Homelessness on Rise Among Womenby
aberrationComment by CEJ: Hello from the DPC Critique Club!
I have studied your image and have the following to offer:
Composition/perspective: this was a hard one for me. I like the composition as it is. There is a lot of force in this image. I could definitely see this on the front page of a paper or a cover of a news pub along with the title you have applied. This is one of the stronger elements of this image. But as a commentor said previously, eye contact would have added a real strong emotive force that would have been hard to argue with. Your idea is strong and very well portrayed, but it could have been stronger with other elements attended to (see below).
Color: you didn't list processing details so this is a bit hard to critique. I don't know if you were going for the muted look to emphasize your point or if it is a shortcoming in processing. My opinion is that the colors could use a boost in saturation and contrast. They all seem flat where it appears that the only really flat color is her jacket and the building in the background. Overall it appears that the colors are muted and somewhat hovering around the same curve in the middle of the grayscale.
Lighting: well controlled natural lighting. Between the material of the bags and the items attached to her shoulder strap there was a lot of potential for flares, bright spots, abberations. None of these exist. The small white spot on her jacket still holds a lot of detail. This is a stronger element of this image and carries it, but color is a downfall (see above).
Challenge requirements: one of the stronger elements of the scene. Your message is clearly conveyed and there is no room for ambiguity/misinterpretation. The composition lends itself well to a front page image in that the subject and the message are both well contained within the frame. Very well done and good eye!!!
Overall/my opinion: you have met the challenge requirements very well.
It could use some work on the colors and processing end. But that should be easy to overcome. The hard part you seem to have down fairly well - subject, environment, composition. It would be stronger with eye contact, but as is is still a strong image.
Photographer found comment helpful.
