and contextually relevant objects arranged and placed in a relationship to each other
to convey the personality of the individual or a concept or an idea.
You can use any items that mean something to you or that reflect your sitter’s life or personality.
It could be a collection of parental keepsakes or familiar items from a childhood holiday
destination. There may be music involved. It could be a multi-media piece with the portrait
visually displaying the significant items accompanied by an imported smell (synthetic, easily
bought these days).
Take a look at the work of Robert Weingarten (born 1941) who uses photography to build
complex compositions. He tends to illustrate myths and legends interspersed with themes from
the lives of individuals.
Visit: http://robertweingarten.com/home.html
On the website you can listen to Weingarten talking about his work and how he goes about
creating his portraits – unbound as he names them.

Annie Leibovitz (born 1949) has investigated people and her own understanding of them
through photographing their spaces and objects, as you can see from this TV interview:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZsDcVJCccE
For more on Annie Leibovitz:
www.npg.org.uk/annieleibovitz/index.htm
www.nytimes.com/library/photos/leibovitz/interview.html