--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is portraiture? It's choice. It's…" description: "\"What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to position your body in the world for the world to celebrate you on your own terms.\" — Kehinde Wiley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/kehinde-wiley-1194_ability_what-is-portraiture-it-s-choice-it-s-the_1434800.jpg" --- # What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to… ![“What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to position your body in the world for the world to celebrate you on your own terms.” quote by Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/kehinde-wiley-1194_ability_what-is-portraiture-it-s-choice-it-s-the_1434800.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/kehinde-wiley-1194_ability_what-is-portraiture-it-s-choice-it-s-the_1434800.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/kehinde-wiley-1194_ability_what-is-portraiture-it-s-choice-it-s-the_1434800.jpg) > “What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to position your body in the world for the world to celebrate you on your own terms.” [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Portraiture is a deliberate act of self‑positioning, inviting the world to recognize you on your own terms. **In simple terms:** Portraiture is choosing how you appear to be seen. Key Takeaway Define your own image. Themes identity self‑expression art celebration Mood confident empowering Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - gallery openings - personal branding - social media profiles - public speaking Key Concepts self‑presentation agency visual narrative Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide the narrative you want the world to celebrate? - What risks arise when you defy conventional representation? A Different Perspective May others’ expectations limit your self‑definition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Portraiture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraiture/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. 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They have one of the best collections of 18th- and 19th-century British…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/going-to-the-huntington-gardens-and-libraries-was-radically-important/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think what's really interesting and useful about this question is that ultimately all art is a type of self-portraiture. And so in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-what-s-really-interesting-and-useful-about-this-question-is/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [All art is self-portraiture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/all-art-is-self-portraiture/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [What it is is a type of editorialization, you know? This is self-portraiture. This is what you think about the world we live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/what-it-is-is-a-type-of-editorialization-you-know-this-is-self/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [We have a lot of sort of received historical ways of viewing portraiture. And I suppose in some way I'm sort of questioning that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/we-have-a-lot-of-sort-of-received-historical-ways-of-viewing/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [This world is your body. 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And with body and form goes feeling, perception, consciousness, and all the activities throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/what-is-this-world-condition-body-is-the-world-condition-and-with/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [If I could put my brain in her body, the world would be mine for the taking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/if-i-could-put-my-brain-in-her-body-the-world-would-be-mine-for-the/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [“With mindfulness you can see the real owner of things. Do you think this is your world, your body? It is the world's world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/achaan-chah/with-mindfulness-you-can-see-the-real-owner-of-things-do-you-think/) Achaan Chah > [I don't know where I end and the world begins. My best guess? Skin. It's the only actual boundary between the body and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-siken/i-don-t-know-where-i-end-and-the-world-begins-my-best-guess-skin-it-s/) [Richard Siken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-siken/) ## More by Kehinde Wiley > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The erotic and the art historical imagination is something that gets very little play when people talk about my work, and when they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/the-erotic-and-the-art-historical-imagination-is-something-that-gets/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [One of the weirdest things that happened to artists and art criticism was this moment when everyone got cynical and stopped believing in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/one-of-the-weirdest-things-that-happened-to-artists-and-art-criticism/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [At its best, what art does is, it points to who we as human beings and what we as human beings value. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/at-its-best-what-art-does-is-it-points-to-who-we-as-human-beings-and/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [My style is in the 21st century. If you look at the process, it goes from photography through Photoshop, where certain features are heightened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-style-is-in-the-21st-century-if-you-look-at-the-process-it-goes/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think the world that I grew up in was like being in this sort of magical artistic garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-the-world-that-i-grew-up-in-was-like-being-in-this-sort-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [It was something that came sort of matter-of-factually. Because there - it's like really - real honest engagement with the people around me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/it-was-something-that-came-sort-of-matter-of-factually-because-there/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. And I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/we-re-wired-to-be-empathetic-and-to-care-about-the-needs-of-others/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/painting-is-situational-and-my-particular-situation-exists-within/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [There were certain expectations that were assumed of me as a young black American 20th-century - then 20th-century artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/there-were-certain-expectations-that-were-assumed-of-me-as-a-young/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think, something that you might be able to locate in the work that I'm creating today: the ability to look at a black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-something-that-you-might-be-able-to-locate-in-the-work-that-i/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I remember the first time I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and saw a Kerry James Marshall painting with black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-the-los-angeles-county-museum-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I believe that artists should be part of the culture. I think that my work clearly bears that out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-believe-that-artists-should-be-part-of-the-culture-i-think-that-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-guess-art-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/just-physically-if-you-looked-at-the-house-that-i-grew-up-in-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) [Explore all 275 Kehinde Wiley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. 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Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is portraiture? 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