Grim

Anyone who has spent any time in a ferry terminal, or indeed the terminal of any smaller transport network, will know how cheerless and grim some of these places can be, in what often feels like the end of the line rather than the start of hopeful new journeys and adventures. This image really encapsulates the soulless character of these waiting rooms, and most certainly qualifies as grim. The black and white conversion further captures the mood. Congratulations on your winning image.

This image certainly encompases the feeling of grim, with a crumbling military structure balanced precariously on a rapidly eroding rocky pile. The lone figure is tiny in the frame, but stands out against the brighter backdrop, and adds mood and a little life to the shot. Conversion to black and white has been done well, and furher adds to the grimness. Well done on your top ten placing.

This delapidated building is unidentified and does not look to be especially old, but the setting looks to be forgotten and well on the way to its slide into grim decline. The inclusion of the reflections in the puddles seems to both lift the image, but also adds to the sense of grim. The subject works well in black and white, and there are a good range of tones and contrasts. Well done on your top ten placing.

This is an image for which many would be able to give their own story, with the person standing looking out of a high-rise window suggesting several different narratives. In the context of the last 18 months however, such an image can easily take on a mood of lonliness, isolation and lack of freedom, all in an environment that could easily be recognised as being grim in both a litrral and metaphorical sense. By viewing the figure from behing and seeing their "view", we become more active participants in the scene rather than passive bystanders. Well done on your top ten placing.

In any circumatances, the rather derelict shop would certainly pass as grim, but headlining itself as a jewellery store somehow seems to accentuate the decline, from bright and sparkly to grim and grey. The lighting is good, looking to be later in the day, as the image attempts to shed a bit of warming golden light on a rather soulless street scene. Here's hoping for better times ahead for the former shopkeepers here. Well done on your top ten placing.

I always find neglected and disused seaside structures such as this especially sad, as I think it contrasts so starkly with the sunny, jolly holiday times for which they were intended. The structure still looks quite sturdy, although the wooden surfaces are deteriorating, so there may be hope to lift it out of the grim and restore some former glory in the future. Great clarity to the shot, which works well in black and white. Well done on your top ten placing.

A typical precinct found in many towns and city suburbs, often looking grim simply by the nature of the architectural style dominant when many were constructed. Here the composition adds to the sense of grim, with the frame virtually split in two with the shuttered stores on one side and the cheerless concrete steps on the right. It is not clear whether the shops are just closed due to the time of day, or closed as a result of economic downturn, but whichever, it contribures to the look of dreary and drab. The inclusion of the lone figure adds to the success of the shot. Well done on your top ten placing.

I am sure this image will pass many people by, but for me it perfectly captures the theme. Everything about it oozes grim, from the subject, the composition, the subtle capture of motion and the low tonal contrast, all accentuating the dreary and dull. Only a photographer with a certain photographic eye would consider this as a photographic subject, but captured in the grey chill of winter, there is no value in trying to dress up a landscape to be something it isn't. So why not show it for what it is....just grim! Congratulations on your third place finish.