Portraits can embody a surprising number of qualities that range from the impersonal and public (status, profession, or group identity) to very individual characteristics (appearance, expression, or gender). Artists and their sitters use portraits to convey a particular impression, such as turning your “good side” to the camera, trying to appear serious, or focusing attention on a particular social issue.

Choose several portraits from the image set or Pinterest board. Discuss what you think the people pictured are trying to say about themselves and who they are through their portraits.

Research and select several contemporary images of public figures. These could be celebrities, politicians, or activists, to name a few examples. What do you think each person is trying to communicate through his or her self-presentation? Can you find another likeness of that same person that either supports your image or contradicts it?

Examine the image set. Try to place the works in chronological order. Discuss the ways in which you can see the art of portraying people changing over time. Think about who is pictured and how they are represented.

Smartphones allow us to keep images of ourselves, friends, and family within reach of us so that we can look at them or show them to others anytime. This is not a new idea. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, artists painted portable miniature portraits that the owner (or wearer) could keep close in a similar way. These small likenesses were considered fine art—they were commissioned just like large portraits, and therefore were only available to people who could afford the expense. You can see images of a woman wearing portrait miniatures and an artist painting one on the associated Pinterest board.

Another form of portable portrait was the carte-de-visite, which means “calling card” in French. It was invented in France in the 1850s and found its way to the United States quickly. Bearing your portrait, as well as your name and address, cartes-de-visite were the first inexpensive, mainstream form of photography. They supplanted the popular, but more expensive, daguerreotypes (see Augustus Washington’s Portrait of a Woman in this set), which were also sometimes carried as personal mementos. A craze in calling cards consumed Americans in the early 1860s: people traded them, compiled albums, and even collected images of celebrities and notable personages, like Sojourner Truth, who sold cartes-de-visite to raise money.

Consider the functions of these two kinds of portable portraits alongside the ones on your phone now. Respond and discuss:

• What is each kind of picture for—miniatures, calling cards, and pictures on your phone?
• What is its value (personal, commercial, monetary) and why?