The film tells the story of Wilhelm Brasse - a pre-war portrait photographer, participant and witness of the most tragic chapters of 20th century history. "Portraitist" is the story of a photographer whose work became a curse and salvation at the same time during the war. Photography was Wilhelm Brasse's lifelong passion, and he had already learned its technical and artistic secrets before the war. He worked in a large atelier on the main street of Katowice, where he was famous for his beautiful portraits. At the time, he didn't even imagine that he would soon be making several thousand portraits a month. Brasse ended up in a special reconnaissance commando of the Political Department, known as the camp Gestapo. Here, under the supervision of the SS, he kept a photographic record of the camp from its inception to evacuation.