Irving penn
http://dodho.com/irving-pennthe-first-great-portraitist/
i really enjoy looking at this guys work, i mean iv seen a lot of portraits on the internet, in books, in magazines and exhibition, iv been to the edinburgh portrait gallery and seen some really good portraits as well as some really poor portraits as in magazines and on the internet there just seems to be a contrast and it is a harsh contrast between the really captivating portraits that make you feel like you are the one taking the photo like you have just had the conversation with the model that this guy has clearly had and produced that image yourself, and the not so good portraits that make you feel nothing that there was nothing said before the photo was taken its just a snap shot taken of someone who just happens to of come to the studio. this guy capture the emotion that he wants and clearly put into his photo it may help that he has taken photo's of the more extravagantly famous people, like presidents of the USA, though i do not believe that this had anything to do with it, i believe that he has defined this as a genre.
i thinks it the quality his photo's have, but im not sure really..    
tutor told us not to do this theres to much shadow around her head, which means the eye cannot separate her hair from the background. but i like this photo because of this, it means you get to see her face in a lot more detail than you would if you could see her hair