40mm

I stumbled across this shot in Jochen van Eden's portfolio page a few days ago and it really jumped out at me then. The color (which I think is beautiful) and the clutter is what makes it! Sure it's a posed model, but in the vast majority of posed model shots the policing of coffee drips, sterile white balance and textbook lighting ratios squeeze the humanity from the scene. That it might lack the clinical approach appropriate for 'lifestyle' advertizing (thankfully) makes it a picture of a real person in a real setting.

That this picture evidently raises so many questions in some viewers minds is part of it's strength, in my opinion. I, too, am untravelled and unfamiliar with much of Asian culture, yet it seems apparent that the subject of this picture, at least in my mind, is a matter of some seriousness and importance. That the specifics are uncommunicated, however, seems unimportant. It's a very human scene that reinforces the notion that, whatever one's cultural background, there will at times always be weighty matters to be attended to. I like that ones imagination is left free to explore what those matters may be, uninhibited by more information. A very good POW choice. Thanks.