Did you even bother to look at the guy's website? I think you are certainly entitled to your own taste, but I dont think it is fair to imply this guy is a hack, which he most certainly is not.
No, i didn't. I simply commented on the posted photo. And since i didn't know who the guy is, I certainly could not imply he is a hack. Now that you provided a link and I saw his work, I can again say, this time with absolute certainty, the Gore portrait is a pure crap.
Just look, for instance, at that "demon" right eye, which is brighter than the left in spite of being in the shadows. I've never seen Gore with such horrible, dirty, patchy skin. Look at the bridge of the nose, how much darker it is than the right nostril And how that darker part unnaturally splits the nostril. None of those appear to be a result of a particular lighting setup, but rather aggressive post-processing gone wrong.
This does not mean I think he is otherwise a bad photographer, as a matter of fact there are several portraits and other pictures that I quite like, but not the OP photo.
... In fact, while your work is very capable (from what I can see on Flickr, since you apparently have no website), in my opinion Anderson has a far more original and flexible style than you..
I did not know this is a pissing contest, and that I need to be a better photographer than him in order to say something about
one of his photographs. But thanks for checking my Flickr and kind words. I am not a pro, therefore I would gladly admit that he might have "a far more original and flexible style " than me.