I don't think this is an example of people saying you are "dishonest"; it's just a different perception of what "city life" means. What they are really telling you is that your image doesn't seem especially on-topic to them, and that's a matter of personal perception and there's nothing you can do about it.
For example, in NYC there is a bridle stable in Central Park; you can rent horses and ride in the park. There are places in there where you can't even tell you're not in the country, visually. If I shot a lovely, bucolic horse-and-rider scene in Central park, with no visual evidence of the city, then I'd have taken a picture OF "life in the city" and I'd have taken it IN the city, but I guarantee the voters would not think this was a particularly apt response to the challenge "city life", and they wouldn't change their minds even if they were told the image was, in fact, shot in Central Park.
However, if I set out with the same idea in mind and shot it in such a way that the image showed serried ranks of skyscrapers thrusting above the BG trees, then it might be a very good entry indeed.
R. |
