A brief moment in time by John©, on Flickr

This is our second photo exhibit from the Feeling Negative Flickr Pool, and we’ll be having many more from here out. Each time we post a photo like this, we’ll be including our own thoughts and comments as to why we chose to highlight it. If you’d like to have a chance at getting your photos posted, be sure to join the group.

Portraits. I just can’t get enough.

But is it a portrait?

For me, a portrait is an image that illustrates a person.

Let’s pretend for a minute that I know nothing of John’s previous work, nor of his relationship with his muse, Tamara.

What does this photo tell me? The depth of field is quite shallow although the perspective of the subject to background is normal in appearance. This suggests a “normal” (somewhere in the 50mm range) lens was used, and that John was quite close to his subject – further away with the same aperture would result in more depth of field.

The closeness suggests intimacy. This is further emphasised by the ring on the left hand. Continuing with the theme of intimacy, there is a suggestion of a pause in the hand – are we witnessing a casual moment stopped in time?

I’m personally drawn to photos that tell a story that can’t be contained within the frame.

What do you think? Does this photo connect with you?