Q&A with Koketso Resane

We've heard a few of you say portrait photography feels intimidating. This interview might change your mind.

Meet Koketso Resane, a portrait photographer from South Africa. Koketso's distinctive work is vibrant and attention-grabbing in the best way. Across a range of subjects and settings, his images are polished and uniquely his, without losing sight of the person he's photographing.

One might think getting results like these requires a focused, professional, and semi-stoic mentality. While two of these are true, Koketso's experience proves that last one is unnecessary. You can be professional, take your craft seriously, and have some fun. Koketso's approachable manner and playful spirit are an important part of the process. Another is keeping it simple. While studio set ups with controlled variability are helpful, simply grabbing your camera and meeting your subject at the park is a completely legitimate way to make excellent portraits.

Today, we're bringing you the proof that great portraits don't have to come at the expense of a good time, nor do they require complexity. We hope you enjoy this Q & A as much as we did!

And when you're finished, take a peek at Koketso's profile for inspiration on posing, composition, and color. We love novel takes, especially his!

What's the most difficult part of making a great portrait?

I shoot outside and mostly in non-controlled environments so for my kind of portraits the location is the most difficult part. It's easier when you're in a studio, with controlled lighting, assorted gear within arms reach, and comforts like your subject's choice of music, snacks, and sometimes accompanying friends for moral support. It's harder when you're negotiating distractions like changing light, ambient noise, people and pets walking past, and prying eyes.

Have you ever had a session go completely differently than planned? What happened?

My sessions are mostly spontaneous (except in studio) but one time... we planned to shoot at Victoria Yards, Johannesburg in the afternoon. The venue is an arts and crafts precinct with coffee shops, studios, and a gin distillery. When the weather failed us and there was no golden hour to speak of, a manager from the near-empty distillery invited us in to use their space as a location.

Just like that I have some of my favourite photos with one of my favourite muses.

Posing is often the hardest part with portrait work. How do you direct when working with people who may not be professional models?

This one is a bit silly, but with my female subjects who have limited or no modeling experience, I usually ask them to pose in a way that would "make their ex want to text or call immediately when they see the photo". That usually reveals their best side, their best facial expression, and a confident demeanour that shows in the photo.

You seem drawn to color with the work you’ve shared. Given so many portrait photographers gravitate towards monochrome (ahem, I definitely do), what makes color the overall choice in your editing style?

I unashamedly love colour and often lean to warmer tones. I think vibrance gives a sense of "life" in a busy world. most of us spend hours every day looking at black text on white backgrounds, or white text on dark backgrounds. Colour is a good escape from that.

Do you have a favorite focal length or lens for portraits? If so, what makes that particular gear special?

Definitely 45mm. I love the versatility and slight change in compression compared to a 50mm, even though I heavily use the nifty fifty from both Canon and Sony. My favourite lens from my bag is the Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD and I have the Canon EF version. The images from that lens have plenty of character despite the good sharpness. It’s one of the few prime lenses with vignetting I actually love. Sadly, it’s now an 11-year-old DSLR lens and doesn’t adapt well on RF-mount cameras, doesn’t autofocus on Sigma’s MC-11 adapter for Sony, and hasn’t been updated to a version 2 in any mount. I’ll likely replace it with an RF 50mm f/1.4 VCM but refuse to ever part ways with the Tamron SP 45mm because of the memories.

When working with others, so much can be revealed in how we interact, the results we get, and with how comfortable we can make our subject. What have portraits taught you about yourself?

Shooting portraiture has taught me that I’m not as shy as I thought I was. Sometimes you have to illustrate a pose yourself to direct your subject. Often, the subject was a stranger or acquaintance up until the shoot. It’s been great for my people skills and for stepping out of my “rigid” shell.

How do you hope your subjects feel when they find a portrait you've made twenty years from now?

I’m hoping they find the portrait beautifully unbelievable but joyfully believable; that it is a real and authentic photograph of a real and authentic person. In this age of generated imagery, we speak of the loses in the human touch when creating, but I’m also hoping we also don’t lose the human eye too.

If you could photograph anyone living or dead for an hour, who would it be?

I’d love to shoot pop singer Tyla for an hour. We’re from the same hometown (where I still live) so it doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it is I guess. Sentiments aside, I think she’s incredibly photogenic and being colourful is part of her brand so that would fit well with my shooting preferences and the eventual edit.

Thanks so much Koketso!