Portrait Reactions

Of all the portraits, the ones that struck me the most were by Robin Berenholz. They are simple portraits, compared to those made by the other artists, with the main medium, or only medium for some, being graphite. That, combined with the fact that the portraits were posted on tumblr, really struck me as unique. Although that can make the portraits seem amateur, sloppy, or illegitimate, I feel like this is what gives them their power. The portraits are very raw in style, many of them looking like they were drawn quickly. Yet, this does not detract from their authenticity, rather it makes the emotions conveyed by the portrait even more authentic. They could be drawn by anyone, and tumblr provides a platform where they can be easily shared and stumbled upon by others. The focus of the portraits, signified by the account’s url, is invisible disability. This also stood out to me because the kinds of disability in the portraits are ones that are usually forgotten about because they don’t have outward physical presence. Through the portraits, with their simple medium and lack of background in the images, the disability is given the spotlight in a way that says “look, don’t forget that I exist, because I’m here and I affect people.” Each image is also accompanied by a multitude of tags, describing the disability, thoughts, and emotions that the artist associated with the portrait, which is something one does not always get to see.