In conversation: when documentary met portraiture

How do you separate a portrait photographer from a documentarian? It might seem obvious at first, but in reality the boundary between the two genres is often blurred. Documenting stories often includes photographing people, while the aim of many portrait photographers is to tell a subject's story.

To examine the intersection between the two genres, Canon Ambassador and photojournalist Ilvy Njiokiktjien joined three photographers from the worlds of documentary and portraiture: Laura El-Tantawy, a documentary photographer and Canon Ambassador who splits her time between London and Cairo; Canon Ambassador Helen Bartlett, a family photographer from London whose images often have documentary influences; and James Musselwhite, a studio portrait photographer, also based in the UK.

Between them, they span the thresholds of both genres, making them ideal to discuss the similarities and differences between them. As EOS R System shooters, they're also primed to compare how Canon technology helps them perform in each genre.

Here's what happened when documentary met portraiture.

Ilvy: So this is a question for all three of you. What are the similarities and differences between documentary photography and portraiture?

Laura: There's actually a lot of crossover in what all of us do. The way we approach it is perhaps quite different, but there's an aspect of documentary to each one of us.

I see myself as somebody that documents people and their stories, so the intersection is that both [genres] tell people's stories. I'm often directing people, but I look for the moments between, when their eyes look somewhere I haven't told them to look. That becomes as close to documentary within that portrait as I can get. I think the difference is that, in portraiture, you're more in control, whereas in documentary, you're much less in control.

To define it, I see documentary photography as having less interaction and portraiture having a bit more. But certainly, I'm always flitting from one to the other and back again, and not really worrying too much about the sort of specific wording and differentiation between the shots.

Ilvy: I also think for clients, especially for families who might not have knowledge about photography, it's just important what the family looks like. Not if it's specifically a documentary or portrait.

Helen: Exactly.

Ilvy: Do any of you look to other genres of photography for inspiration? As a photojournalist, I do this a lot with portraiture, actually.

Laura: I do, but in the last few years I've been self-editing and not really looking at quite as much photography. I think it's a way to protect my personal vision and to nurture it without other work psychologically seeping into the way that I see things. But part of it was also because oftentimes, as photographers, we just feel like there's nothing new to look at. So I wanted to look at external influences, from film, music and theatre, and just life in general.

James: Alluding to what Laura said, I often try to look outside of photography for inspiration. When I'm in London, I always check out the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. You can go back through history to any era and see these gargantuan paintings with so much effort and detail and storytelling.

Helen: I really enjoy landscape photography and like to incorporate the environment into my portrait work. At the moment, I'm getting most of my photographic inspiration from sports photography. Sports photographers have an extraordinary creativity in scenarios that they're in no way influencing and I find that really interesting as something that I can take into my work.

Ilvy: Let's move to the Canon EOS R System. I'm very curious to know which cameras you're shooting on.

Helen: I'm shooting on two EOS R5s now. My standard kitbag would be the Canon RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM and RF 50mm F1.2L USM, and then either the RF 85mm F1.2L USM DS or the RF 100mm F2.8L MACRO IS USM. I have an RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM if I need something wider or if I want to be a little bit less conspicuous and go with one camera and one lens. And I've got an RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens for when I want a bit more distance.

James: I'm currently shooting on the EOS R6. I've got an adapter so it fits all my old lenses. But about eight months ago, I changed most of them to RF lenses. My workhorse is the Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM. It's the one I take on every shoot and I've found the change so slick. It's been revolutionary in terms of the way that we work in-studio and on location as well.

Laura: I have an EOS R5. My go-to lens, like James, is the Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM. That's the one I usually use all the time.

Ilvy: I'm also using the EOS R5 and I have the Control Ring Mount Adapter EF-EOS R, so I use the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM, the EF 50mm f/1.2L USM and the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. I'm quite liking the fact that with the adapters I can keep using the lenses that I already had. I mean, everything is so sharp and the adapter ring is perfect. It just works.

Hear more of Ilvy's thoughts about the EOS R System in this video:

Ilvy: So why did you all make the upgrade to the EOS R System, and was it a big change for you?

Laura: I was on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III before that so, for me, it was definitely a big change. The EOS R5 is much smaller, much lighter. I love it, as I was already making a transition into video and the EOS R5 just seems to work more naturally [for video] in the way that it's set up. I find that now I'm thinking much less about how to go to the next step to switch settings on my camera midway as I'm shooting something and it just all comes very naturally.

Helen: When the EOS R5 came out, I used it for a couple of weeks. I couldn't go back. It's such an instinctive camera to use and there's so much that helps us as photographers be inventive, creative and playful. For me, the electronic viewfinder has been an absolute game changer because I work entirely in monochrome. Having my viewfinder in monochrome, I can see how the tones and the light are changing as I'm working and it's allowed me to be bolder and faster because I know how it's going to look.

James: I took the EOS R6 on and, as everyone else has said, it's so intuitive. I remember the first studio shoot I did. A family brought a miniature schnauzer dog and I loved the autofocus, particularly with the RF lenses. It's quick and pin-sharp. I've never seen anything like it. You can choose whether face recognition detects people or animals. When I wanted the dog to be in focus, I could get that every time.

Ilvy: And with documentary photography, of course, the silent shutter is also lovely.

Ilvy: My last question. If you were to trade jobs with each other for a day, who would you trade with and what do you think you would learn from the experience?

Laura: I'd trade with Helen because I love the pictures she posts of families. I constantly struggle with taking pictures of my own family. They often wonder if I'm really a photographer as my worst pictures are the ones I take of them, because they're never relaxed and themselves. So I'd love to take some pictures of my family that show who they are and show them loving life.

Helen: I love how Laura's work looks at people and their place in the world, but also that broader social context. I love the visual connection between the people in her projects and the photographic techniques and abstract nature of things. But then Ilvy, I love your long-term projects because I've never done anything like that. Obviously, I'd also learn a lot from James too. I mean, I don't know how to use flash, so that would be a good starting point.

James: I'm going to sit on the fence. From Helen, I'd learn how to take a family photo that everyone can enjoy, because I'm always so focused on family photography primarily. And Laura has the bravery to use her skill to talk about social and political issues. I still don't really understand what my position is in the world and I'm certainly not brave enough to put it out there. So that's what I'd learn from both.

Ilvy: That's beautiful. I'd have difficulty picking myself. But the thing I know the least about is using flash and lighting. So James, I would switch with you to try it all out. I look at your images and I don't even know how you take them.

James: Nor do I.

These four pros are all experts in their fields, but bringing them together to discuss their craft demonstrates how much overlap there is between the two types of photography – and how having the right kit can be crucial for realising your creative vision and capturing the content you love.