Our judge for April, Justin Cliffe, writes:
Fewer images to consider this month, but, nevertheless an interesting and varied selection. I have basically gone for those images that create some form of emotion when I look through them - which all of the following, for various reasons did.
So, after going back and forth several times on my short list, I have selected, as my April image of the month:
Boys out for fun, Vietnam by Stu Thompson
What a delightful photograph, these 4 boys out enjoying themselves, with the little one, on the left, looking straight at the photographer, creating a nice connection. They are well-framed, the grass verge (and solitary shoe!) holding in the bottom left well and the background pleasingly out of focus.
The monochrome treatment used here keeps our attention on the boys faces and, apart from the (probably garish) football shirts on two of the boys, gives it a timeless feel. Well taken and very enjoyable.
I have also awarded Highly Commendeds to the following, in no particular order:
Flower Market, Delhi, India by Andrew Flannigan
The lighting makes this photo for me, the shaft of light illuminating the flowers(the orange ones in particular) and catching the man on the front right of the frame. Lots going on in the background, contrasting nicely with the calm demeanour of the two people in the foreground. Bags of atmosphere - an excellent travel photograph.
Timeless Tram, Lisbon Portugal by Ben Speed
I enjoyed this one, the creative post-processing (presumably!) providing a real sense of movement as the tram comes up the hill. The tramlines, leading in from the bottom left help take us straight to it and the black & white treatment works well - as the title indicates, it is indeed timeless. So obviously Lisbon but a different approach to what is a very commonly photographed icon of the city.
The London Look, Denmark Street, London by Anton Panchenkov
A nice example of street photography - but also giving us a sense of place, clearly London in this instance. The out of focus cowboy provides depth to the image (but dominates the right half of the image) as does the person on his phone, nicely separated in between them. The vivid colours and interesting subject matter help this image stand out whilst the angled view adds a sense of dynamism. Well seen and captured.
