Pieter Hugo’s work reminds me of Viviane Sassen‘s photography series “Lexicon” (which I saw recently at the Venice Biennial-more about that to come). I find it especially striking how in both cases the people are posed in traditional art historical styles. The photograph above, Belladonna (2010), is perhaps less a portrait and more a traditional composition, except that traditional art historical narratives are upturned by the black model and contemporary dress.