Eye contact and expression

How important are the subject's face and their eyes in a portrait?  Having photographed a number of people in various settings over the past two weeks, I am more than ever aware of how important to get this element right. It is perhaps one of the most important things that makes the difference between a snapshot of someone and a photo portrait that people remember.

How important to have an eye contact with the subject?
This is a matter of preference and often depends on the context. In one of my sessions I photographed a lady singer performing on the streets of Cambridge. Her preference was not to look straight at the camera but maintain an eye contact with her audience. The photos below captured her changing face expression, her wonderfully warm and relaxed smile, and her eyes following the audience from the left to the right and back.
I think the best photos were those that captured her looking slightly to the side but not too far off the centre (the camera) - photos 3 and 5 - but also photo 1 that gives the viewer the sense of movement/ dynamic and anticipation that the singer is about to turn her eyes to the viewer.


Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Two more images to compare - this time my subject looks over my head to their audience and then looks straight at me with a smile. Both images are usable but would possibly work best in a different content: the second image is engaging more directly with the viewer.

In a different photo session whilst photographing Alex  (below) I asked him to look at the camera and then look away from the camera. I was directing Alex throughout the session as we were chatting gently and I found it relatively easy to catch the changes in his face expression as he got serious, then smiled, then looked away, then tilted his head down, then slightly to the right and then to the left. 

This was a useful experiment in terms of learning more about the significance of eye contact, head positions and face expressions and how they change the feel and character of a portrait.
It seems that there aren't any rights and wrongs here but endless nuances and variations that affect the way the portrait looks and experienced by the viewer. In the photo of Alex looking straight to the camera, his eyes are engaging deeply with the viewer as if asking a questions or looking for a connection or an answer. In the photo of Alex looking away, it does not disengage the viewer but suggests thoughtfulness and some
story behind the image creating a different level of engagement.
Main lessons learnt through this exercise are:
- the importance of the face and eye expression for the storyline of the portrait
- maintaining communication with the subject who is being photographed helps to achieve the desired result
- a use of tripod is helpful making it easier to maintain eye contact
- it is important to establish rapport with the sitter / subject to make the atmosphere more relaxed and comfortable for everyone involved (the photographer and the photographed).