Life is full of surprises. I had one, which I'll share with you, this week.
What do you think of this:
How would you describe what is composed and depicted here?
Is it beauty? Is it devoid of that quality?
My reason for asking is because, out of the blue, I found this image I'd taken of Magenta to be at the heart of a conversation by a group of photographers this week on a site where I have one of my oldest portfolio collections.
As I've noted in my contribution to this posting, I was a little surprised at the choice of this image - it was the only one in the gallery collection I hadn't forwarded for peer review, as I didn't feel it was as strong as the other work, but this is the image they chose to review. The anonymous group of photographers who commenced the discussion began by stating the theme of the composition was a "beautiful subject", but they had no more to say about the "strong" lighting or Magenta's pose, leaving this to others.
Again, as I've noted in my comments there, this was an experimental shot, and we obtained an image we found more satisfying:
What stunned me was the amount of negative comments made regarding the image selected for review. Yes, there's certainly room for improvement, I freely admit, but is it as entirely devoid of artistry as some state - were we totally missing the mark? I'd be interested to hear from a wider circle of artists and photographers about how they would approach such an image (both in terms of composition and critique), so please feel free to pitch in with some considered thoughts.
Many thanks.
Images: The Disrobing, Adorned and Satin. Model: Magenta. Images by Howard Nowlan.
