Visual Review: Peer Review of Cody Rogers' Portrait series

Cody Rogers did an outstanding job of executing telling a story through his portrait photos. The photos tell a moving story and show Megan's strength. Each image has its own meaning, but in the end, you can get a feel for Megan's life without even reading the description of the portraits at the bottom of the page. In the first photo, what stuck out to me the most was her eyes and the contrast down the middle of her face. Her eyes feel as though they can tell the story. To me, the lighter side on the left, of the contrasting face, show that there are two sides to her. The kind we can all see just looking at her, and the deeper side which we can't see, which tells the horrific but uplifting story of Megan battling and overcoming cancer. I found the fourth photo very empowering. Megan is standing with her arm out covering the place where they found her cancer. I’m not sure if there is a scar, or it is just an influential spot, but I think the way she is looking down at her arm is very powerful. I also like the way that those two portraits are just her in the spotlight with a black background to really emphasize the focus on her and nothing else. I also noticed how she has a serious face in all the photos, but then in the last photo, she is finally smiling while holding up the metal she got after surviving cancer. It was very inspiring to see everything she has gone through and how now she is able to be proud of the things she's accomplished. Which you can see through the smile on her face in the last photo.

The only thing I could imagine critiquing about these portraits is that I wish there was a bit more diversity in the shots’ angles. Although the shots are all seemingly perfect, they are all head-on, and I wish there were maybe some from high or low angles. I think if you had taken one from below her, looking up at Megan, it could have made her look larger and in power to show her strength in overcoming cancer which could have been very powerful.

To check out his portrait series, take a look below!