--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I still find doing portraits a terrific…" description: "\"I still find doing portraits a terrific challenge, but even though I've done hundreds of them, I've never stopped questioning the very nature of portra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/duane-michals-10800_appearance_i-still-find-doing-portraits-a-terrific_3075190.png" --- # I still find doing portraits a terrific challenge, but… ![“I still find doing portraits a terrific challenge, but even though I've done hundreds of them, I've never stopped questioning the very nature of portraiture because it deals exclusively with appearances. I've never believed people are what they look like and think it's impossible to really know…” quote by Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/duane-michals-10800_appearance_i-still-find-doing-portraits-a-terrific_3075190.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/duane-michals-10800_appearance_i-still-find-doing-portraits-a-terrific_3075190.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d17/duane-michals-10800_appearance_i-still-find-doing-portraits-a-terrific_3075190.png) > “I still find doing portraits a terrific challenge, but even though I've done hundreds of them, I've never stopped questioning the very nature of portraiture because it deals exclusively with appearances. I've never believed people are what they look like and think it's impossible to really know what people are.” [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Portraiture questions surface appearances, prompting deeper inquiry into identity beyond looks. **In simple terms:** Looks are deceptive; true self lies deeper. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about identity. Themes art identity perception truth challenge Mood contemplative critical inquisitive Type artistic philosophical psychological When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - artist studio - art education - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetic theory psychology philosophy visual culture Questions to Reflect On - How can artists reveal inner truth through visual media? - What limits exist in capturing essence? A Different Perspective Portraits may still reinforce stereotypes despite intent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Portraiture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraiture/) [Questioning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questioning/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I really like doing portraits, but I like taking pictures of things that are natural, like scenery, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-may-jagger/i-really-like-doing-portraits-but-i-like-taking-pictures-of-things/) [Georgia May Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-may-jagger/) > [Fashion is where I make my living. I'm not knocking it; it's a pleasure to make a living that way. Then there's the deeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-avedon/fashion-is-where-i-make-my-living-i-m-not-knocking-it-it-s-a-pleasure/) [Richard Avedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-avedon/) > [When you are doing portraits, you have that intimacy with someone for a few minutes. For a really good portrait, you don't take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-duley/when-you-are-doing-portraits-you-have-that-intimacy-with-someone-for/) [Giles Duley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-duley/) > [I thought, 'Well, I'll amuse people a little bit.' During lunch hour, while everyone was off to the faculty club and this and that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-fafard/i-thought-well-i-ll-amuse-people-a-little-bit-during-lunch-hour-while/) [Joe Fafard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-fafard/) > [I want an exhibition one day, so I am doing portraits of rock stars. I paint from pictures in magazines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fearne-cotton/i-want-an-exhibition-one-day-so-i-am-doing-portraits-of-rock-stars-i/) [Fearne Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fearne-cotton/) > [I love doing portraits, its just now I want to take it to the next level and start making better and more interesting compositions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-von-d/i-love-doing-portraits-its-just-now-i-want-to-take-it-to-the-next/) [Kat Von D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-von-d/) > [In a sense, every work you do is a self-portrait because your paintings always reveal more about you than about your subject. Your experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/in-a-sense-every-work-you-do-is-a-self-portrait-because-your/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [Make portraits of people in typical, familiar poses, being sure above all to give their faces the same kind of expression as their bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/make-portraits-of-people-in-typical-familiar-poses-being-sure-above/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [I am living a new and exalted life of late. It steeps me in a sacred rapture to see a portrait develop and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-am-living-a-new-and-exalted-life-of-late-it-steeps-me-in-a-sacred/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Every single person is unlike anyone else. Therefore, in creating a portrait of someone... we must look carefully to catch that particular unique quality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alton-tobey/every-single-person-is-unlike-anyone-else-therefore-in-creating-a/) [Alton Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alton-tobey/) > [When one starts from a portrait and seeks by successive eliminations to find pure form... one inevitably ends up with an egg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-one-starts-from-a-portrait-and-seeks-by-successive-eliminations/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Nothing in a portrait is a matter of indifference. Gesture, grimace, clothing, decor even - all must combine to realize a character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/nothing-in-a-portrait-is-a-matter-of-indifference-gesture-grimace/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The portrait painter... If he insults his sitters his occupation is gone. Whether he paints the should instead of the features, or the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-phillips/the-portrait-painter-if-he-insults-his-sitters-his-occupation-is-gone/) [Walter J. Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-j-phillips/) > [I do not care to paint portraits indoors. I cannot feel sympathetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/i-do-not-care-to-paint-portraits-indoors-i-cannot-feel-sympathetic/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [I hate to paint portraits! I hope never to paint another portrait in my life. Portraiture may be all right for a man in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-singer-sargent/i-hate-to-paint-portraits-i-hope-never-to-paint-another-portrait-in/) [John Singer Sargent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-singer-sargent/) ## More by Duane Michals > [I already know what things look like - I don't want description. People believe in appearances, and I don't believe in appearances at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-already-know-what-things-look-like-i-don-t-want-description-people/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [All good children's books, I think, address metaphysical issues in some kind of way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/all-good-children-s-books-i-think-address-metaphysical-issues-in-some/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [My work is about my life as an event, and I find myself to be very temporal, transient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/my-work-is-about-my-life-as-an-event-and-i-find-myself-to-be-very/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [And in not learning the rules, I was free. I always say, you're either defined by the medium or you redefine the medium in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/and-in-not-learning-the-rules-i-was-free-i-always-say-you-re-either/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Photography does deal with 'truth' or a kind of superficial reality better than any of the other arts, but it never questions the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/photography-does-deal-with-truth-or-a-kind-of-superficial-reality/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [People of my generation who became photographers in the late fifties, early sixties, there were no rewards in photography. There were no museum shows.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/people-of-my-generation-who-became-photographers-in-the-late-fifties/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Taking photographs and writing is my way of saying I was here, I saw this, I felt this, I heard this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/taking-photographs-and-writing-is-my-way-of-saying-i-was-here-i-saw/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [I write in order to express what the photo itself cannot say. A photograph of my father doesn't tell me what I thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-write-in-order-to-express-what-the-photo-itself-cannot-say-a/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [If I indulge myself and surrender to memory, I can still feel the knot of excitement that gripped me as I turned the corner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/if-i-indulge-myself-and-surrender-to-memory-i-can-still-feel-the-knot/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Art has to address eternal issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/art-has-to-address-eternal-issues/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [I believe in the invisible. I do not believe in the definitive reality of things around us. For me, reality is the intuition and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-believe-in-the-invisible-i-do-not-believe-in-the-definitive-reality/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [All good work has magic in it, and addresses the mind in a subtle way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/all-good-work-has-magic-in-it-and-addresses-the-mind-in-a-subtle-way/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Art is not fashionable. That's why fashion and art are two different things. Fashion can never be art because fashion deals with whim, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/art-is-not-fashionable-that-s-why-fashion-and-art-are-two-different/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [There are those photographers who have made a whole career doing commercial work but have never had a museum show, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/there-are-those-photographers-who-have-made-a-whole-career-doing/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/photography-deals-exquisitely-with-appearances-but-nothing-is-what-it/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) [Explore all 62 Duane Michals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) ## More Appearance quotes > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I just worried about my weight. Worried about my appearance and thought I wan't pretty enough to be a pop star. It was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-durham/i-just-worried-about-my-weight-worried-about-my-appearance-and/) [Judith Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-durham/) > [The essence of worldliness is exclusion of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jacobsen/the-essence-of-worldliness-is-exclusion-of-god/) [Henry Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-jacobsen/) > [We must, however, note that what are usually called the high religions made their appearance within about twenty-five hundred years - most of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/we-must-however-note-that-what-are-usually-called-the-high-religions/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-turning-points-of-lives-are-not-the-great-moments-the-real-crises/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [You can have a nice body, dress with the latest fashion. But if you don't have self-confidence sweetheart, forget about looking sexy, you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/you-can-have-a-nice-body-dress-with-the-latest-fashion-but-if-you-don/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [I cannot be convinced that great artists are moralists. Art is first appearances, then meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-cannot-be-convinced-that-great-artists-are-moralists-art-is-first/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [I'm OK with my appearance. I have made my peace with it after a long and frankly exhausting battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/i-m-ok-with-my-appearance-i-have-made-my-peace-with-it-after-a-long/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Appearance records are pretty special. Mine means a lot to me, not only because I love stats, but because it shows that I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james/appearance-records-are-pretty-special-mine-means-a-lot-to-me-not-only/) [David James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james/) > [Every man would fall in love with their voice, their lovely appearance, but no man would ever get past that. They'd never really know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/every-man-would-fall-in-love-with-their-voice-their-lovely-appearance/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [I already know what things look like - I don't want description. People believe in appearances, and I don't believe in appearances at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-already-know-what-things-look-like-i-don-t-want-description-people/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) Browse all 2,446 Appearance quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I still find doing portraits a terrific challenge, but even though I've done hundreds of them, I've never stopped questioning the very nature of portraiture because it deals exclusively with appearances. 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