Nazira

There is a light emanating from the audience; but which does it illuminate, the sword? The Holder? Both? She tilts her head from the light, preferring the viewer to look upon the tool instead of the wielder. IS this guilt, modesty, or perhaps irreverent contempt!
The tiara, the finely crafted undergarments beneath the blanket of leopard-skin seem to indicate a sense of duality within the subject of the Holder. The light beyond the distant trees show her in the darkness, illuminated only by the light before her, as if caught by the viewer's gaze, as she knows not whether to reject the viewer's judgement or cares not a whit. Has she stolen the Tool, or restored it? Her face denies us an answer, only a cryptic sense that somewhere in this subject the Holder feels a sense of pride being seen and viewed.
Though the halo of light reflecting from the sword attracts our eyes to it, the real mystery lay in the Holder. The Black and White picture we are given shows us that the long spectrum between black and white are here, in this illumination, brightened enough to reveal some sense of the matter at hand.
The long offering of the neck, the illumination of the sternum by the light, along with the seemingly purposefully mysterious gaze offered by the subject tells us that she is not afraid of the viewer. Merely, perhaps she is caught unawares, and has composed herself in the manner of her best reaction in mind.
Haunting gaze, truly stands out for me. What lay behind those eyes. I am apprehensive about the light beyond the trees, excellent use of this contrast.