Anxiety

Nice series of B/W portraits!

That's a great compliment from YOU old friend...

I think the shot itself yields a potentially good portrait. There's mystique in the disappearance of her eye behind her hair, in the drop-off of lighting, in the obscuring shadows which only help to reveal her wistful and in some ways ambiguous (to me, not anxious) expression. Her skin becomes somewhat modeled by the processing so it begins to look to me more like a sculpture than like a breathing human being (even though the content has that sense of breath and life). There are some very nice subtleties here, which her expression seems to warrant, but the overall way I'm struck by this is more extreme than the nicely-executed nuances.

To me, the subject's expression is more one of sadness than of anxiety. She may be hiding some of her feelings behind her hair. Frederick certainly has done a yeoman's job of providing a viewer with lots of grist for the mill.

Fred's last sentence sums up a lot for me; there is a sort of extreme directness to the image that "grabs", but also tends to overpower the finer detail. I cannot make up my mind whether that's a blessing in disguise, or a bit a pity. A bit of both I guess.
The way she's lit makes her face nearly jump out, which to me seems to cause the idea of near blunt directness. It works extremely well, and overall, I do much like the tonality of this photo. It seems spot on (at least this web presentation, I imagine a print would probably be even more satisfying).
I also like the scratches, that seem a bit like a negative treated badly, but give the image a subtle extra layer of disturbance. The way the skin looks is less attractive to me; not that this is a portrait that ought to have silky-smooth skin, but the texture there is now doesn't quite fit for me.

Her expression..... well.... it seems a mixture. I see some anxiety, but also the sadness Michael mentions. Not sure if I'd call it ambiguous. Maybe more torn, in severe doubts. I don't think the title adds or detracts, most important is the way her expression taints the overall image, and to me it's quite key to why this portrait has got quite a bit more to say than many others.

Not much more to add. I would burn in her upper lip to get the density about equal to the surrounding face, as the more I look at it the lip, the less I like it. I think this would improve the shot, but its already a good effort.

Thank you everyone...
These are all very interesting observations and comments.
Taking the time to write about this image is very much appreciated.
Wishing you all a great week!
Frederick

Hi Frederick. I think the intimacy of the up close image is good and she seems to have a natural beauty that is compelling. I like the use of lighting to create a dramatic feel. Having her hidden behind her hair is also nice in that it build mystery and ambiguity, especially since she's not looking directly at the viewer. I do have a question about the processing though. Why the scratches? At first i wanted to thing it was perhaps rain, but he hair is not wet so perhaps you're trying to go for a tintype look? I also question the exposure or sharpening as she's got some odd textures on her cheeks and forehead...this maybe points back to a rain/wet motif but not sure how that integrates with the "anxiety" theme. Compositionally, i think you made some nice decisions with offsetting her and going with a square cropping. Thanks for sharing!

--PatrickD

Hi Patrick Day,
I'm not sure if you are looking at this image on a small device such as a phone or what?
She is looking directly into the camera, at the viewer... so I don't understand that observation.
The skin texture on her face is water droplets.
The scratches are a way of suggesting stress and or anxiousness.
It was intended to be a fine art piece, not so much a technical portrait.
The final study, will be a 4' by 5' charcoal rendering by Brenden Daugherty... I appreciate your observations and comments.