work of Alex Stoddard

I find the work of Alex Stoddard slightly 'different' to that of other portrait photographers, photos below show some of his work and the effort he has put in to create the desired effects:

The above photo is titled 'The Pains of Capture' which is a self portrait of Alex Stoddard (from the book Creative Photography by Natalie Dybisz) it tells the story of the wild being contained.

This one is also by Alex Stoddard and featured in the same book, it is titled 'The Forgotten Housewife',

not sure I would have called it that by just looking at it.

Another self portrait of Alex Stoddard (from the same book) with a snake on his head whilst trying to hold his expression.