IvetII

I've seen plenty of images like this with the green background. This one is done good enough, but as another party noted, I too, would like to see the original for comparison. I have the feeling that the original is probably better and more interesting.

Sharp portrait.

 

I fail, however, to see what others seem to see, or even, see through their imaginative interpretation of what they're looking at.

 

The little girl with flamoyant green eyes is a pretty little thing to look at, but only for a few seconds. There is, sadly, no story, no emotional cataclyst, no message conveyed to me whatsover throughout this portrait.

Like previously said, it looks to me like some senior student portrait essay. Pretty on the outside, empty on the inside.

If only there was something around to give me a hint of where she is, what's her situation like, when's it taken or even why is she so plastic in her emotion-less pose.

 

Bravo on the POW, but I think there are much better portraits out there, even in your own photo.net portfolio Tanya.

 

Cheers,

 

Albert Z.

Kevin - The photo you posted is a far cry from the image chosen here as photo of the week. The child looks bored, the noisy detail in the tablecloth is extremely distracting and the background is bland and uninteresting. I get the feeling you are comparing a snapshot from a family photo album to this very unique and captivating POW.

 

Tanya, this is a very well done portrait. Although portraits are often seen as simple or unoriginal, the best of them are quite effective in their simplicity.

The carefully composed and relaxed folded arms do not jive with her plaintive expression. If anything her facial expression challenges the viewer on why the world has disappointed her. Something important that she wants is missing and there is an air of resignation. In contradiction to that, her arms folded and relaxed, as if you told her to place them that way, express a peaceful composure, all is right with the world. It is only my intuition and I may be reading more than is really present in her face but I wish you had taken more time to find the bodily expression that would be consistent with her facial expression. The color is pleasing like her arms but I think the truth about this model is possibly to do with being disturbed and not at ease. It is still a striking portrait and would stand out for me on a desk full of other portraits. She has a remarkable face. But the elements of your portrait of her that are pleasing fight with the elements that are disturbing.

THE AUTHOR:THANK YOU VERY MUCH,BEST WISHES TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED FOR THE POSITION OF 'PHOTO OF THE WEEK'!

AS WELL I'LL TAKE A NOTE OF ALL POSITIVE CRITIQUE!

 

AGAIN MY WARMEST REGARDS!

On a conceptual level (which is what i focus on the most) This image says much about the subjects state and humanity, is filled with quiet, subtle emotion and doesn't feel at all like a "photograph", but rather a dialogue with the subject herself. I can honestly ask "can't we all relate with this girl?".

 

I love it.

"Pretty on the outside, empty on the inside. (...) Bravo on the POW, but I think there are much better portraits out there, even in your own photo.net portfolio Tanya."

 

A perfectly respectable point of view, of course. But I, for one, would be very interested in seeing an example of a portrait that somebody who doesn't like this POW would consider great. After checking your gallery of photo.net favorites, Albert, I couldn't see any conventional portrait - only very original ones. I'd appreciate it if you could illustrate your opinion with an example or two.

 

And by the way, I found Kevin's post with photo attached very interesting. Now I can see that he likes seemingly understated portraiture; but at the same time, Kevin, the colors of the portrait you posted are very "strong" in their own (gentle) way - and certainly not accidentally so. Perhaps 'trying too hard" as well - just in a different way...?

 

And as far as expressions are concerned, I find a depth of authenticity in Ivet's expression, which is absent from your attachment. Which I think may be partly due to the fact that Ivet actually really looks into the camera - and even beyond - whereas the little girl with pink hair is in her own little world...

 

All this wouldn't even be worth mentionning, if it wasn't leading me to the following observation: there's something brutal and difficult in photographing more than just a pose when one takes a picture of a pair of eyes facing the camera. I think Ivet tells us a lot with her silent and almost absent look, and that's imo the true value of this POW.

Marc-

I cannot find the source but Diane Arbus says something which echoes what youﾒve said that has always stayed with me. She said something like: "I think it hurts a little, to be photographed." I don't remember her explaining it anymore than you do but it somehow feels truthful in a strange, perhaps unexplainable way.

You've said: Ivet tells us a lot with her silent and almost absent look, a statement which may also be unexplainable but I was wondering if you'd put into words what it is you think her eyes and her expression say to you. To me that is close to the heart of this portrait.

Ms. Gramatikova's picture is very, very carefully taken. It is almost perfect. She is an

excellent photographer. She is masterful in Photoshop. And the picture conforms to the

current trend of high-resolution hyper-realism. But I think her photographs would be

more exciting if she made some mistakes in an attempt at finding some unguarded

moments.

Have we gotten off on an apples and oranges discussion here? The shot proffered by

Kevin, whether liked or disliked, is not on the same playing field. It is a moment, a

document in life. This is a portrait and I don't think it pretends to be anything else. The

power of this photo is in the look and the eyes and in the contact one makes with this

young girl, which is supported by wonderful design and color. Regardless of how great

the other photographer is, that photo does not deliver, nor does it attempt to deliver, the

qualities I find wonderful here in the POW. Preferences for a type of photography does not

diminish another type.

 

So what is wrong with a photo that is set up, does anyone really think this is no better

than what one would get from the mall photographer? I want to know where your mall is if

you believe that and it is true!

 

When we see Avedon's work, do we complain about it being set up? I think we embrace

the images that transcend the individual and pass over those that merely present the

surface. Here, Tanya has determined to have us look into the eyes, to make contact. She

chose to catch a moment during her contact that is not the typical, expected look. Is it

posed or is the moment between poses. She caught the moment between, she caught a

moment of vulnerability, which is juxtapose to the security someone saw in the casual arm

posture. What a wonderful thing to see and capture--this dichotomy of life.

 

As to the tightness of the arms in the frame which was pointed out above, I think this

helps bring immediacy to this photo. We can get caught up in rules of composition, but if

you understand the rules, you realize that you can manipulate the scene and viewing by

breaking them. Manipulate, is that bad? Every decision we make as photographers is a

decision to manipulate what our photos say or mean and how people will look at them.

Too many times the decision is to meet someone elses expectations rather than express

our own

vision.

There is, sadly, no story, no emotional cataclyst, no message conveyed to me whatsover throughout this portrait.

With respect I think Ivet's face speaks volumes but you have to give yourself over to the photo and you may have to look closer. I see Ivet as a beautiful and complicated child. She does not wear her beauty as if it were a personal accomplishment, something for which she deserves the credit. She wears it as a gift the way the truly beautiful do when it is more than skin deep. Instead of cashing it in she graces others with it. She may not be aware yet of how pretty she is. I hope her parents teach her that her beauty is a blessing to be shared, even given away. But she is also complex more than most eleven year olds and she seems familiar with darker aspects of life. Already at eleven she seems to know some kind of heartbreak that is usually only experienced by adults and it's possible that even her extraordinary beauty may not save her from it.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/4773554-lg.jpg

The comparison with this photo and the one posted by Kevin is interesting but, as someone once said, you can't compare the Beatles to Bach. The aims are completely different. Tanya's piece succeeds in it's primary aim of seducing the viewer. The model is pretty, the colours are well conceived and executed, the lighting is subtle. It's a magazine or advertising shot, very very competently done. What it lacks for me is an emotional content or narrative that I can appreciate. After admiring the pretty girl with the pretty eyes and the pretty colours around her I was pretty much done with the photo. Yeah, it's good. Okay. Just like thousands of others. Nothing, after a little scrutiny, marks it out as different or special in anyway. If I'm wrong (it wouldn't be the first time) I'd love someone to give me a detailed explanation of what makes this photo standout. I'm really not buying Kent ^'s 'photo as a 19thC. russian novel' critique. If anything i get a 'hurry up and take the snap, I'm a bit bored,' sense in the little girl's expression. However, I suspect standing out was not the photographer's aim. Unlike the photographer of Kevin's posted pic the photographer here is not aiming for Art (with a capital A) but something altogether different. She aims, however consciously, for the mainstream, for glamour and for the qualities required on the commercial side of photography. That is not a criticism. I merely point it out-as much for Kevin as for Tanya.

Darrell, at our house we compare the Beatles to Bach often. Maybe not Mozart or

Beethoven, but Bach ? Yes. This "portrait' is a right honorable pseudo likeness of a young

girl. I am impressed initially by purely surface values. I am immediately aware of two

environments. One is the girl herself, almost as a cut out placed into an alternate greenish

universe. The other is emotional and implosive. Her gaze is full of inward revelation as

opposed to outward. She is fixed on the viewer , as though her salvation depends on some

kind of attachment that comes from the connection with another soul. All of this in a

plasticity that keeps us at a distance. Instead of barring her soul , the girl seems content

to keep a traditional pose from letting us in. If this were a painting, it would be just so

much fluff. Why? Because our interest never leaves the surface. I want to go deeper into

this girls world , but this image won't let me. Of all the portraits of Ivet that are in Tanya's

portfolio, this to me is the most seductive but least revealing. What is revealed here is the

power of the girls gaze. Not where the power comes from. There is little for our

imagination to summize. The great benefit of photography over painting is spontaniety.

The painter would want a pose like this to keep the model "comforable' for multiple

sittings. After much time ,looking at the model, the painter would synthesize all the

moments, one building on the next. In the end , the result might be to capture the pose

and transend the visual experience in a way that the Artist becomes one with the model.

Painters have time to go from appearance to essence. Photographers live in moments.

Sometimes the moments go by so fast, they can only be understood after the fact. But it is

those moments and how they are absorbed, that separate the painter and photographer.

This photograph is trying to be a painting, and it can't. The destination may look similar to

a painting, but the journey was completely different. All of the other shots of this girl are

photographs, owing their success to the moment and the spontaniety that the camera can

capture. Tanya is a very intuitive Artist. Her best work, in my opinion , stays away from all

the gimmicks at our disposal. To paraphrase Bob Dylan... I like her the most, when she

tries the least. Here she is trying too hard and she has alienated me from the essence of

the moment she was trying to capture.

Very nice... I really like her pose, both for its intimacy and composition. Color and tone are also quite good. Nice work, and congrats! Cheers, -Greg-

You wrote: "I was wondering if you'd put into words what it is you think her eyes and her expression say to you. To me that is close to the heart of this portrait."

 

I agree that this is an important issue, here. And I think you kind of gave the answer yourself, when you wrote that "she seems familiar with the darker aspects of life".

 

What Ivet tells me here is this: "Okay... I'm posing, trying to look "cool", but outer appearance is just a small piece of me... and who really cares for my inner garden, for my pains and sorrows... but ok, let's look at this camera, let's forget for a moment that I have a heart too..."

 

Ivet is not looking in the middle of the lens, but slightly above. Therefore she doesn't appear entirely present although she's facing the camera - that's the "absent" look I was refering to earlier...

 

My guess - and it really isn't more than just a (probably bad) guess, is that Ivet is already surprisingly aware, for her age, about her beauty. If she doesn't suffer from some other major sorrow in her life, then I suppose she at least has a little problem being "thorn" in 2 pieces: the beauty that everyone sees and her intelligence, that very few people see...

 

I'm totally serious saying that I'm sure, that this girl is very intelligent. If anyone doubted it, I think the other portrait on brown background is even more evident than this POW. Both are superb photos imo.

A nice portrait of a nice subject. But having seen many that fit this description, I'm about as interested in this one as she is in having to sit through yet another photo session. If I knew her, I'd prefer to remember her with a happier and more spotaneous representation. Technically, my biggest (but relatively minor) gripe is the high contrast. It creates unrealistic black shadows and unnaturally steep tonal gradients especially evident in the skin tones.

I find this to be pretty much a perfect portrait, or at least one that is "perfect in its imperfections." The framing and posing of the subject are quite nice, the colour and tone of the picture are harmonious and pleasing. I've read most of the critiques so far, but I have to say that as far as my tastes go, this hits the right buttons and needs not a single thing changed. It's good enough that I would frame it and put it up on my wall without ever having met the subject.

Dear All,

 

Too many interpretative narrations, too many juxtapositions of inner feelings trying to surpass others' reactions to this portrait lead me to forget about defending my own position and ask you to do the same.

 

If I find this portrait bland, uninteresting and very much emotionless, due to its static, over-worked and emotion-less pose, well, that's the feedback the girl and the photographer are giving me. No matter how many paragraphs of essays you try to to throw at me, if the photo itself doesn't convince me, you certainly won't.

 

All this reminds of an event I covered here in Montreal called "Le Mois de la Photo", or "The photography month" in English. It was a giant exhibition of pictures taken without aim, that had no composition, no emotions, no nothing, yet people from all ages gathered around them in conference rooms to discuss their "values", their "deep messages", their "amazing exhibition of talent and untimely yaddi yadda". I ended up taking pictures of my third coffee, trying to forget the blazing pretention of so many Fine Arts people trying to convince others, surely less educated, of the efficiency of the photographs presented, by as many lines of words as possible.

One great literary competition I tell you.

 

SO for those conscious and considerate of their own tastes and the tastes of others, those able to accept with humility that what they see as deep might be shallow to others - and viceversa - , JUST LET GO. Don't take it so seriously; go comment on, what you might think, other more deserving photos outthere, and relax.

 

Peace

 

Albert Z.

Well, it is visually pleasing in a cold and scary way. Technically , it is not a portrait since I don't know anything about this person by looking at it. She seems inhuman, almost like a replicant from Blade Runner. Kind of scary more than anything. If this is what you were going for, good job.

 

Keith

Keith... like a replicant from Blade Runner? Anyway, there shouldn't be anything that I could add considering all the views and comments above. But there is one thing though, that I noticed from the start, the first time I looked at this photo. Like her eyes, her hands captured my imagination. Usually the eyes make or break a potrait for me, but this time I was more captivated by her hands. It's like the hands of an adult, but she has the eyes of a child. And for me, I suspect she falls somewhere in between.

 

Yes, maybe too much PS. Yes, maybe too little context. All makes sense. But I looked at Ivet, and there was something there. I think the success of this image lies in the fact that it was posed, she meant to look at or above the lens - but she is really looking. At what, we can only debate and guess: and that! is the beauty of it.

 

Tanya, I am not a huge fan of PS'ed images, but neither do I mind if it is used - it's really a personal choice. But this is a fantastic portrait, and I personally would be proud to have been the creator of it. Well done. - JH -

This is a exceptional picture of a beautiful young lady. I love her eyes matching the surrounding colors. Very well done!

I like it more than my first viewing/critique, do not mind at all the photoshop so adeptly applied, and feel as before it is very strong technically and in composition. While less so than my first viewing, I still can't shake the feeling of the model being overly posed and/or coached. There is nothing wrong with setting up or manipulating a shot, but IMO it shouldn't be obvious enough that the viewer's thoughts move that way in short order, unless that was the photographers none-to-subtle intent. Here my thoughts went quickly to the photographer carefully folding the arms and positioning the head just so, and asking her model to "look angry... now sad... now look bored... etc." I do like the photo for the reasons I've mentioned, but not as much as several others from this very same portfolio. I suspect those mischievous little Elves had trouble agreeing on this one themselves, and thus felt this would make a perfect POW.

Is not the author saying that this is a womanchild - a beautiful womanchild, as so many have observed - who finds herself transfixed, suspended in a precise moment, in the inbetweentime of ontological, biological and chronological states?

 

 

No.

 

I think what the author was saying is, "Cross your arms like this...good..Now rest your chin on your arm, ok...tilt your head a little to the right. Perfect, now hold that."

 

Now, some critics think its horrible if that is the case, but regardless of whether the girl struck her own pose or the photographer told her how to pose...a wonderful portrait was captured.

While the pose, composition and expression on the face are very good, I dont like very much the very digital looking, overprocessed style of the photo. Whether it happened in-camera or on the computer, it looks not very alive and natural to me, whereas the situation and the girl would have looked great more naturally. I feel that little by little there is a shift in the majority's perception towards a more digital esthetics.

I personally do not like it too much...

This image is absolutely stunning, partly because of the sheer beauty and elegance of the young girl, but there is more. Even the perspective on Ivet's head is slightly large, but perfect given her eyes, such that the visual effect compensates the perspective, and this image effectively balances all the imaging aspects at the photographer's disposal to convey a moment of being and perceiving beauty.