On the road

Ok, I'm going to comment on this photo as I like the photo (and I like cats). I couldn't give it an award as it doesn't really fit the brief - though I do like people attempting to creatively stretch the interpretation of any brief. I think it's a good shot, shows skill in capture and is well processed with good texture displayed. I'm unsure if this is because some HDR processing has been utilised, but if so, it has been done well. HDR processing is so often overdone, ruining potentially good shots. That has not happened here and so is to be congratulated.

There were quite a few photos using movement submitted and I thought this was the best. The shot is well composed and the colours are beautifully captured and complement one another well. The picture attempts to represent something other than appearances and, in this sense, echoes the work of J M W Turner as well as the post war abstract expressionists; the most famous of which is probably Jackson Pollock. It expresses the mood of movement or travel as well as pictorially interpreting a modern form of transport, something that was brilliantly captured by Turner in his 1844 painting 'Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway', a painting produced just 5 years after the invention of photography, which perhaps pushed Turner further along the road of abstraction.

I wanted to comment on this shot as I applaud any attempt to take a different point of view - and including the modern technology employed in cars today is a good idea. This shot would have been placed higher if there was something a little extra to catch my attention. I know this can be difficult to achieve, often the best way forward is to shoot more, trying as many variations as possible. Perhaps a slightly wider view giving more of the outside environment would help. A good attempt at something different.

This is a well observed shot, the rain on the glass lending a painterly quality overall. It reminds me of a great series of photographs, 'Rider & Driver' by Chris Dorley-Brown, a photographer who has done excellent work centred on the topic of 'the everyday'. Lee Friedlander was one of the first photographers to incorporate cars into his work and, in the history of photography, an important moment in the depiction of the everyday was signalled by the 'New Documents' show at MOMA in 1967. Friedlander's work was featured in this show, which was curated by the highly influential John Szarkowski. The photographers featured in this show eschewed the social campaigning aspect prominent in documentary photography until then and adopted a more critical examination of contemporary society - relying heavily on a reappraisal of the everyday. It is easy to overlook these moments which comprise part of modern urban existence, so the photographer is to be congratulated for their astuteness.

Again, I've selected this shot to comment on as I applaud any attempt to transform the everyday - those little details or quiet scenes that go largely unnoticed. It has been said that the job of the photojournalist is to domesticate the exotic for the spectator. In which case the job of a photographer shooting more mundane or everyday scenes is to 'exotic' the domestic; frequently a difficult and thankless task. However, it is my belief - and the belief of a lot of clever philosophers - that the everyday is worthy of a great deal of attention (if you are interested in this area it is well worth checking out the writing of Ben Highmore). These seemingly mundane scenes can speak volumes about the human race and when studied are, in their own way, mind blowing. So, well done for paying attention to just the type of scene that can highlight these matters.

The chaos of the modern urban environment is perfectly captured here, the collision of the reflection and the world outside combining excellently with the opposing lines in the picture. It is a great shot bringing to mind the syncopated rhythms of modern jazz like Miles Davis or John Coltrane. The photographer has utilised the portrait landscape really well, juggling all the elements expertly. The figure in the lower left is well positioned and introduces a human presence into the ruthlessly urban remainder. Tom Wood specialises in this type of shot; if you haven't seen his book, 'All Zones Off Peak' check it out! One of my all time favourites.

This is a lovely photograph, the execution of which has been very well handled. The figure is well positioned against the car frame and the expression and lighting are really well observed. The light on the car frame just picks out enough detail to give the viewer sufficient information without distracting from the rest of the shot in any way. There are minimal elements in the shot but they are in delightful harmony, following the diagonal rules of composition. It is an intriguing shot, drawing the spectator in; what is the story here? The only way I can think of to improve the shot is something I mentioned last time I was a judge - please embed any information about the shot into the file itself (in Photoshop go to File - File info and fill it in there). Information placed onto the image itself is just too distracting. Nevertheless, this is a great shot.

I like this image and it almost went higher up the rankings. It's very difficult shooting from cars and this is definitely on the right track - it's agonisingly close to being there. I've shot a lot of images that, similarly, are almost there but not quite and it's disappointing to let them go. The composition is good overall, with the elements in balance. The lack of focus on the main figure is the thing that distracts, especially as this figure is the largest and central element. The way several of the figures are looking off to camera left is working well - if one more figure was looking in that direction it would really help, but ultimately it's the lack of focus on the main figure that lets the shot down. Shooting on the street or from cars can be heartbreaking as you get a lot of disappointment but it is worth persevering and certainly this shot demonstrates that you're heading in the right direction.

This is a very well executed view of London and partners the other view of London I have selected. This photograph offers an idealised view of the city (though strictly speaking it is not picturesque - the night and the city or the urban are elements associated with the sublime rather than the picturesque. It is worth exploring these concepts - they are still in use today - for example TV shows such as 'Game of Thrones' have utilised picturesque paintings, such as those by Claude Lorrain, as references for the sets featured in the series). Here the photographer has offered a beguiling view of the city and has utilised one of the inherent characteristics of the medium through the use of a long exposure, photography having an intimate relationship with time. This is a very professional shot and one which I'm sure many London based companies would be happy to use in their corporate literature.

I like this shot for combining a nature shot within the theme of the contest. It offers a different viewpoint by including the silhouette of (presumably) the driver or another passenger - as in other photos in this competition the photographer is acknowledging the reality of their situation. Photographers frequently idealise the scenes they photograph and advertising relies heavily on this idealisation to sell things to us. This idealisation seeps into our own family and travel photos - in family photos everyone is smiling; travel photos repeat the idealised views we are used to seeing in holiday brochures. Photographs such as this one give a more rounded account of the world and our encounters with it.

This is a lovely atmospheric shot and fulfils the brief perfectly. It recalls the work of Ken Schles from his 1988 book 'Invisible City' which has recently been reprinted and is widely acclaimed. The image has an air of mystery and ambivalence which really strengthens its impact; the sublime elements of the city as a place of imminent danger are well expressed here. The stance of the two males depicted is perfectly balanced and the lack of detail rendered by the camera adds to the shot as it reinforces the sense of foreboding, demonstrating how this gritty aesthetic can chime well with the idea of the sublime - which was defined by Edmund Burke as 'whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain or danger'.

This is another shot that almost made a commendation - it does have a lovely mood. Ultimately it didn't quite make it as I felt the exposure (or perhaps it was the processing) and the colour balance were just a little too far off, which unbalanced the picture. I like the idea and the compositional balance is good, with the forest on either side of the photo, but the shadow areas are too deep for my taste and a more natural colour balance would be aesthetically more pleasing. A slight tweaking of these elements would I believe result in a more pleasing photograph. Nonetheless it shows a good sensitivity to the situation.

London, love it or loathe it, there's no mistaking it; I will declare my own position, I love it (though it can drive me mental at times). I love this shot as it packs so much information into the scene - and photography is very good at rendering information. It also offers a different viewpoint on the approach to the city and shows London on a typically overcast English day. I've also chosen this shot as it partners another view of London I've selected, together they (hopefully) illustrate one of the themes I've been highlighting in this contest - the concepts of the picturesque and the sublime - or to put it in simple terms, idealised and non-idealised views. I highlight these issues as thinking about them can help us as photographers when planning and executing work. These concepts are also relevant at the moment with the controversy over the veracity of photos recently submitted to the World Press Photo. In historical terms alone photographs such as this are valuable documents (a tricky concept in photography) for the information they provide of place and time.

The reflections in this shot work really well - informing the viewer of the photographer's position and literally adding another level of information to the scene. It can be very difficult to make photographs from moving vehicles and include reflections but the overall balance works well here. It is also difficult to photograph the banal (by which I mean the commonplace as opposed to an 'event') which expresses something of contemporary society. Whilst many may be tempted to make a photograph that encapsulates a more picturesque view of the mountains, this shot tells us something of the society we have constructed and of man's interventions on the planet.