Darkness
by Nordlys

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 10s - I like it very much. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Amazing how the human face is seen well before the gorilla despite being the less prominent of the two. It works like a magic trick.

2. The overall juxtaposition of the two (well, three) faces is really thought provoking.

3. The lady reminds me a little of Julianne Moore.

4. The different contrast profiles (courtesy of the reflection) are magnificent, they allow for the hiding in plain site and an effective mix of images.

Overall, far more powerful than the individual elements should be. Well done.

A Heavy Responsibility
by JuliBoc

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 8s - I like it quite a bit. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Way to go for taking the opportunity to grab such a portrait - it's an interesting moment and conveys much.

2. In many ways, as a portrait without the wider context, this wouldn't cut the mustard but WITH the context it is unusually close and very intimate. That gives the image a lot of power.

3. Your title is a good one and lends a good steer to the image. Normally, I don't like to be so led - but here, it's a good choice.

Overall, an important image.

The Dreamer
by gsal

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 8s - I like it quite a bit. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Like most good images this has a standout story. I particularly like how she has wiped the condensation from the window to look out. Who is she watching?

2. I like how you have included the black panel behind the seat, it adds physical context to the scene.

3. Great tones, you've balanced this very well.

Overall, very nice and compelling image.

Cigar Lady
by salmiakki

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 8s - I like it quite a bit. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Great, straight up, bold-as-you like portrait - full of character with a brilliant dean pan expression.

2. The juxtaposition of the don't-mess-with-me demeanour and the frilly hat and fan is superb.

3. The composition / placement of subject would not be my choice but it conveys a strange candid effect that I enjoy. Posed but not posed.

I do hanker for a bit more drama in the toning but overall this is a compelling portrait.

STOP
by bobk

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 8s - I like it quite a bit. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. First of all, I really like the colours and contrast - the deep blue/grey of the shadows and the yellow text works so well.

2. Such shots have been done before but the relationship here between the text and the figure (with a stick?) is marvellous.

3. I also like how although we know he is behind us, we still want to peer down the right hand side of the wall.

Overall, a very effective image.

Pilgrimage
by bassbone

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 8s - I like it quite a bit. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. This is really nicely produced - the leading lines (I appreciate the intersection with the bottom left corner too), a focussing vignette (though a smoother transition might work better) - well made choices these.

2. The coloration of the image - the bright orange robes offsetting the grey floor.

3. Your distance from your subjects - appropriate for the image and the context.

Overall, an image that resonates well with itself.

detached in comfort
by bspurgeon

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 9s - I like it a lot. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. We all know that good photography is about the right light. This is indeed about the right light - almost to be point of being of the light. Great stuff.

2. Hugely challenging highlight and contrasts - I like how you have embraced them and them your own. The flare and the shadows mutually supportive in their contribution to the image.

3. Of course, the shadows are the stars but for me, the supporting cast of people above are even more compelling - they seem more dynamic somehow, like they are moving on from their static shadows.

4. The ambiguity of the relationship between your leading characters - it requires us to invent the context. I like that.

Overall, I like the bold Bennishness of this. Great shot.

Hot noodles
by wei1108

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 9s - I like it a lot. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. This just feels so authentic - like I've turned a corner and there's the scene. I know it IS authentic, but what I mean is - the photograph just emerges from the scene, your framing and other photographic choices have become secondary to the moment and the scene. This is difficult to do - to be purposeful without being contrived or exploitative.

2. The girl on the left, so close to the window - face to face with her reflection - a great way to anchor the image.

3. The corner of the booth dividing the image - splitting the image in resonance with the inside/outside divide of the characters.

4. The busy nature of the right hand side with the food preparation, the two figures and the ladles and bowls offers a great contrast to the quiet intensity of the girl on the left.

Overall, an image with enough authenticity to be regarded as worldly. Great shot.

The Object of Her Attention
by markwiley

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 9s - I like it a lot. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Great story here - a borrowed moment from somebody else's life - I also like the somewhat furtive feel that this POV gives it.

2. I can see that this is difficult light - strong highlights and shadows, but you have controlled them well.

3. The bar - I know it's near-incidental but I like the way it divides the frame up between characters and thus give the child her own framing. The two pictures in one means that we really do have two pictures, a portrait within a candid. That's clever and effective.

4. I like the other incidentals too - the hands of the other person, the streaked window, the polkadot toy and the camera phone potentially taking its own candid.

Overall, this is a fine image that offer many 'finds' for a patient viewer.

Intangibles
by RKT

Comment:
This is a new comment series for me, so please bear with me while I find my style!

(Voted earlier)

This is one of my 10s - I like it very much. Furthermore I think it enriches the DPC collective portfolio. Put simply, I wish we saw more stuff like this. Let me tell you why it pushes all the right buttons for me:

1. Bubbles and hand - reminiscent of some RKT goodness - what could be better?

2. I'm a fan of selective focus and it's put to really good effect here. You lead the eye fantastically - into the bubbles and through, into the space beyond.

3. I really like seeing the garage over the way - it gives a situated context to the image that I really enjoy.

4. The little hand is great - the somewhat imploring gesture suggestive of a story to be told, an imagination at work and life being lived.

5. The low contrast tones - these give a muted feel, calming the image and introducing a sense of 'hush' to the scene. Like the image must have been taken on a Sunday afternoon with grandparents asleep in comfy chairs behind. There is a possibility of light rain later...

Overall, this is a little bit of magic.