Rob
I think if I were a magazine picture editor or designer I would love this shot. It has real dramatic impact, a striking restricted colour palette, and it would be a dream to use with text as it would be easy to float a title or body over the dark areas.
However, if it is meant to stand alone as a fine photograph then I am not so sure. There are two arched lighter elements in the composition, which should balance each other but I find the higher yellow one to be too strong and something of a distraction, if the figure is intended to be the subject. And that brings us to the figure - obviously the subject was a matter of happenstance, but I find the proportions of the figure to be uninteresting and to have little in the way of aesthetic merit. It is as if Michael has created this luminous and dramatic stage set, in order to frame a something or a someone, and then said "look at this!" And we look, and feel somewhat underwhelmed.
John
