--- description: As 2014 draws to a close, we take a look back at the photographic trends that defined 2014 title: How Photojournalists Turned to Portraiture in 2014 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e40396136a865/69876efacd684878f7098a44/ways-of-seeing-portraits-598.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ways of Seeing: Portrait Series by [Phil Bicker](/author/phil-bicker/) ## Phil Bicker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 31, 2014 9:00 AM CUT  This combination of 6 images taken between Jan. 24, 2014 and Jan. 27, 2014, shows Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the worldís largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting their country has undergone. Since the 2002 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, some 3.8 million Afghans have returned to their home country, according to the U.N.ís refugee agency. This combination of 6 images taken between Jan. 24, 2014 and Jan. 27, 2014, shows Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the worldís largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting their country has undergone. Since the 2002 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, some 3.8 million Afghans have returned to their home country, according to the U.N.ís refugee agency.Muhammed Muheisen—AP by [Phil Bicker](/author/phil-bicker/) ## Phil Bicker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 31, 2014 9:00 AM CUT _Whether through digital channels, print or on exhibit, the impact, influence and reach of the still image has never been greater. But with so many images fighting for our attention, how do photographers make work that most effectively stands out and connects with an audience. In this seven-part series, TIME looks back over the past 12 months to identify some of the ways of seeing—whether conceptually, aesthetically or through dissemination—that have grabbed our attention and been influential in maintaining photography’s relevance in an ever shifting environment, media landscape, and culture now ruled by images._ **The Portraits Series** This year there was a plethora of portrait series taken by photojournalists, who consciously chose to isolate their subjects from their context and deliver typological studies of them in multiple. For the past four years, Associated Press photographer Muhammad Muheisen ([TIME’s Best Wire Photographer of the Year 2013](http://lightbox.time.com/2013/12/10/muhammed-muheisen-time-picks-the-best-wire-photographer-of-2013/ "undefined")) has consistently produced strong documentary work of daily life from the slums of Islamabad, Pakistan. In January this year, he filed a series of images to the news wires that were widely published to much acclaim. Unlike his previous work, which was shot in a traditional reportage manner, these were close-up portraits of Afghan child refugees photographed against simple backdrops. The poignancy and power of these bare images is reinforced through the repetition of individual dirty faces and their emotive, direct gaze. Amongst the many photojournalist who took a similar approach, were [Anastasia Taylor-Lind](http://www.anastasiataylorlind.com/ "undefined")—who produced a simple and nuanced portrait series of individual protestors in Kiev’s Independence Square in Ukraine (using Instagram and Facebook to share her entire process with her followers and her subjects), [Pete Muller](http://www.petemullerphotography.com "undefined") who photographed men—both soldiers and civilians—in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for his study into the causes of male-perpetrated violence, [Andrew Quilty](http://andrewquilty.com "undefined") who made two portrait series related to the war against Islamic State Militants—one of Syrian Kurdish refugee women who had fled the fighting and another of Iraqi Kurdish militia men in training to seize back their homeland, and [Andrea Bruce](http://www.andreabruce.com/ "undefined") who as part of an innovative collective project with fellow [Noor](http://noorimages.com/ "undefined") photographers Nina Berman, Stanley Greene and Alixandra Fazzina took photo booth portraits—in a converted tent—of refugees and their cherished possessions, at the Zaatari camp in Jordan. On a lighter note [Philipp Engelhorn’](http://www.philippengelhorn.com/ "undefined")s images of beach goers in Quindao, China, wearing strange masks and suites to protect themselves from the sun and jellyfishes weirdly recall Rineke Dijkstra’s early 90’s beach portraits, and [Martina Bacigalupo](http://www.martinabacigalupo.com/page.html "undefined")‘s series of found portraits from the oldest photographic studio in Gulu, Northern Uganda—discarded and faceless images after passport portraits have been stamped from the prints—offer a surreal take on the approach. More recently [Daniel Berehulak](http://www.danielberehulak.com/ "undefined") took a clean and graphic approach to augment his powerful long term reportage work covering Ebola in Africa, with a series of strong, stark, black and white portraits of Ebola workers that showed the disease from another equally powerful perspective. [_Read Part 1 – Direct to Audience_](http://time.com/3625800/ways-of-seeing-photography-direct-to-audience/ "undefined"). [_Read Part 2 – Documentary Still Life_](http://time.com/3626384/ways-of-seeing-documentary-still-life/ "undefined")_._ [_Read Part 4 – The Contemporary Photo Essay_](http://time.com/3626915/ways-of-seeing-the-contemporary-photo-essay/ "undefined"). [_Read Part 5 – From Stills to Motion_](http://time.com/3626640 "undefined"). **_Phil Bicker_** _is a Senior Photo Editor at TIME_  This combination of 6 images taken between Jan. 24, 2014 and Jan. 27, 2014, shows Afghan refugee children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the worldís largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting their country has undergone. Since the 2002 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, some 3.8 million Afghans have returned to their home country, according to the U.N.ís refugee agency. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Afghan refugee girl, laiba Hazrat, 6, poses for a picture, while playing with other children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Jan. 24, 2014. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Afghan refugee girl, Naseebah Zarghoul, 6, poses for a picture, while playing with other children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Jan. 24, 2014. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Afghan refugee girl, Zarlakhta Nawab, 6, poses for a picture, while playing with other children in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Jan. 25, 2014. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  J. Sam T. G. Siakor, a sanitation and hygiene supervisor at a rural Ebola clinic run by the International Medical Corps in Suakoko, Liberia, Oct. 16, 2014. Daniel Berehulak–The New York Times/Redux  Mabel Musa, an ambulance nurse at a rural Ebola clinic run by the International Medical Corps in Suakoko, Liberia, Oct. 19, 2014. Daniel Berehulak–The New York Times/Redux  Pares Momanyi, a nursing supervisor from Kenya at a rural Ebola clinic run by the International Medical Corps in Suakoko, Liberia, Oct. 12, 2014. Daniel Berehulak–The New York Times/Redux  Eugene, 22 Protestor From L’viv region 24th February 2014\. Maidan anti-government protests, Kiev, Ukraine. Anastasia Taylor-Lind  Anastasia, 18 Mourner From Kiev 23rd February 2014\. Maidan anti-government protests, Kiev, Ukraine. Anastasia Taylor-Lind  Oleksiy, 20 Protestor From Poltova region 23rd February 2014\. Maidan anti-government protests, Kiev, Ukraine. Anastasia Taylor-Lind  Beach 1, Quindao, China. Aug. 11-16, 2014 Philipp Engelhorn  Beach 1, Quindao, China. Aug. 11-16, 2014 Philipp Engelhorn  Beach 1, Quindao, China. Aug. 11-16, 2014 Philipp Engelhorn ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3626026/ways-of-seeing-portrait-series/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3626026/ways-of-seeing-portrait-series/"},"headline":"Ways of Seeing: Portrait Series","datePublished":"2014-12-31T09:00:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:41:46.054Z","description":"As 2014 draws to a close, we take a look back at the photographic trends that defined 2014","url":"https://time.com/3626026/ways-of-seeing-portrait-series/","keywords":["LightBox","2014","photography","Photojournalism","Portrait","Daniel Berehulak","Behind the Photos","Anastasia Taylor-Lind","portraiture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e40396136a865/69876efacd684878f7098a44/ways-of-seeing-portraits-598.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Phil Bicker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/phil-bicker/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e5e40396136a865/69876efacd684878f7098a44/ways-of-seeing-portraits-598.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pakistan Refugees Photo Essay","caption":"Pakistan Refugees Photo Essay","creditText":"Muhammed Muheisen—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3626026/ways-of-seeing-portrait-series/","name":"Ways of Seeing: Portrait Series"}}]}] ```