Perhaps I'm way off the mark here but this looks to me like a picture with a message. A message perhaps about the middle east - perhaps the wars in Afganistan or Iraq. There's the middle eastern style of dress with the covered face (burqa?), the blue which to us westerners suggests sadness and the subject's pose which is, to me, reminiscent of Mary. This all leads to thoughts of the plight of common people in those countries, particularly as the west makes war on their leaders. If I'm right this is a VERY strong concept for your submission and an excellent interpretation of the challenge and I applaud you for it.
Technically I think there are a couple of things that could be improved and both are related to your lighting. First of all it's very dark. I believe you were trying to get that lovely kind of glow on your subject's skin but I don't think you've exposed the shot long enough for that. The other thing is the strong shadow in the background which is rather overpowering. Or perhaps it's supposed to be there and I've not figured out why. Removing the shadow would have meant moving your face lighting higher and more to one side and perhaps having another light shining across the background.
This also leads me onto the setup of your shot which seems excellent all except for the green patches on the blue cloth which look too modern and as one of your commenters said 'break the mood'. However, you really did capture some lovely shadows and highlights on the cloth there.
Overall I find this a *very* interesting picture. I really hope I've interpreted your picture correctly. I always award extra marks for a photo that shows some intelligence or intent and this scores very well indeed in my book. Well done.
. . . well not me! The patches of green broke the mood. How about a crop of just a bust shot. Might have made it even more mysterious. Like the softnes of the shot.
I like your idea here, but to be honest, I have to strain my eyes to see the picture because the photo is so dark the blue and black blend into each other a lot.
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