grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by Giles:
9 from me that vignette at the top is sublime, the tones are crisp and sweet and the middle jacket pattern against the dullness of the other three jackets boom. love the contrast of light and dark, the bright pavement and the dark looming brutalist concrete structure hope vs dismay and theyre the judging panel deciding on who wins.

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by Melethia:
What in intriguing art gallery. I especially like the shadowed head, lower right. A great outing among friends, I'd say.

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by tanguera:
monumental. with an audience

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by herfotoman:
Beautifully wrong & ugly. Even instead of odd people/buildings. Skewed horison. Vignetting taking over too much. Harsh light. Backsides. And I do like it such a lot, for all of the combined things done.

The more she saw the less she spoke
by jagar

Comment by Neat:
She resembles my nonna, and I love my nonna.

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by ubique:
This is my top pick; of all the many terrific pictures in this challenge, this is the one I'd most like to have taken myself.

On the superficial level, it employs most of my favourite things: B&W, deep contrast, mad vignette, grain. Plus some smaller sly pleasures ... the cloud poking in like the finger of God, and the shadowed profile at lower right, snooping on the conversation.

Scrape a layer deeper and the subtler delights include great blocks of shape and tone that introduce a nearly abstract motif. You could view it from far, far away and it'd still be interesting because of the purely graphic characteristics.

It's also something of an anti-photography photograph in the absence of any faces. We expect faces, expressions (think of selfies, and those pouty-face things). Instead we're left to draw those identities ourselves. We get to choose who the players are, and what's happening.

What I choose to see is two older couples sitting on a bench in an art gallery (apparently a cold art gallery), looking at a gigantic and brutal floor-to-ceiling modern artwork. And they are all glancing sideways at each other, hoping that someone will soon suggest moving to the gallery cafe for a cup of tea.

But I could be wrong of course. Maybe there is no gallery. No tea either. That's the great thing about good art; you imagine what it means, what it is, and you could be wrong. Imagine a world where all the art was so simple and unequivocal that the viewer could NOT be wrong. I wouldn't want to live there.

I offer you the first ever Order of the Blue Thumb, and my thanks for this thrilling photograph.

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by tvsometime:
For me, this is a surreal depiction of human reverence for superhuman accomplishment or godly representations. Reminds me of the movie "2001" when the photographers approach the monolith. Maybe not so ambiguous or cosmic as I find in Ubique's but a strong image nevertheless. 8

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by grahamgator:
The gathering hole plus one head, lol. They look like they are sitting in the middle of nowhere; why? A great conversation piece.

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by mitalapo:
rephrasing the opening scene of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"?
(e.g. https://sjmj91.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/2001space037.jpg)

grand illusions
by jagar

Comment by streetpigeon:
Four Eskimos on an ice floe staring at the Kaaba and neighboring Costco backed by a nuclear mushroom cloud. Need I say more?
Well, maybe. This seemingly normal moment is actually an unplumbable mystery. Have to move on to other matters. It's a wild and very enjoyable image. The composition is odd but sterling. The juxtaposition of sharp lines and soft curves is quite satisfying. The upper vignette works it's magic in a way I could never imagine.
Many happy returns.