Is Headshot Photography an Art?

Headshots are, or at least can be, a form of art.

I showed early signs of creativity in my childhood, but the two most like professional headshot photography were creating pen and ink drawings and writing essays. 

The most striking characteristic about these two activities as it applies to headshot photography is that we start out with nothing on the page. The pen and ink drawing can be of any subject, any quality. It's completely up to what the artist does with the pens, or which keyboard buttons the writer presses.

When someone new steps in front of my camera for a headshot, I have no pictures of them. I can change that with the click of a shutter. *Click* I have taken a photograph of a human being. I have that headshot. Capturing a picture of a human is special in itself really. 

But the fun, artistic, creative part is far different from drawing or writing. This is collaborative art. It's not just up to me. My subject and I work as a team.

It is my job to get them to a point where what we create will be a valuable marketing and branding tool for them (that's the most important part of a paid shoot obviously) and that the headshot speaks to me, that I am proud of what we created together. 

I know many headshot photographers across the world who feel like I do about their work, but I don't think everyone who does this for a living or as a side hustle feels this strongly.

It may sound selfish for a business owner to be talking about whether he gets enjoyment out of the final product for a client. It's for the client, not me, right? But I think my clients get great benefit out of my investment in the final product. I don't settle; I probably want a better final product than my clients do sometimes. I'm totally committed. 

That's when a headshot is art.