Charles Blackman

Sahlan Hayes 2008

I think this portrait of Australian Artist Charles Blackman should be the winning candidate because even though it is simplisitic it still manages to show a lot about the subject, through facial expression, composition as well as many other factors. "Charles Blackman is regarded as one of the giants of Australian art. I have photographed Charles Blackman on a number of occasions and have found him to be completely lost in another world. He strikes me as being very lonely and at the same time incredibly complex and with a deep sadness." This is the artist's statement by Sahlan Hayes. I think Hayes has done well to capture Blackman's complex, lonely attributes, by the look in his face as well as how he has been positioned in the photograph, having only his face and shoulders showing and his face resting in his hand. I also think that the simple background against Blackman's black clothing is really effective, along with the depth of field which I think makes the photograph quite engaging.

Fearless Leader

Rosalind Goodman

I think this photograph should not have made the cut because it is not as visually engaging as the other entries. It does have some good qualities such as interesting light and shadow effects but other than that it does not tell the viewer much about the subject.