behind the wire
by IreneM

Comment:
This is a technically and artistically sublime photograph; it has just enough of everything ... just enough person, just enough shadow, just enough emotion, just enough meaning, and just enough processing. The composition/crop, which at first appears so easy and casual, is actually meticulous and quite brilliant; the viewer is mesmerised and controlled by the lines, the shapes and the irresistible flow of the thing. Plus it's not just a clever compositional exercise; it actually has an editorial point to it. And you've even included a tiny glimpse of something incongruous in the lower right hand corner to give the pedants something to lecture you about. No choice here: 10.

Boiler Room
by tcmartin

Comment:
Beautiful tones and light. Not the most strident use of shadow, but I like it all the more for that restraint. It's the kind of image that invites some fanciful interpretation, in spite of your presumably deliberately prosaic title! It could be about growth, or death, or even life-after-death. Or of course it could just be about the boiler room steps. Whatever, it's a pleasing and thoughtful photograph, not easily understood and so not easily classified and dismissed. 9.

Double Helix
by jdannels

Comment:
Clever. It's perhaps the most witty use of a shadow in this challenge. Genetic pedants might say it's not really a double helix (more of a twin helix) but even they would have to admire the steps treads so convincingly representing the base molecular bonds. Plus a bonus point for including the pair of birds. 8.

Farm Zen
by tonyv

Comment:
Beautifully executed ... the tones and colour are perfect and the overall effect is to suggest something other than what it actually is. I suppose that's more farm abstract than zen, but the suggestion of those raked sand zen gardens is undeniable. 8.

Journey
by karmat

Comment:
This is such a DPC-friendly image that my first instinct was to dismiss it immediately. Simple, bright red, graphically bold, intellectually undemanding, looks great as a thumbnail ... it's got all the ingredients. But I can't condemn it for all that; in spite of first impressions, it actually has some substance to it. And it's beautifully executed, too. 7.

Still Life With Bottle
by melismatica

Comment:
This is a lovely, thoughtful photograph. It has a lot more to offer than at first appears ... life, growth, decay, neglect; all that stuff and probably more. And it's quiet, too; nothing gimmicky, obvious or flashy about it. That gives it the durability and timelessness that any genuine Still Life ought to have. 8.

Sunset in the park
by pmotta

Comment:
Beautiful. It's like some kind of gorgeous exhibition, and more rewarding with every moment's extra consideration. 8.

Avocado Grove Shadows
by pointandshoot

Comment:
I've no idea if the shadows, at least in the literal sense, are critical to the success of this image. And I don't much care, either; it's a beautiful celebration of light and texture. Plus the avocado injects a nice allusion to life and death, too, or at least to the cyclical nature of life. 8.

intermittent
by redmoon

Comment:
I think the fact that he's sitting down (rather than just passing through) makes this seem even more laden with symbolism than it might otherwise be. The diagonals dominate, of course, but the big rectangles on the wall also
seem critical to me ... they suggest video/TV screens and, with the diagonal bars across them, make the image about imperfect communication for me. Which of course means the title is particularly pleasing. 8.

On their way
by jjbeguin

Comment:
I love the almost-gone placement of the human subjects; they are clearly the focus of the image while being surrounded, perhaps even pursued, by imposing symbols. This permits all sorts of interesting allegorical interpretations, particularly when the possible meanings of the bars, the roadway and the shadows are brought into play! The image can represent adolescence, or graduation, or birth, or even death. No interpretation is certain though, and that's what I like most about this photograph. 8.