Forlorn
by edmeng

Comment:
this wins the zen ribbon. 8.

A Desolate Place: The Heart
by SandyP

Comment:
this evokes the 19th century somehow, in spite of the sneakers. excellent composition demonstrates how the mind gets trapped in itself... rooms within rooms creating a spiral of despair. 9.

desolation of character
by tate

Comment:
this picture shows a great understanding of line and shape and composition. it makes no literal sense that someone would take that position, and as a result we see it in a symbolic, metaphorical sense. the shadows become weapons. 9.

The last breath
by Rino63

Comment:
picture as poem... the falling of a breath... the fall of man... the fall of innocence. one even imagines that the blurred rose toward the top is still alive. of course we're only fooling ourselves, as we so often do in the face of death. 9.

My life....at the end of a chain
by tmorninglory96

Comment:
amazing expressiveness of the dog, whose plight is accentuated by your camera angle and tortured by the twistings of the chain. The hole in the can is frighteningly ominous. 9.

Against a Wall
by Jutilda

Comment:
the strange crop disorients the viewer, and the elephant blends into the wall, creating a vertiginous sense of desolation, only compounded by the sepia. 9.

The Desolate Swimmer
by Shermy

Comment:
this is my red ribbon. the subject is not herself desolate (despite your title). She's more like a bemused observer of desolation. The sense of concavity is almost vertiginous. She mirrors the pattern of stain near the drain. The blue of her outfit seems to be commenting ironically on the desolate blue of the dry pool. 10. (maybe I'll give you a tie for blue ribbon. did I mention I reeeeeeally like this picture?)

All Alone
by gsal

Comment:
this is my blue ribbon winner. desolation through the geometry of absence. 10.

Abandoned
by dabidejpn

Comment:
a collage of devastation. well done.

We're hungry
by paulb_17

Comment:
I adore this picture but it doesn't meet the challenge very well.