Etherea
by Imagineer

Comment:
She's English. They wear their shoes and socks on the beach!
Such a stellar example of why the best photos are about their subject, and not just of their subject.

wintersleep
by messerschmitt

Comment:
I love the malevolent face; this is the car as a dog! A watchful, resentful, nasty dog.
I expect to see this car suddenly explode out of the snow, snapping and snarling and tugging at its chain.
(It has got a chain, hasn't it, Wiel?)

Another super messerschmitt winter photograph.

Dropping Out
by joezl

Comment:
This has great potential. He's a terrific subject, well framed between the taxi and the road markings. The composition is nicely sympathetic to the point implicit in the guy's body language (and explicit in your title). And of course, it meets the challenge topic well. The processing, however, is perhaps not chosen to get maximum effect out of the image. It seems grainy, flat and muddy for no apparent good reason. The potential drama of the scene is thus diminished. Something sharp and stark, but with a rich tonal range, would have been more suitable, I think. But even so, the several positives do outweigh that one negative.
Just dropped back in (sorry!) to add a further comment: The use of negative space here is very instructive. The big blank area of road behind the man is an essential part of the meaning of this image. He's dropping out because he has no reason to not do so.

Gus at the NewsStand (Astor Place, 2005)
by pawdrix

Comment:
Clearly the best of all the "City Character" images. This is a terrific candid portrait (well, if there was any posing and preparation done to stage the shot, it was pretty minimal, so let's call it a candid). As well as the fine character study of Gus' face, clothes and fingers, there is just enough visible in the background to put Gus firmly in context as the archetypal city street newsstand operator. Classy work. Looks like the street master Pawdrix (if you're not, I assure you my mistake is a compliment).

The City of Joy
by abhra

Comment:
This must be Calcutta, of course. Juxtaposition of the old (traditional) and the new is always interesting. This one is a reasonably prosaic composition, but the quality of the traditional subject makes up for that. His resolute progress along the road, and his interesting hand carriage, give him a real presence here. (I'm sure it's not called a rickshaw here, but I'm afraid I don't know what it is properly called). The processing is very good, too; simple and honest, and all the more effective for that. It's also an excellent approach to the challenge topic, in that you are making a point about city life in Calcutta, and not just showing us a picture of something in a city. Nice work.

Double Late
by tjmueller

Comment:
Bravo! One of just a handful of photographs in this challenge that are actually about city life, rather than merely of city life (in fact, I'm being kind; most are not even of city life, they're just photos of some thing that happens to be in a city). So, the fact that you found a way to say something worthwhile and witty about living in the city means you were already three quarters of the way to a meaningful photograph in that instant of inspiration. And such a good idea, too! The man, in business suit with his business papers trapped under his arm, gulps from one coffee cup while holding a second in reserve. No doubt the second is actually for someone else, but your suggestion (reiterated in the title, for those requiring subtitles) that he needs to be a double-barrelled coffee drinker to deal with city life, is very clever.
The actual photograph is perhaps mediocre, from a technical point of view, but I don't care about that at all. And I'm sure you don't, either. The technical shortcomings do serve a useful purpose, however; they give those voters who are not prepared to understand your photograph something to comment about.

Work Space
by ritaard

Comment:
What a remarkable photograph! Obviously, the many shelves of identical files look bizarre, especially when framed by the strangely knotted curtains. But the most interesting element is the lady, not working with her single selected file, but instead sitting off to one side and looking timidly directly at the camera. She does not look at home here. The total effect is certainly unusual, even a bit disturbing, and probably for that reason very effective, too. I suppose it must also be given credit for being a legitimate depiction of city life, although that's certainly not what it appears to be about, unless you are attempting a world's record for obscure allegory. 7.

Just Hangin'
by magnus

Comment:
This will probably win a ribbon. It's a spectacular photograph; nice colours and an appealing simplicity and symmetry of composition. Plus it is technically impressive. It is an image taken in a city, but for me it says nothing ABOUT a city. It has no intended meaning at all, that I can discern. I'm not suggesting it doesn't literally meet the challenge; it does. It's just that I prefer some other more artistically ambitious entries. Nevertheless, I must acknowledge that this image does look terrific. 7.

City in the Mountains
by gr8dane

Comment:
I like the dramatic juxtaposition here. The transition from city to mountains and sky is so stark and spectacular as to appear unrealistic. And yet it is real. I'll guess somewhere in Colorado, USA?
It's probably not really about city life in the sense that some of the more visceral images in the challenge are, but it is at least a photograph of a town that might be a city, and its quality of visual surprise makes it a worthy and legitimate entry.

21st century
by Zigomar

Comment:
Yes, that's a ghastly side of city life in many countries. This particular scene, when examined past the evidence of squalor and misery, has some interesting details. The woman is managing to provide clean clothes for her family, even here. She also appears to have two bathtubs (both outdoor), and a satellite TV antenna suspended above the yard. Plus she has her house number prominently displayed, although for whose benefit it is difficult to imagine ... she probably entertains few casual visitors. The flag on her roof is that of Serbia & Montenegro, so it may be that this disgraceful mess is a hopefully temporary artifact of that region's splendid history of ethnic harmony and tolerance.
It's a very sad vision of city life, and you did well to bring it to us.