Service definitions and service characteristics have played a key role in establishing service research as an academic field. In this article we discuss service portraits. We believe that discussions regarding definitions of services and service characteristics are important when understanding value creation through services. Our aim is to contribute to the discussion about the future of service research by means of a literature overview and empirical results from a study among scholars who have shaped this area of research. This discussion is motivated by criticism from service scholars who question the foundations for the discourse. The critique focuses on how services have been defined and operationalized in generic service characteristics. By portraying service, we view service as a perspective on value creation. We put emphasis on the lens of the customer and the value that is co-created with customers