Top: Francisco Goya, Portrait of Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, c. 1798
Bottom: Contemporary photograph by the author, 2025
If you aspire to be a fine art photographer, go to museums. Study painting. Learn from the old masters. In particular, spend time with artists like Francisco Goya, who mastered the gaze—not just technically, but psychologically, emotionally, and politically.
I have an MFA in fine art photography, and one of the most formative shifts in my visual thinking came not through cameras or technique, but through learning to see. Truly seeing begins with looking—looking at how others have looked, at how they constructed their compositions, their emotional invitations, their confrontations. The gaze is not merely where the subject looks—it's what they communicate, or fail to. It is where the viewer meets the subject in a silent, electric exchange.
Take, for instance, Goya’s portrait of Jovellanos. The subject’s eyes meet ours—melancholic, contemplative, intelligent. His posture suggests internal reflection, but the gaze anchors the painting in intimacy. Goya's brilliance lies in how the sitter's intellect and social position are revealed not just through costume and props, but through this direct, thoughtful connection.
Compare this to my own photograph, a contemporary portrait made in natural light, with a plain background and casual denim shirt. The gaze is quiet, serious, and ambiguous. She looks at us, but also through us. Like Goya's subject, she seems caught in a moment of stillness and private thought. There's a kind of emotional parity—no theatrical gesture, only the eyes to tell the story.
The photograph is not meant to imitate Goya, but to be in dialogue with him. By placing the two images top and bottom, we invite viewers to reflect on how the gaze operates across media and centuries. This is not about nostalgia or homage—it's about continuity in visual communication. It’s about learning from painting to enrich the language of photography.
So again: if you're serious about becoming a fine art photographer, spend less time on tutorials and more time in museums. The old masters knew everything about light, narrative, form—and above all, about the gaze.
Francisco Goya, Portrait of Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (c. 1798)
