1. The attributes of having a successful portrait is to have a clean face, emotion in to what you are being photographed for and a portrait show always show great detail to give you a portraying message. A portrait should always represent a sharp image to cut straight to the point. 2. The portrait that is being portrayed is not a successful photo because the image makes you think of something else than what the message of the photo could mean. It makes you think of a dark tone instead of what the photographer had in mind.