Step into photographer Jerry Siegel’s Chamblee studio, and the pictures filling the space have a commonality: compelling faces. From a child radiating innocence while playing in an Alabama field to an Atlanta drag performer in full glam, there’s a story seemingly lurking behind each expression.

In sharp contrast to the filter-laden, orchestrated selfies populating social media, Siegel captures reality and humanity through a documentary-style lens. And this perspective recently helped land 13 of his portraits of nine artists in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. ...