bag of nails
by NiallOTuama

Comment:
Weird is as weird does. And this does, handsomely. I think it’s wonderful, even enchanting, because I can definitely smell a spell in the air when I look at it. And so, I like looking at it! Thank you.

Homeward Bound
by MargaretNet

Comment:
Beautiful. 10. Thank you.

P.S I don't mean merely pretty, I mean beautiful in the Ode on a Grecian Urn sense. In particular, the first two lines, and the last two.

i waited
by jmritz

Comment:
Hardly anyone is capable of this lyrical sleight-of-hand, this Three Card Monte where the Queen (or the Joker) is always right there hiding in plain sight. Surely no-one at DPC other than John Modricker can do this stuff?

Maybe there's a little bit of Daido Moriyama about these Zen-like observations, this free verse from the suburban streets. I reckon he (Daido) might recognise and appreciate the deeper emotional potential of the suburban rather than city settings.

Maybe it's not Moriyama at all that I'm thinking of. Maybe it's Leonard Cohen. But maybe it's both.

10. Thank you.

Dapper
by RKT

Comment:
The presence of the sidewalk sign board, like an extra pair of legs, elevates this. The Something Wild is Coming adds another layer of welcome whimsy. But once past that marvellous juxtaposition and that wry prediction, it's still a lovely photograph in its own right, from a light and tones point of view. 7. Thank you.

Morning Rider
by MargaretNet

Comment:
A classic HCB kind of photograph. Lovely control of exposure and teasing-out of tones. Elegant composition. Not quite startling enough for my taste, but it's still good to the last drop, and I'd be glad to have a second cup. 7. Thank you.

freedom
by roz

Comment:
This looks like a simple faux-tintype, but it's quite a bit more than that, isn't it? The extravagant vignette is perfect, but the reflected feet is the magic touch that elevates this photograph. Plus, especially when viewed as a thumbnail, it's an indignant face. Love it. 8. Thank you.

Skinned
by jomari

Comment:
Amazingly absorbing. Unexpectedly lovely and satisfying. It's presumably a car door revealed, or some similar structure? But it's fabulously anthropomorphic, isn't it? Eye, nose, mouth. Anger or at least a howl of protest at something. I went to a Picasso exhibition once and marvelled at his bicycle-saddle-and-handlebars bull on the wall. Old Pablo might have been pleased and amused to have had this hanging next to his bike-bull.

I certainly would have been pleased, as I am now. 8. Thank you.

observatory
by mitalapo

Comment:
Beautiful little drama. I marvel at how the angled figure animates everything, and commands all the attention at first. But then one begins to wonder about the motives of the other three. Are they surrounding her with malice? Is the angled lady investigating a crime? Is she about to become the victim of a crime herself? There's very few forensic clues on offer here. Not a stray fibre nor a carelessly discarded French cigarette butt in sight anywhere. But the perpetrator is someone in that room. It always is..

I feel better now. Thank you. 9.

ascent
by NiallOTuama

Comment:
This is irresistible for me. So many possible dramas being played out in and around these shadows. It's a good example of the special magic of low-fidelity photography. It's so low-fi that it's nearly a Rorschach test. Some people - poor them - will see nothing in it. Others will see everything in it. My own cup runneth over. 10. Thank you.

Leader of the Flock
by P-A-U-L

Comment:
Such a surprising photograph, because it has (presumably deriving from the frank gaze of the sheep) an irresistibly anthropomorphic feel to it. I fully expect this sheep to make a remark. And I expect it to be a telling remark, too. This is not a sheep for banal chatter. Oh dear, I almost typed 'baanal', but happily for both of us, I resisted.

I admire this photograph. It's somehow more than it is, if you know what I mean. More than a picture of sheep.

Bronze medal from me, and a score of 8. Thank you.