Comment concerning the picture title:
No picture (and for that matter: no depiction, be it verbal or otherwise) will ever show an object "as it really is", since the complexity of the object naturally transcends the complexity of its depiction. Furthermore, the outside observer's perspective on both the object and its depiction is also naturally limited; e.g., any picture of a bottle will only show one of its sides. It's the same with portrait photography. One could rightfully claim that a gaudy, flashy, artificial setup precludes the possibility of a holistic and comprehensive representation of the person depicted. But so does any other setup...