Life's a struggle
by northebound

Comment:
Still life on a grander scale than usual. Beautifully done.

contemplative
by tome

Comment:
Noir and painterly. Or maybe it's charcoal. Wonderful energy in this.

Inbound
by Paul

Comment:
Yes! Grounded yet in flight. A beautiful contradiction.

Orange Crush
by Kelli

Comment:
Such intensity. The branches give this context, but only make the background more mysterious. Feels very apocalyptic. Good work.

dawn
by yanko

Comment:
I fear that the magic of this image will be lost on most viewers. But maybe that's what makes it so right for this challenge. The shadowy bird on the left contrasts sharply with the two crooners and one mourner on the right. The bird in profile in the middle (sorry -- are these swans?) more or less anchors the image. A nicely balanced composition, interesting to look at.

the Confiteor
by ubique

Comment:
Bizarre, and I'm a little confused about the story you're trying to tell. In any case, it's a good exercise for the imagination and a good fit for this challenge.

Essence
by Sioux

Comment:
A simple subject and a little imagination go a long way to transform a scene. Very nice.

Flee
by Magnumphotography

Comment:
The more I stare at it, the stranger the story it's trying to tell me becomes. Fantastic.

Posthumous self portrait
by pjotre7

Comment:
It's hard to tell just whose Gates you crossed. I love the ambiguity.

Winter's Run
by hihosilver

Comment:
Feels unrealistic, unfinished, raw and wrong. The blue is way over the top. For those reasons, I'm at a total loss to explain why it appeals to me so much. (Or maybe I just did.)