Insularity

I think the crop works better than the original posting. The piece on the right was drawing more of my attention than the model. I don't really understand the message of the photo, if there is one. To me, the background setting seems rough and dark and the model is somewhat out of place. If she were dirty or had a more fearful expression (as in being in the wrong place at the wrong time), it might make more sense to me. Maybe that was the photographer's intention - to make the viewer question why she is there in that particular setting.

I'm sorry, I can't understand why this picture attracted so much suspicion, while the one that was chosen for last week was celebrated as superlative... I find this naked, skinny girl pressed on a cold piece of metal more interesting than some shadows on whatever surface... and anyway I think that Oleg's portfolio deserves attention. In my modest opinion he's a good and meditative photographer... But maybe it's just a matter of tastes...

I think the "metal thing" is a door. I see the woman as sneaking away from someone or something. There's a sort-of key-hole on the metal object as well, though in an odd spot. But then again, there's a lot of odd things about the image.

While I think this is an attractive photo, just from a discussion point of view, I find an inconsistency in the skin tone. The hands look a bit sooty, the face tone is not harmonious with the rest of the body's skin. But the biggest improvement could be in the character of the model. She is not communicating much besides "I'm here, what do you want me to do."

The cowering body, hunched shoulders, arms drawn in close, and facing into a corner

suggest fear, shame, perhaps both. Yet the face with the slight smile suggests

interest and positive anticipation. I can't reconcile what I read in the body with

what I read in the face. It's as if a model is posing for some kind of picture, and the

communication between the model and photographer just isn't occurring.

I don't find it very interesting and think it's not vey good. I'm actually kind of bored looking at it. But, the lighting is actually very very good. I think its just the subject and idea of the picture that are bad. Though I'm not trying to be insulting, my comments kind of come off that way and I'm sorry about the bluntness.

very good raw and natural

 

good work

I am not an expert or critic.But I think the image would look better in B & W. Skin tones of face and body do not match. The expression on her eyes & lips do not match with her body language.

There is an anatomically bizarrness in her back posture that is not aestheticaly pleasing, as well as discrepancy between her and what she is leaning on. The door compets for attention, and takes too large a place in composition. Her face expression is interesting and light is good, but not enough to hold the composition. Sorry Oleg, , not easy to be a POW....

Very boring and weird image. The woman's pose is uncomfortable looking. She's obviously working hard to hide any trace of her breasts. What's the point?

I much prefer the crop over the original. The original almost splits the image in half and less of the object at the right is an improvement. There also something a bit unnatural in her posture. As for the moles, keep them. They're a part of who she is

I like parts of this photograph and other parts such as the object on the right I could do without. Her hands draw my eyes far more than her face as they are very gracefull and quite out of context with the rest of the image. Over all I like it though!

Chuck Maulau-Mars -

to stage everything and create a scene is a talent in and of itself; a common technique used by artists to show things they cant otherwise: fabrication.

I am not dead-set against staging even though I prefer candid shots. I trust them more. But even a staged shot must be believable and true. There must be something real happening in the frame. Continuing with the metaphor of staging, there is a world of difference between Brando sitting in the back of a cab trying to explain to his brother how he could have been somebody and Doris Day making eyes at Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk. I don't believe this photograph anymore than I believe Doris Day. Here the model's expression is as if there was no camera and the photog is asking me to go along with that. But everything, her make-up, her posture, her coy little smile testifies that she's very aware there is a camera there. Several others from the photog's portfolio are the same. If you are satisfied with a pretty subject, pretty digital effects, pretty color and a lot of skin and you don't crave something authentic and meaningful then this picture will please you. That's how I see it. You may see it differently.

exactly alice

supposedly provocative expressions.
I don't believe any of these.
not believable to me--
again--
another--
another--
example--
example--

Kent, I'm with you on this 100%. But if you open one of those really, really thick women's magazines like Vogue or Elle, so many of the ads show women with similar jaded, bored-with-it-all-because-it-has-exceeded-my-attention-span-but-am-I-hot? look. This has been going on for decades and I don't get it. It's a kind of spastic apathy posing as too hip for this world. I'm not saying Oleg has bought into this, but it is a prevalent look in the fashion world, much validated with huge advertising bucks.

Sorry, I don't get it.

 

If people feel something is meaningless and void of value, then that is their viewpoint. A sentence like that would best be prefixed by something like "I feel...". To say that something definitely is such, is blatant assumption.

 

For me, the image conjurs up all types of possible situations and events which allows me to explore with my heart and imagination and not just my head filled with its technical data. The photographer has combined their obvious post-processing skill with a well thought out, well worked image. Achieving this image with such modest equipment (as mentioned earlier) is a great feat. I think its wonderful...

Peter -
My last statement. Otherwise I will hear from Mary.

I'm sure you're right. I think those ads are throw-away pictures. A woman looks at them for all of 3 seconds and notes the product name in her memory. If the fantasy, even if it's a cheap fantasy, is enough to suggest that the product even MIGHT transform her lackluster, everyday, fight traffic, go to work, come home, fix a meal, feed the kids, and go to bed exhausted life she's inclined to consider the product. Especially if she needs the mascara or hair color anyway and she's already disappointed that the last mascara or hair color didn't transform her into something she is not. In those ads, the photo doesn't matter really, it's all about the product. And authenticity doesn't matter since it's the fantasy that people buy. But advertising is very different than art. One tells you a lie and the other tells you the truth.

Kent

 

I don't think Oleg goes to the same Hollywood movies you go to see. Try lift this work of art into the releam of an Art Museum. Why does the Mona Lisa smile like she smiles?

 

Try to consider the colors, textures to create a mood; and, some other theme than to sell a fad. She has no brand name clothes on. You contradict yourself.

Congrats. I love it. Is the picture believable ? Not really. Does it need to be ? IMHO, no. Her eyes are engaging the camera. Her expression and pose say something to me, and that's much more important, at least for an artistic posed portrait.

 

The suggested crop would be ok, but... a square is a square is a square... and can't be replaced by a format that's *almost* a square, unless we are prepared to lose symetry, and to lose the existing balance in this silent, enigmatic *dialog* between her feminity and the cold metal. This picture is not all about her only: the metal is much more than a background, it part of the essence of this photo's symbolism.

 

Is her pose *awkward* ? Well, yes, in the sense that it's almost a foetal position, with a weirdly rounded spine... But *awkward* is the norm, not the exception, when you are symbolically confronting two opposites within the same frame. And awkward is the norm too in the modern world of artistic portraiture - or in the world of fashion as well.

 

All in all, I feel we shouldn't be too litteral, or the tree will hide the forest. In this genre, one needs to step away from realism a little, and look for expression and symbols.

 

As for the colors, I love them too, but find them perhaps just a tad too saturated, with a few oranges patches on the face. Then, should we perhaps see a little more than just the thumb of the model's left hand ? Maybe. Not a major issue anyway.

 

Conclusion: a great shot, for me.

I have to agree with Stephen about the slight smile, it is not consistent with the body pose of "fear". The inconsistency is no necessarily a problem it just changes the theme of the photo, I would also say she has a fun/playful look in her eyes (or eye) which would suggest it could be a playful/mischievous pose. Is that intentional? Who cares, it is there.

 

Anyway there is loads of expression from the model, whatever it is, and this is a great photo that really gets you thinking.

Somewhat traditional in stye almost old school in composition ,might be interesting in B&W,I am impressed with this work,unclutterd as well,thanx.

I think this is a good photo that conveys both a feeling of vulnerability and furtiveness. I personally think that this would be stronger in b/w myself, but it holds up either way. The lighting and composition are fine as far as pose but something both my SO and I thought when looking at this photo is that the placement of the left hand is a little distracting - it might have been better to drop it behind the model in shadow so you only see the right hand on the door.

Critics have panned me for being a bad negative critic before, but this is what I think. The crop to me is diabolical - almost everybody has complained about the right-hand side, and the bottom edge is plain wrong too; the fact that it slices the lady's torso clean in half doesn't help. Once you cut all that out, there is too much dead space to the left. In my opinion (and that is all it is) this photo can be cut dramatically as shown and not lose anything (okay, I admit there is a vulnerability inherent in the original which has been lost, which came through the juxtaposition of nakedness with unforgiving surroundings).

Do not like it. Had a look at other pics produced by Oleg.

Some of them may be considered as close to being art. Some of them are just uninteresting nudity. A couple of them are on the verge of being mildly pornographic. All in all - nice girls, good processing skills, not much in the way of a concept (with couple of exceptions). Or maybe I just don't get it. Possible.