Travel Image of the Month - August 2021: Isfahan Art Class - Neil Harris

One of the good things about being able to post your shots on this page, is to become a little self indulgent in terms of being able to be close up to your shots before they are posted on the competition site. We are always learning as photographers, both by seeing images, and encouraging others to comment on them through competitions like this. 

This month there were many which made me stop and think, not only about the way that our criteria of 'a sense of place' was being interpreted, but also about simply how the shot was captured. Was it an opportunistic shot taken in a brief moment, or was it a more considered shot? There are examples of both in this months collection of 25 images. 

Certainly the consideration of who to award the monthly winner title to this month provided our judge this month, Justin Cliffe ARPS, a challenge before choosing a worthy winner.

Justin commented ..

"A good number of photos to review and consider this month - after a quieter one last month. Having had a good look through them, and reflected on my short-list for a day or so, I have selected, as my Winner for August:"

Isfahan Art Class - Neil Harris
"I really like this image, which is made by the light being reflected back from the book onto the faces of the two women to the right of the picture. It is then complemented by the two women in the bottom left (and, yes, I know that we ‘should’ have had either 1 or 3 people here for compositional purposes!), with the far left one looking into the picture and up at the two readers - perfect! Finally, we have a good idea as to where we are here, with the dome of the mosque in the background setting the scene. All in all, a lovely, and restful, image."

"I was also taken with the following, Highly Commended, images:"

Chaga People, Mount Kilimanjaro, United Republic of Tanzania - Thomas Andy Branson
"This one has grown on me and I’ve ended up really liking it. There looks to be a story here - what is the woman looking at out of the frame, what about the motorcycle - and the blue & yellow colours work well, simple, uncluttered and effective." 

Take a break, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan - Allan Hartley
"Full credit to the photographer for actually getting to this amazing location and taking this photograph. I particularly like the composition, with the line of the valley leading us up, into, and through the image. Do we need all of the sky - possibly not, perhaps a little off the top might enhance it further, whilst emphasising the scale of the background through the people in the foreground."

Shadow Marking – Madagascar - Andy Pinch
"Lovely soft colours from the late afternoon sunshine and perfect composition with the two figures on the left moving into the picture, the ball in the middle and the third player on the right, looking inwards, preventing our eyes from wandering out of the frame. Nicely captured."

At play at the market stall, Bac Ha, Vietnam - Stu Thompson
The vivid colours really makes this image jump off the page - the attention then being drawn to the face of the little child, staring into the camera, and then, presumably, her(?) sister looking fondly at her on the right. Nice, uncluttered, background and good composition.  

• Congratulations then to Neil, his winning shot for this month will be added to the Travel Image of the Month page on the website, with the overall monthly winners competing to be the Group’s best travel photograph of the year.

Click here to see winning images from previous years or here to see 2019 winners, here to 2020 winners, and here for 2021 winners.