Black and White Portraits

I kept coming back to this image. The soft lighting helps to retain the lovely detail of the young woman's face painting, her jewellery, hand position and fabulous skin tones. The plain dark background and cropping just beneath the woman's elbows complete this elegant image.

The title of this image tells the story. The body language of the woman gives a traditional view of an adult nurturing the young child. Another picture which is helped by being part of a room, which somehow accentuates the vulnerability of both the woman and the child. I also like the soft tones of the finished picture.

This photograph captures a level of the Geisha girl’s vulnerability. Disguised in her traditional white makeup, I can feel the action of her hands either side of her face, holding on to the soft folds of the scarf, almost displaying an intriguing negative emotion. It's been captured well by the photographer and gives the impression the Geisha's secrecy has been penetrated.

The photographer has captured an understated confidence, elegance and strength in the dancer which sings through in the lightness and the grey tones of the photograph and the gaze of her eyes. In this picture I feel a considerate photographer who’s succeeded in letting the viewer feel the woman’s integrity and poise.

The photographer here has created a natural, story-telling picture of his nephew on what looks like an average day in his life. There is a sense of grace to it. I like the inclusion of the casual bunch of flowers on the left which helps to build a background story to the image.

Well done to the photographer who has created an image of this woman which gives the impression of a strong, proud sense of cultural identity. The uncluttered picture with a plain white background allows the confidence of the photographee to shine through.

I chose this picture to critique because there is something otherworldly about it. It's an interesting piece of photographic style where the photographer is creating not just a portrait of the woman, but also a sense of lifestyle in the clothing in which she is being photographed. Her aloof, unreachable expression as she carries the tent-like garment, the lighting, the triangular shape of the fabric work together in this fashion portrait. A portrait that says a lot about the photographer, and a woman whose character has been subdued to carry off the clothing.

To me this perfectly communicates the artist’s career identity and very much captures work in progress. It’s a statement of the artist who is saying to me, This is my life now. This is what I do. I love the lighting on his hands and the implied diagonal line between them and the sensitive hands painted on the artwork. It is an important record of the artist.

This picture is oozing passion. I can see two people, the photographer who has creatively captured the scene and the photographee, and can imagine both living with their individual passions: the sensitive and intuitive photographer who is capturing his subject intriguingly between the out of focus women either side, that is meaningful and aesthetically important to him.

This is a photographic reminder for many people with daughters, capturing in this one the young person in her surroundings in a moment in time. There is a stark, naive simplicity about this image of Pearl that touches me, which is complimented by the care and tenderness of the photographer.

Here there is an awareness of the photographer who has captured the clown with his outer shell stripped back and is communicating the subject’s vulnerability. To many, it’s not what you expect from a circus clown… it’s the opposite of the comedian spreading laughter, and the photographer has done well to create the sombre view of this man with his guard down. The inclusion of the rough paper background adds to the subdued nature of the image.

Photography is my life and passion and I would like to thank Photocrowd for giving me the opportunity of judging these black and white portraits and putting their trust in me as a judge. Taking portraits of people and sorting through photographic archives has, for many photographers, flourished during this endless Covid pandemic and it is evident in the number of entries, 5000+, for this competition. I will attempt to interpret the top 10 pictures which I have chosen and give explanations as to why I’ve chosen them, and a small selection of others. I hope that viewers will appreciate what I’m feeling as I look at these wonderful images. What I’ve seen in them goes far beyond a picture, it goes into the soul of the photographer and photographee, making me feel part of them and what they’re experiencing in life. A black and white portrait can have the effect of stripping away distractions, so we are focused on the subject. In the case of "Ray of Self" the photographer has taken a gamble by including this powerful distraction…an inspirational shaft of light says it all… to me it shows clarity of purpose. This picture gave me such a strong feeling. I see it as the photographer bringing a face to life, and it was what was going on in his head that I loved. It touched me. The photographer's emotions being laid out in front of our eyes. There is a freedom of expression, freedom from technical restraints. There is simplicity. There is free spirit bursting out in this natural and beautifully framed image. Very well done.

Another image to which I kept returning. There is something fascinating, intimate and endearing about the positioning of the two gentleman. The gent's face in the front, with the closeness to his friend, creates an interesting facial shadow which adds to the storytelling quality of the image.

A fabulous action portrait of these two boxers. Plenty of atmosphere, grit and determination in the figures. Captured at a great moment as the fighter on the left raises his fist to his opponent, his face says it all. The lighting has been controlled well, producing lots of modelling and detail.

The photographer has managed to capture a fleeting moment in the life of this young boy, elegantly framing the image into an unforgettable, stylish portrait. In that moment the boy is there alone in his world, curious, gazing into an uncertain, future and the photographer should celebrate achieving this image.