The brief is that it's the Taylor Wessing Prize.
Never heard of it until today.
The brief is that it's the Taylor Wessing Prize.
I think that the portrait of a jockey is powerful because it's showing a woman competing in a sport dominated by men. A world where she doesn't compete against her own gender, but rather the 'stronger' gender. It's powerful because it shows the engrained mud and the splatters on her uniform, indicating hard work in the face of adversity. It shows that she has achieved a level in her sport that required endless dedication and hard work. I like the red marks on her face that show things can't be easy. The solemn look in her eyes that show perhaps she did not just win. The subtle emotion present in any sportspersons eyes and expression but at the same time she has a 'stiff upper lip' and is not giving in to the emotion. I love the colours, the way that her silks are muted against the background. The 'quality' that comes from film vs digital. The shallowness of the focus. The softness of everything except her features. I love the line that bisects the image. The bottom half defining her as a sportsperson, the top half defining her personality.
And almost most of all, I love it because it is a portrait of a female sportswoman where she is not being 'glammed up'. Where she isn't showing off her body to try and get respect. Where her beauty isn't even being considered. Where her achievements alone define her.
She is a jockey. She is competing at the very highest level. And she is a woman.
The photograph you linked of the old man just tells me that there is an old man who has perhaps had a hard life and that I should feel sorry for him. I learn nothing about him and it has a kind of old fashioned, slightly racist 'orientalist' attitude to me which is not in keeping with a more modern, globalised world view.
(BTW, what is a 'classy black and white'? I feel this might be a language barrier, but I also feel that you might be indicating that there are 'better' ways to take photos.)
That was pretty much my feeling. Like others, I suspect as a large portrait actually in front of you, it will have a far greater impact and depth than a web sized version.
I could have seen the point of shooting her after an epic win or epic defeat, but it seems strange to photograph her with the crux being 'competing in a man's world', but she wasn't even competing.