Faceless portraits

I very much like the aesthetic of this image. I can’t tell too much about the person in the picture but the lighter flattened places of contact with the translucent glass make for interesting viewing. The simple symmetrical composition is visually appealing, it seems the subject is having a playful gentle touch of the glass knowingly communicating with the photographer.
The overall tones are very pleasing with an absence of an absolute black. The subtle but very effective colour treatment is well measured.

I love this image of a Cuban cigar maker and the story it tells. This portrait gives insight to the life of the subject and it’s the little details that draw me in. It has the impression that this person has been doing this job and perfecting their craft for many many years. The intensity of posture and the delicate fineness of touch. The uniform texture of the image, how the tobacco leaf and skin are almost one and the same. The tobacco ingrained finger creases and the flat finger ends with well manicured nails apart from the diligently raised pinky finger with its longer nail, possibly used for a poking tool at some point of the cigar making. The shallow depth of field focuses the eye on the intricacies of the small actions as does the subjects off frame concentrated gaze. The monochrome works very well, in my minds eye I see the leaf and skin are not only similar in texture but echoing colour and leathery patina. I would be curious to see what it would be like with a subtle warm tone treatment. A lovely faceless portrait well done.

I like this faceless portrait of a potter with sinewy arms at his wheel, the symmetry, the movement, the point of view all bathed in the soft glancing natural light. It tells a story of him being a master craftsman hunched over at floor level in a dark and dirty workshop churning out pots and vases of beauty or utility. It sparks the other senses not just the visual, having the feeling of it being in India, exuding the cooling smells of the clay and the workshop sounds in the heat. Great choice of camera angle, focal point and shutter speed. Well done.

A very intriguing image of a diamond/precious stone inspector. My eye is drawn in by the perspective of the circular objects, held in a natural way while showing them clearly. The direct and undiffused light gives off strong contrasts, although the perspective gives the image all its dynamism, it’s the dual action of the shadows masking out any unnecessary details or distractions and the refracted triangular facets giving off abstract highlights. It is a very good black & white image in more ways than one. Yes it’s monochrome but also of detail… If it informs the picture its in, if it doesn’t, it out. A clear and crisp image with few flaws, perhaps like the stone he is inspecting? Well done.

This lovely simple portrait of a young man in India has lots of potential, with its perspective of a high point of view and his calm expression, but there are two issues I would like to point out. Firstly, it does not fit the brief ‘Faceless Portrait’ It is important when entering images to competitions and of course commissions, to fit the brief well. There were also 20+ other full face photos entered, not just this one. Secondly, The selective colour treatment is very popular, plenty of other entries also chose to use it. Generally used to highlight a feature of interest. In this portrait, I feel the most interesting element is the young man’s facial expression yet it is his t-shirt that has been colour highlighted which in my opinion distracts from his face.