Jeremy Saffer is one of my favorite photographers, particularly for his band portraits and some live shots at shows. It took me a while to admit that I like this portrait, despite the subject. I could care less about this person, Andy Biersack from the band Black Veil Brides. I don't listen to their music and I don't appreciate the band's appearance and style at all - in fact, I should just say I despise them.
Anyway, on Saffer's blog he admitted that the intense color in Andy's eye is raw - no editing was done to make it any blue-er than it already appears. The contrast amongst the colors is made strong by this one part of the portrait. His pale, probably powdered complexion is a stark contrast to everything else, which is a deep black. The setting was some time after the band's set at this past Warped Tour 2011, so the piece-y, greasy look of Andy's hair only adds to his "I'm so badass and smexy and I want you to see that" glare. The sharp shadows created from the slight snarl in his nose makes this facial feature another strong part of the image, leading my eye from his eye to his nicely-tinted lips, to the rest of his slightly annoying, dark attire. Even the rule of thirds sort of applies here, helping the blue eye become the center of attention. Cutting off the top part of the subject's head works here and is something I have tried to do in whatever people-portraits I shoot. I think it's because the portrait can do without; everything that you need to see about this person is there.