Freedom Times
by GeorgesBogaert

Comment:
Hurray for creativity! Thank you for this great entry Georges. Moreover, treating such subject with a touch of humor is very refreshing. Not mentioning that your composite is very efficient and convincing, great work!

The right to a snooze in summers shade
by kiwinick

Comment:
Cats have got it all right: let talk and take a nap. A damn good philosophy. Thanks for your entry.

Liberté d'Expression
by gyaban

Comment:

Originally posted by CNovack: Christophe, I do have one question: Since there is so much symbology in your piece, and colors can mean different things in different countries/cultures - Why did you choose Liberte as wielding a red pencil?

Thanks a lot Chrystyne for your kind comment, much appreciated.
Regarding the color of the pencil, my choice was limited for technical reasons: I didn't want to break the overall color harmony, so purple or lemon green was out of question. From there, I decided to use dark red for both the writing and the pencil, as a reminder of the bloodshed that occurred in Paris, and still occurs regularly around the world. Quite a simple metaphor of course, but it was clear in my mind that it had to be that way.

A World Gone Mad
by PaulFrocchi

Comment:
The world has got us all thinking, it seems. So many problems, so few solutions. Great idea, I love your creativity Paul. Thanks for creating this, it is excellent.

To Speak or Not to Speak...
by vawendy

Comment:
Last minute entry? Impressive. It works perfectly: the pose is very inspired, the grungy texture is a nice choice, and you can't go wrong with B&W for such image. Congrats on the nice finish.

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil
by Ivory

Comment:
I recognize one of my favorite model! Congratulations Susan. One could find your image creepy, but reality is too, so it is a perfect approach in my opinion. Lighting and processing is great. I am glad you won a ribbon.

Freedom Denied
by franktheyank

Comment:
Thanks for entering this challenge Franck, your creation perfectly symbolizes the situation. I love your choice of colors, and the overall pessimistic mood. Congratulations.

Liberté d'Expression
by gyaban

Comment:

Originally posted by Cory: Absolutely wonderful. I've spent a lot of time admiring this, and I've found something that is distracting to me. Your wife's right leg seems to be oddly positioned and partly transparent. Forgive me if this was an intentional decision. Well done Christophe.

Thanks a lot Cory.
The right leg is not partly transparent, there is no way I would have made such mistake given the amount of time I inspected each part ;) What you see is a piece of a texture that has been applied over the whole image (you can see a similar thing over the head of the woman with the phone, for example). As for the position, I am not sure what would be odd, maybe it is the fact that the clown's foot hides it partially. Anyway her legs come from a single photo, no strange tweaking here.

Liberté d'Expression
by gyaban

Comment:

Originally posted by RayEthier: Perhaps it is just me and my twisted perception of "what is" but I do have to question why the only personna that seems to be cowering in the image is the photographer.

Thank you so much Ray for your very kind words. Regarding the photographer, I reproduced (more or less) the position of the original painting: I thought the camera could benefit from some stability on the rocks. There was no particular innuendo here.

If looking offends, do not look.
by Paul

Comment:
My favorite of the challenge by a large margin. I would have edited the eyes a tad more carefully, but other than that I really love it. The deconstruction/reconstruction of the body is very clever.