In response to a query of discernable facial attributes, the locations of distinct and different facial regions are estimated from face image data, each relevant to different attributes. Different features are extracted from the estimated facial regions from database facial images, which are ranked in base layer rankings as a function of relevance of extracted features to attributes relevant to the estimated regions, and in second-layer rankings as a function of combinations of the base layer rankings and relevance of the extracted features to common ones of the attributes relevant to the estimated regions. The images are ranked in relevance to the query as a function of the second-layer rankings.