The Crestock Photography Contest 2007

Nicely done Jack, you captured a lot of emotion with someone so young and I think her youth adds a lot to the picture... It sort of reminds me how intricate and full of maturity young people can be. I really like her eye in particular.

The beatutyfull authors description I think is dedicated to another photo.... on this phtography I see only feer on models eyes....

I think the description fits. Her mouth is almost in a half smile, playful, almost a "come hither" kind of expression - the biting of the finger also conveys that same kind of feeling. I don't see fear in those eyes, I see directness and confidence. Perhaps innocence, but I wouldn't go so far as saying "fear" - that's much too strong a generalization.

As an aside, just looking at the contest rules, the submitted work has to be at least 1000x1000, but I think it does the artists a great disservice by resizing the photos to no more than 500 pixels across, from the looks of it. So I'd venture to guess that whatever expression the author was conveying was lost in the almost four-fold reduction in size.

No, no, no... my feelilngs are not moved by your text... When I look at the photography I think that the model is very frightened... Big eye, head near shoulder, fingers in mouth... resizing of photo is not helping at all... Best regards!

I'm still not seeing what you are. Possibly cultural interpretations come into play? Of course, it's all subjective, so there you are. The feeling I get from this photograph is one of warmth – nothing about the setting, lighting, exposure, saturation, or the positioning of the model suggests fear or even a hint of negativity. If anything, it suggests an air of mystery, of strident assertiveness and perhaps a touch of, again, innocence. Her eye isn't wide open in fear (or else you see the whites of her eyes), but rather is inviting, playful. The fingers at her mouth suggest a hint of mischief and delicacy, not shock or horror. Her overall demeanor and expression are that of ease, not tension. Again, I think is it a gross generalization to say that this expression is fearful without offering sufficient arguments, which I don't feel you have. That is to say, I don't think it's prudent to make such judgments without offering something other than over generalized statements.

"cultural interpretations" - I don't think so... Arguments? Photography is very subjective thing - like You say... I can't give You any risonable arguments... Maybe model is not in fear - after your last text I can agree with that... Bu still I have strange feelings about this photo... I was looking on photography for a 10-15 minutes... and I can't interprate the pose of model... Mystery - is the best term to charakterize this photo... BIG thanks for some light in the subject! Azure - have you any private webpage? I'am very interesting in your portfolio. Best Regards!

yeah i'm not quite seeing fear either. i think it's right when azure said it's like a "come hither" look. there's a feeling of mystery to this woman, not so much one of distress.

fear - it was my first feeling about this photography... I'v changed my opinion (...in some way...) Regards!

My first thought was fear from her eyes. However, after looking closely at her mouth, it does not show fear. The sign language says otherwise.

I think it´s a nice portrait