Pediophobia - Fear of Dollsby
Shan2112Comment by ubique: Hello Shannon ... Critique Club calling ...
What I like most about this excellent image is that you managed to suggest considerable malevolence while actually showing us nothing but a benign, innocent looking doll. What you did NOT do is resort to the primitive by using "evil" make-up or props (or even worse, using the Chucky doll proposed by a couple of commentators, poor souls). Your choice was clever not only because it is subtle, but also because it demonstrates an understanding of the particular phobia you were depicting. The sufferers are inexplicably afraid of sweet, harmless dolls, and that's what's most interesting about this particular affliction.
Everyone's afraid of Chucky; there's nothing phobic about that! So, it's a terrific idea, which is three quarters of the battle right there.
The rest is execution, and you didn't let yourself down in that respect either. The technical aspects of the image are very good, and the choices in both composition and processing are sensitive to your objective. Even the slightly disorienting background you were worried about contributes to the "disturbing" feel you were after.
So, a very fine entry that deserved its high placing, and could well have scored higher had it not been for the "Chucky" vote.
Cheers,
Paul Martin
Photographer found comment helpful.
