Dan Ratner, Veiled portraits (PEOPLE 2025)

Veiled Portraits explores portraiture beyond the literal—capturing people not just by how they look, but how they feel. Each image resists full clarity, embracing shadow, softness, and ambiguity to evoke something more intimate than exposure: an emotional truth just beneath the surface. These portraits are not hidden—they’re layered. Faces half-seen, gestures mid-thought, light brushing against skin. Each frame aims to preserve a sense of presence without resolution, identity without declaration. By blurring the line between what is shown and what is sensed, Veiled Portraits asks: can a portrait reveal more about the subject by showing less?

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.