I saw how the night came
by dahkota

Comment:
This is a really lovely and absorbing image. Windows are so often something special in a photograph; they are the place where two worlds meet. And that's what I feel about this photograph ... that it's about two worlds, perhaps in conflict, maybe even in opposition. I feel certain, alas, that the shadows across the face, and especially across the mouth, are no accident. So it's a powerful and unsettling photograph.

Photography 103
by zeuszen

Comment:
I opened all four in the series and flicked back and forth looking for ... something. The one I liked best, I suppose, although what that would prove I really don't know. This one's the most engaging for me (at least for today), probably because it's the most complex. But there is no 'best'.

The fact that they are looking in different directions here suggests different agenda, and thus different points of view. One sees unaided, one uses a camera. One walks unaided, the other not. So it seems right that they appear as one audience viewing two separate plays.

The man in the mobility chair looks upward, and the stairs explain it (and maybe mock him as well). But he doesn't look dismayed.

The man with the camera crouches and contorts himself a little (seen in 101 & 104 as well), and gives the impression that he needs to focus his body as well as his lens to get what he wants. I've seen others do that. I wonder if I do it?

Nice series. Seems like street theatre.

Time Standing Still at the Sink
by pixelpig

Comment:
This is a beautifully realized little vignette of auto-interrogation: Is this my real life? Am I mad? Am I happy? Am I still me?

But of course it's only a tiny moment when time stood still. The clock didn't move, didn't even tick.

It's a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more chilling) than it looks, this photograph. I award it a 10. And my personal poisoned chalice ... the Order of the Thumb:

Highlands Lady
by MAK

Comment:
What a beautiful, natural portrait! Made with great judgement, restraint and skill, it will look just as good in 20 years, or in 100 years, as it looks now. It's an enduring photograph of a lovely woman. She's a 10 and so is your photograph ... 10. And also awarded the Order of the Thumb:


P.S. Before anyone is able to post one of those ghastly "pimped" caricatures that so often pass as portraits here, they should have to take a long look at this. Some of the models might learn a thing or two from it as well.

Winter Time
by gsal

Comment:
This is a brilliant photograph because the very unusual point-of-view and composition puts the focal point of the image outside the frame. We don't see it of course, but it is most definitely part of the photograph. I think that is a rare and fabulous achievement, and well worth the full 10. And the Order of the Thumb for you too:

shone
by krnodil

Comment:
This has an amazingly mesmeric effect. Of course it feels like underwater, but I don't think it can be. The impression is that everything is swaying in and out of clear perception in some kind of sinuous dance ordained by the light shining from above. It feels like I'm in a place where I'm being bewitched by siren song into staying when I know I should leave. Something like being on the edge of death, and knowing it, and not really minding too much.

It's a photograph of rare reach, here or indeed anywhere, and I love it. 10. And the Order of the Thumb.

Sunflower Days
by luvmyaussie

Comment:
I don't care for still life photographs, but if you are going to keep doing this I'll have to reconsider my position. It's astoundingly lovely. I can't believe that I have spent at least 5 minutes just slowly savoring all the lovingly-rendered details here, but I have. Anyway, please don't tell anyone I said all this, because I just hate liking something so damn tasteful. 9.

Lizard
by aznym

Comment:
Best critter photograph I've seen for ages. There is so much more to insects and small reptiles than preposterously hyperbolic macros. As you demonstrate so well here. 8.

PA
by JustinM

Comment:
Some great photographer (can't recall who) said it's all a matter of where you stand. You must have read his (or her) book. This is a terrific photograph.

She rides the wind
by rinac

Comment:
I'm a sucker for these long exposure beach shots ... waves, gulls and somebody running, all blurred into an overly-sweet charm. It's like visual Abba music, and I can't help singing along every time. This is an especially good one.