Portrait Review for Aaliyah

In Aaliyah’s series of photos she has a very creative concept. Her overall theme supported the notion of gender roles but with a twist. The photos she shot in studio displayed girls in our class dressed as the traditional boy. Most of her photos are pretty consistent due to the use of shadows and blue gels. In the portrait of Paige dressed as a boy there was a shadow running along the left side of her face which, in my opinion, made the photo very authentic with her stoic expression. In the photo with Paige and Allie it was interesting to see how Paige’s shadow reflected on Allie’s face creating this sense of everlasting sadness. Her focus is very superb. That being said, I feel like Aaliyah should incorporate the same sense of sadness and emotion as she shoots her environmental photos because her portrait series needs to remain cohesive.