P063 Friendless Poor Tina. School's out nobody to play with. Every aspect of this pose, the pout, the exasperated brow, the floppy legs, the hand on the knee, the bent ankle, everything here, supports the mood, the core "idea" of this picture. And there's a little surprise waiting for people that order this print. _______________ I think this is a good picture with which to make a general point about Mike's work. In ALL his work, as in the above picture, Mike seems to get all the "narrative" aspects just right. I can tell THAT's where he puts his creative attention. Then, he usually sets his camera where the viewer would WANT to be (as above)...and gets the heck out of the way. There's no obviously "arty" stuff evident in his work. No funky angles, no dramatic raking light, or anything that screams "Look what an artist I am!". I think Mike realizes doing such tricky, arty stuff, would rob the picture of it's "direct" appeal. Mikes's acting like like a documentary filmmaker here...removing his artistic ego to service his subject. We've all heard it takes a mature artist, to make their talents seem "effortless". It is an even greater artist who can make voluminous talents, virtually invisible! These days, many artist's work seems focused primarily on "impressing" the viewer with its arty-ness. I've found precious few artists, secure enough in their talent, to back-seat evidence of it in the service a larger idea,...the subject. It's easy to overlook such talent.