Ms. Melissa Moua

Meet Ms. Melissa Moua. I've known this gal ever since my frosh year in high school. I have to admit that when I first saw her, I was a little intimidated because I just was. Over the years I've come to know her much better as a person, a woman and a true friend. I am truly appreciative to have grown up with a lively and lovely individual such as her.

Although I have many portraits of her to choose from, this has got to be one of my all time favorites. To me, this portrait shows fierceness and strength. Perhaps that was what intimidated me the first time I met her? The fierceness comes from the direct full frontal eye contact with the camera, as well as the unruly hair at the top left corner and helping all that along would be the asymmetrical opening of her shirt. I would have to say that, if not for the hair detail, this portrait would have a totally different mood.

Secondly, it may just be me, but the "strength" I see is all held within that one eyebrow. It stands alone without its other, yet it's there bold and strong. When looking at the whole portrait, it's the most unique detail of all. It's like a painter brushed the eyebrow on there and it became the star of the show.

It may or may not be a surprise to you, but this was actually an accidental shot. I had asked her to come over and be my model for the day because I was shooting a spread for the HmongArtists.Net magazine. After a good 4 to 5 hours of shooting we decided to wrap things up. She started to wipe her make-up off and I quickly yelled at her to halt what she was doing. (I certainly startled her) At that moment, I had an immediate idea that I just had to do.

We were in my tiny room. I used my sliding closet door as the background and luckily the window was straight across from her, so I was able to use soft available light to light her. The even lighting from the window highlighted her key attributes such as her cheek bones and her eyes. After goofing around with her half made up face, we called it a day. It's amazing what you get when you actually don't plan on it. It's like a little chocolate surprise and Mel is certainly just as sweet.