Welcome to my portfolio! I'm glad you found your way here. My name is Joe Portolano. I work out of a home based studio  in Fulton, MD, a suburb mid-way between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. 

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While I've dabbled in most every genre of photography over the years, my true passion lies in the world of portraiture. The philosopher in me experiences the world as both body and spirit. How wonderful it is then, that images, like a marvelously told story, can evoke in us not just thoughts for the mind, but emotions for the body as well. That emotional reaction is what gives an image depth that’s lacking in an everyday snapshot.

My job as portrait photographer is to be immersed in the moment during a photo shoot and choose the moments of time that best tell the story of the person in the picture.

Form and function, color and composition, light and shadow are some of the tools I use to create impactful images.  The interplay of each of these element, when done right, asks, even commands us to recognize the presence of that which is unseen – the person behind the image.

Anyone can take a picture. But portraiture as an art form asks for more than a record of the exterior "look" of a person. It provides a glimpse into that unseen, invisible, ongoing wonder called life.  I hope you'll see at least a little of that in my work.

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