Young Girl

Thanks for viewing.

I'm not a big fan of photos made to look like paintings (although I've tried it as well), but I have to say this is very nice. At the risk of using a cliche, it's like a Monet tableau. What I find especially beautiful is the pose of the subject, which has something very delicate and private about it. You provide just enough detail to inform the viewer on what's going on, and yet the moment is presented in such a way that it is as though we have been afforded a whole vista on a teeming and sensual world, a personal world, a world closed off to the world at large - with its avid commerce and clamouring busyness - and therefore gleaming with the truth of a revelation. The stray bits of light on the fingers and thigh are magical: here is where the subject's attention and the viewer's come together; and the subject's lowered left eye-lid, together with the lock of hair over her right eye, is simply a stroke of genius: we see and we don't see at the same time; we see - and perhaps feel - what she sees, but her inward gaze, the door to that ultimate sequestered being, remains obscured. As compensation perhaps, the limpid sleeves of her dress generously and tenderly expose the warm tone of her skin - the same skin that is such a dominant theme in this picture. And the glistening red lips - well, they are a fine inciting touch, since they hint at the feeling and passion that we can only imagine: for what exactly is the girl doing? is she raising her dress to inspect a scratch, a cut? is the dark red of her lipstick reflected on her thigh with a fleck of blood? And what is it, anyway, that makes the sight of a young girl so immersed in herself - be it because of a sudden affliction or misfortune, or simply because of a minor adjustment to her clothing - what is it that makes our witnessing this utterly personal moment so acute and touching, almost to the point of heart-rending? To a certain extent, it is only natural that both our compassion and our resonance to a mysterious sort of beauty should be aroused. But let us not forget that how this happens depends largely on the mastery and eloquence with which the artist has depicted the scene. All I can say is: Bravo.

I have to agree with Francis....BRAVO... this is excellent

steven

I think Degas would have noticed it !

Every time I look at your work, I find something that grabs my attention and admiration. I've just taken note of this gem for the first time. A delight!