Sometime in 1993, I handed my daughter a yellow flower and simply asked her to sit by the kitchen window of our little duplex. I made this portrait of her in that moment. This is one of my favorite photographs, ever.

Portraits are significant in that way. They become more cherished over time. They become the first thing you try to save when your house is flooding or burning to the ground. They are what you show friends, family, your kids and grandchildren to help them connect in some way with your history. They are what we all look at to help us remember ourselves and the ones we love.

Family snapshots are also very important. Of course, these days many of our “albums” are digital and live only for short periods of time on our cell phones or memory cards. But, we do save many of our favorites and share them on-line. That’s a good thing. It helps us connect in the here and now.

But a true portrait is special.

It usually involves some amount of thought regarding lighting, composition, and meaningfulness. Skill in the artform of portraiture is also very helpful. The success of a portrait is highly dependent on the photographer’s abilities with the techniques, as well as with the human side, of photography.

There’s more weight to a real portrait. More staying power and value. Good portraiture allows the subject and the viewer to somehow connect, through distance and time.

This ability of ours to recognize and identify with each other (and ourselves) in a profound way through portraiture has become part of the human experience. We actually relate with pictures at a deep and human level. And the quality of the picture’s light, composition, and moment of expression determines the quality of the experience we have when looking at that portrait.

I’m glad that this portrait of my daughter exists instead of it not existing. It’s sad to think of all the portraits that will never exist. Fifty years from now, there will be plenty of arm’s length self-portraits and unconsidered snapshots that won’t mean much to anyone. But there will be a few real portraits that tell a better story of who we were. We should try to make those more often.