Portrait Series Review: Alexandria Zaky

Something I enjoyed about the Portrait Series Project is that many of the submissions were all different. We all approached this project from a different angle. I reviewed Alexandria Zaky’s portrait series and really enjoyed the images she took. She focused the series on her best friend, Victoria and her apartment. What I loved about these images is that they all show character. The audience has an idea of who Victoria is, due to the details in her apartment. “She surrounds herself with books and the majority of our conversations tend to revolve around fictional worlds and characters”, states Zaky. One of my favorite images in this series shows Victoria laying down while reading a book. Although the image is simple, it gives the audience insight about who Victoria is. In the background, her room is full of fairy lights and posters. Hardly any walls are bare. Almost everything has color and sends a message. I personally don’t know Victoria, but based off the images I can assume she’s curious and passionate about the world.

When reading Zaky’s summary of her photo series, I noticed she had some trouble taking photos of Victoria looking at the camera. As the photographer, Zaky decided to talk about the things Victoria was passionate about to make her more confident. Although Victoria is not looking directly at the camera, her facial expressions show the enthusiasm she has for things like environmental issues and terrible animation in the most recent Haikyu. I really enjoyed the different angles each image was taken at. I also liked that some of the images were blurry. In my opinion, I think blurry photos can add character to a photo series. Without reading the description Zaky provides, the images taken say a lot about her character. I thought this series was both personal and full of character.

To access this portrait series or more of Alexandria Zaky's work, click here.