Not Perfect...by
KatehowardComment by KaDi: Greetings from the Critique Club. The following comments are in response to your request for a critique on your challenge submission. Please feel free to send me a PM concerning my comments.
An interesting an emotive image, this requires the viewer to pause and try to get the story because of its subject matter. The choice of Black and White helps limit the subject to the young woman and her surroundings. The title with the subject of the challenge, however, carries much of the meaning. Without the title it would be difficult, I think, to understand the concept of self-hate because of an eating disorder. Nonetheless, the story
is there.
I like the pose of the woman with her identity obscured by the hand over her face. The ribs showing on her back and the thin body contribute to the message being presented. The composition seems casual in the arrangement of elements but makes the setting definitely a close bathroom in which the subject seems trapped. I don't understand, however, the inclusion of the items on the vanity--the hair straightener(?) and papers seem to take away from the idea that her only reason for being in the bathroom is her illness. I find the angle of the camera interesting, too, that the lines of the room are a bit off kilter enhancing the idea that the subject is not feeling quite right.
Technically it's not a bad image. I enjoy seeing a full range of tones from black to white. But there are some over-exposed whites in the toiletpaper and on the sink...perhaps from a strong flash? If it is flash, then bouncing or diffusing the flash could hellp. In my view the "grainy" quality of the image does not detract...but I come from a film background where that was more commonly used to advantage than now where many people (especially at DPChallenge) only wish to see perfectly clean images without noise or grain. I suggest using grain sparingly in challenge entries if your aim is a high score--otherwise I don't see it as an issue.
Overall, I think this image is successful in telling its story.
Keep creating, you've obviously got something to say!
--Kadi
