First it caught my attention, because it looks WHITE. The whiteness of this photo stands out.
When we look at it, we notice that some of the elements are not white, but have different shades of grey. But still, when we look at it, it is white that we see.
There is a lot to like about this picture. The almost monochromatic character makes it look very simple, but there is power in this simplicity. The background is white as well. It is blurred, as it is a usual trick for portraits to avoid attention to the noisy background. In this case, even if we get more depth of field, we would not seen anything more, because there is a white wall behind. But putting the focus on the old man's head provides an almost a 3D effect.
I feel also a kind of connection between the photographer, and the old man, even before looking at the description. The old man does not look into the camera, so he might not be aware of the photographer's presence. Just looking at the photo, we'll never know. But I feel this connection, especially that I also took a few of those "stop the time" pictures.
The portrait looks ethereal. Still here, but like the transition has already started. It is scary in a way, because when we look at it longer, it makes us thinking about our very own life.
Those kind of photographs I like the most. The ones, which convey a very strong feelings with the minimum of resources.
