Rahma Azhari: Hot Indonesian girl

Although the Azhari family has a sordid reputation to live down to – one of my valued readers even referred to them as a “bunch of slappers” – I have to say that I was rather impressed by this shot of Rahma Azhari in last July’s edition of Maxim:

But what makes this a great picture? Well, apart from the obviously stunning subject, technical factors also play a part.

Cos according to British born psychologist Christopher Tyler, in most great single-subject portraits, the center-line (vertical bisector of the canvas) passes through one eye of the subject. As it does in this picture of Rahma Azhari (through her left eye).

This is true of Leonardo's three portraits of women (Ginevra de'Benci, Cecilia Gallerani, and La Giaconde), most of Rembrandt's masterpieces, and even in some Picassos. Although generally not taught in photography classes, very good photographers intuitively discover the principle by themselves.