House of Wax

I agree with Alberta, the title well work with this image, indeed the model doesn’t seems relaxed here at all and the eyes with the stiff hands around the west of the body at this from, clearly indicates so.

If this is what been required for this work to look like for a commercial purpose, then let it be, I do not need to view the other images in this series to make up my mind about this POW as it is here been selected to present jus one image, I am not doing any commercial work, that why I have no clear idea as this is how the image for that use to appear, I always thought for such image content, specially with the present of the cat and the surrounding contest, this is a typical lay out and the atmosphere would look as it is here.
I would say bravo for the photographer having his image been selected as a POW and thanks to the Elvis selection and wishing every one all of the best.

Superb photo......to say the least. Very interesting theme, lighting, and contrast. Cheers!

Superb photo......to say the least. Very interesting theme, lighting, and contrast. Cheers!

Amey, the you attached have nothing to do with the POW, I do not think this is the right place to show your images, if every one would that we will loose the idea of a POW, I hope the moderator will delete this image as it is just disturbing the purpose of a POW.

Beautiful image and composition, but I feel like maybe a different breed of cat would have complimented the model better. This beautiful woman looks like she's next to a creepy gremlin.

I'm a sucker for fine detail, and this photograph has lots of it. I also think the square crop works perfectly, keeping the viewer's eye focused on the subjects. For whatever it's worth, I think it's outstanding work.

I agree with Rashed. The "Springtime in the Mountains" photo has absolutely nothing to do with the present POW discussion & needs to be pulled

" It is hard to walk by this photograph without commenting as the vibrancy simply draws one to be expressive ...& ...Yay! A Photo of the Week that I just love - well composed, expertly staged and shot..." above 4 my side are quite enough, the spice i might add is important for my view or impact it has on me is that reminds me of an old Portra NC, shot with, lets say Yashica mat, poorly processed and yet BRILIANT... :-), i can even smell the room ...

I think this is a very striking photo. The similar intensity of both the cat and the models eyes really make you think about the photo and maybe wonder what it is saying. Well done!

It reminds me of one of those old Victorian big framed oil painting that you would see in a mansion or castle. But the subject (model) is a whole lot more attractive than what is usually on the wall. Even the ugly cat works, it’s so ugly it’s captivating. The same fixed stare on the model and cats face seems to add a sense of liveliness. The photo is really well done. I for one like the lighting and clarity. It’s got a modern day precision with an older time of appeal. Very nice.

It is nicely done: pretty model, interesting cat, good lighting, etc. But, other than being a shot for a commercial portfolio to show what you can do, what is the point? Is this supposed to be a portrait? For me its just a product shot showing maybe a dress or something. Nice for a catalog, not for hanging on the wall though.

Great Idea for a shot  .

Not keen on the arms and hands they look awkward and dirty grey.

The flowers behind the cat are doing very little. they could perhaps be used to give her hands something to do.

The wax effect was perfetly reached! Great composition on one original theme! Fine colors and definition!

You posted this image to evoke a response, so here is mine.
I have read some of the responses and have a slightly different interpretation, for which I am probably going to get flamed.
Victorian...yes, but there may be a Freudian double-entendre backdrop to all of this.
The House of WAX may not be referring to WAX figures, but to a Victorian beauty parlor. She could be a "Waxed" figure vs a "Wax" figure. Perhaps the woman is shown proudly diplaying her "Brazilian" Wax in a typical Victorian manner. This is done via the clever use of a hairless cat and the position of the hands and arms. (Freud would have been proud.) The wax-like textures adds to the play on words, as well.
I can imagine some husband commissioning such a painting, back in the day, for his smoking room or library and placing it over the fireplace.
If this was the intent of the photographer, then I think it was truely brilliant. If not, then perhaps my convoluted interpretation is.
As I always say when interpreting art, "There is more than one way to skin a cat." (Pun intended.)

Technically very well done. Good lighting, set design and timing to catch the cat. It does give a nod to the old master formal look. I don't get the house of wax reference. They look real to me so the title is a bit confusing. The human model does look somewhat stiff so maybe that's the idea.

I wish there was a better personal relationship between the cat and the model. It seems like two seperate photos with each oblivious to the other. This divides the composition. Perhaps this is why some felt this was a composite. A touch, a look or different positioning between the two could have made this picture stronger.

The title tells us that this photograph is to be taken tongue-in-cheek. I sense this is a mild spoof of academic art, stiff Victorian paintings and pictorialist photography.

The model looks almost as if she is alive and the cat almost as if it is not stuffed. (I am glad to read it was neither stuffed not drugged but was a normal feisty cat.) The typical pictorialist photographer would have a fit with remarks like these. I imagine this photographer would smile and say, "You got it!"

What happens when the novelty wears off? Are we left with only a dull pictoricalist photograph imitating mediocre painting? Much of the photography that tends to appear regularly as Photo of the Week very often falls into that category. But not this one. This is because it plays with heavy-handed art with a light touch.

The "wax" lady is quietly charming and sexy. The "wax" cat in contrast is horrid. They harmonize in that way. You are happy that lady is not wax and wish that the cat was.

On top of that, there is something close to perfection in the way this photograph is rendered. It is done with the seeming ease that shows that the artist is totally at home with his craft. Good craftsmanship does not call attention to itself. This is the case here. This is ironic because technique is the primary subject of this photograph.

I was prepared not to like this photograph, initially thinking that it was just another overdone and cliched piece of pictorialist crud that the "elves" so often drag in. Well, at it turns out, I think it is one of the best photos I've seen on this website in weeks. It draws you in like the great paintings of the Dutch Masters. And once you are drawn in you realize it is funny. Yes, damn funny.

While one could argue endlessly about the tonality and other artistic aspects of the image, I would not argue that it is interesting. And for me personally, it is attractive and has a whimsical appeal. And as one who has tried "herding cats" many times, I know the patience and forethought that goes into incorporating pets into a scene. I just wonder what the cat thinks about sharing the spotlight with a mere human?

A superb image with a certain amount of humor. Congrats.

Have not words... Love it! Bravo, Ben! Excellent and very artistik work! Regards!... obviously you found, the only one, mild "Sphinks" in the world :)

@Elena Pencheva - To be honest, nobody really knows how hard it was to take this photograph, just me and crew :) Believe me this cat was not "mild"... "Sphynx" does not behave like let's say "average" cat especially in foreign environmet.

My, my. REmbrandt with an edge in this post-photographic era. i would say not photograph of the week but of the whole season!! Beauty!!

I like it. It works. Given the context provided (such as the photo titled "Grotesque" of this same model, and the equally stylized "closed in the past") this photo appears to successfully convey the photographer's intentions.

I must be the only one here who doesn't like it. I admit that the detail and composition are wonderful, but the overall effect makes it seem very strange, even foreign, to me. I know that it is several levels above "Elvis on Velvet," but somehow it tends in that direction for me.

Ben, I love your work, and this is obviously the work of a photographer who is incredibly technically proficient--and I imagine that it was exactly what you were striving and hoping for. But sometimes one likes what one likes, and dislikes what one dislikes--and there is no particular reason for it. So, I am sitting here trying to figure out what I don't like about it. I think that finally it seems like two separate pictures to me, not to say that I am claiming that it is a composite, nor that that would make it less worthy. I mean simply that the girl and the cat do not work together for me--unless one is indeed striving for some degree of incongruity.

Oh, well, in any case, my failure to appreciate it is finally mine alone. Nothing personal, Ben. I love your work in general. This one just doesn't do it for me.

--Lannie

I think the disconnect could be because it has a sort of commercial feel to it in some ways. Maybe an editorial feel, but it does need some blanks to be filled in. Once you fill in those blanks, done with headlines in both editorial and commercial work, I think any disconnect probably would disappear or be minimized. I actually loved the description Louis Handwerker gave to the image, it would certainly explain her upright attentiveness...

Anyway, this is certainly a different sort of image than what most create and view here.