Get notified of their new contests
This photographer has worked well with the light and the lines of the building to create a wonderfully strong image, a really good use of contrast and perspective. I love the way the lines of the build draw you eye to the position of the window cleaners, perched high up the building and the excellent use of the wide-angle lens just increases the sense of height and precariousness.
I am not a fan of over doing selective desaturation in photography, as I feel a picture should be able to stand up by its self as either a colour or as a black & white image, but somehow it really works here, though I personally would still like to have seen a little colour tone in the building. The photographer might want to experiment with desaturating the colours in the building to a point, but not letting go to a pure grey, as you can still have that emphasis on the window cleaner’s bright orange workwear, while retaining a more natural feel to the photography, so the image doesn’t look to over worked? Of course, this is not a criticism, only my own personal tastes, as my mantra is there is never a right or wrong way to compose an image, there is only what you and your viewers like and dislike. Great composition with those strong vertical lines which gives the image a wonderful graphic feel and I like how the photographer has managed to keep all the line vertical and parallel, which can be tricky when shooting up.
270 Images entered
Brief
See more contest details
Cleaners all over the world do an amazing job of keeping all our lives tidy, hygienic and in an orderly state. Almost unseen, mostly underpaid, often in very difficult conditions, working the hours most of us would never dream of, all to keep our world running. The cleaners of hospital, offices, schools, refuse collectors, street cleaners, sewerage workers, servants and even mothers all play an amazing and very important role in our lives. Just imagine what would our world be like without their hard work? What I would like to see are strong portraits or documentary/ reportage images in colour or monochrome that celebrates or highlights the importance of these unsung heroes in our lives.
Another very strong, dark and dynamic black & white composition with a clever use of perspective, shooting down the narrow corridor and a wonderful use of backlighting, silhouetting the cleaner. The cleaner has such a look of concentration and is totally absorbed in his work, that he is completely oblivious to the photographer, giving the image a very natural reportage feel and I really love the mysterious figure sat down at the end of the corridor, which really adds to the narrative of the image. For me, the photographer has given the image has just the just the right amount of contrast and tonal range to complete the image.
212 Photographers
16,046 Ratings
Meet the judge
This is a very good example of street reportage. A single image, just a moment in time, but which tells a complex and interesting story and which makes me want to know more. Who is this girl and I wonder how long her day has been? Great choice of a slow shutter speed and a very steady hand at an 8th of a second to capture the motion of the young girl and which gives the image it dynamism.
