What is a portrait?

Before this week at college, if someone had asked me what a portrait was I would have said, 'a painting or drawing of a persons face', which isn't incorrect but I've learnt that a portrait is so much more than that.

Firstly, the portrait doesn't have to even look like the sitter! It just needs to represent that person in character or physical features, or of course both.

This means a portrait of someone can be done using collage, typography or even symbols. Below are my responses to six atypical portrait studies of my friend Jess along the lines of: a toten pole, shape, internal, senses, symbols and typography.