The only thing more cruel than an honest critique is a disingenuous one.(posted 8822 days ago)This is a bad picture. No amount of cropping will change that. There is no evidence of a concern for composition - or of a control of lighting and the resulting tonality of the print. The subject is posed in such a manner as to emphasize the bad points of her features. Her hair style is inappropriate for a portrait and, particularly with this lighting, looks bizarre.
This print has nothing in common with portrait techniques from the 1940's - or even the 1840's (since From Edward's comment, and this picture, I'm not even sure which century he is talking about).
Mind you, I often create prints with as little redeeming value as this one - but I catch them in the first edit.
Take a look at Robert Altman's "St. Annie" for a similar shot that shows control over all these elements. (Remember to take out any extraneous spaces when you copy the following url.)
http://www.visto.com/?club=/visto/groups/fashion.jkantor&service=filep hoto&method=view&tx=n1y&filename=photo/John+Kantor/Annie_fr.jpeg