The high key washed away the richer tones here, and that is exactly what I find really matching the rather "hard", or "industrial" look. While there is not much to see except that steel thing, my mind seems to complement the rest by imagining some city or even better a scene full of factories behind Mel. Since her outfit is pretty much that style too it was really a very good choise. It also gave her face a kind of tonality that we see often in movies and advertisements. And it enhanced the steel blue of her eyes.
Still I also see something soft too on this image. A bit like a city kid, perhaps rawer and harder to get, perhaps seen too often in the streets with a fug and a drink, but still a human being between the machines - something like that. Whenever I see such images, I remember Guns and Roses! ;-)
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