Teju Cole brings a conflicting perspective to what individuals immediately assume about portraiture. He is able to illuminate the idea that portraiture has been a style of photographing a person prior to the establishment of photography. Through portraits, the image is able to convey a truth, whether it be about a person, a situation, or an emotion. Cole is able to look past the aesthetic, and the normal interpretation of the picture, and really excavate a larger meaning from it. He touches upon the idea that, as an audience, people determine emotion from facial structure (I.e. “foreheads are deemed intelligent”). As a photographer, I have found extreme interest in portraiture and really enjoyed reading his interpretation of specific pictures.