Glyn Paton writes:

It’s always a pleasure to judge this competition as not only do I get to see great images, but I also get a quick tour around the world.  From the four images selected this month it was difficult to pick a winner, they were very different and there was very little to choose between them. Well done to everyone, but particularly to these four.

Winner

Diagonals and Rickshaws by George Pearson

A great street shot, the background gives us clearly defined subjects.  As the title implies this picture is made by its strong diagonals and they help to place the two figures in the frame.  The two men’s postures and positions are so typical of working men in India, resignation, exhaustion?  The clearly defined muscles and sinews in the arm of the right most person are an indication of the strength required in this line of business.  The crop is very tight but it helps to focus on the main subjects. An excellent street and travel image, with strong characters well depicted.

Highly Commendeds

Gurteen-beach, County Galway by Andrew Flannigan

This is a very atmospheric photograph. The prominent position of the woman in the shot makes this a travel rather than a landscape image.  This isn’t a dramatic picture, it is calm and peaceful.  The colour and nature the woman’s attire adds to that feeling.  The colour tone is consistent throughout the image and it is this that ensures the tranquillity.  If the person was wearing bright coloured clothes it would spoil the mood and there would be a clash of colours and the overall ambience would be lost.  It is mood and atmosphere that this image conveys very successfully 

Gondoliere Venice by Mandy Davis

A picture of mystery and impact, it would make a great book cover. The lighting on the gondolier’s striped top and the subsequent shadow that shows the characteristic hat with ribbons give us enough detail to get a sense a place and also a sense of mystery.  The graffiti and damaged wall above the window add to the story.  Really well composed and obviously you pressed the shutter at exactly the right moment.  If only there could be a half shadowed face in the window! 

The Cleaner’s here  Havana, Cuba by Jane Tearle

I love the humour in this picture.  The older lady looking unhappy and or impatient and the cleaner, with her back to us cleaning the stairs.  The diagonal from the owner up to the cleaner gives us a strong dynamic.  Then we get to look at the faded grandeur of Havana as told by: the old and peeling paint of the front door, the  cracked and damaged hall tiles and stairs and the inner door tell their own story.  A picture with layers and a micro-history lesson on Cuba and Havana.