People #345

It was a pleasure judging this New Joiners 'People' contest, and there's a wide variety of styles present in my Top 10. I found this shot to be particularly engaging and very well executed. The mirror construction works perfectly, creating a row of eyes, and the falling off of the brightness of the image towards the sides leaves us nowhere to look but directly at our subject, who returns the stare in an uncompromising and searching way. Excellent.

This is a really well shot documentary portrait, a nice composition that shows us the fisherman, his catch, and the tools he's used to get it. The watermark is a big distraction, and it seems that the left of the shot may have been whitewashed to provide real estate for it, creating something of an imbalance.

This portrait is full of poignancy, and very interesting. Here are the notes the photographer has provided: "This old gentleman is one of the last living personal guards of the late Yugoslavian leader Marshal Tito. I photographed him at his home and asked him to hold Tito's portrait of which he is very proud." It's beautifully lit, and an excellent character study.

Capturing such a thoughtful and well composed portrait within the whirl of a religious festival like this is a real achievement. The shallow depth of field is brave, given the riot of interest behind the subject, but works brilliantly and really connects us with the devotee. The low placement of the subject in the frame is also quite unconventional, but again works well and is nicely balanced with the background and the torch.

Such a delightful portrait of this little boy. The square crop works perfectly, and the dappled light creates a lovely effect whilst still providing the right light on the face. The angled pose and look off to the side create something quite different from most portraits. Well done.

What a year it's been, and the BLM protests in the US and elsewhere have been one of its defining aspects. This is a really up-close and personal shot of BLM protesters, has some good energy to it. The raised hand of the 'STOP' sign is a nice touch, and the black and white approach feels well suited.. It's interesting to see how many protesters are focussed on recording the scene themselves, and makes the viewer wonder what the scene is that they're confronting.

A lovely composition that hints at the shyness of the subject, and the prying eye of the photographer and their camera. There's a broad range of tone across the image, and it's very well handled and leaves us in no doubt where to focus our attention. I'd be tempted to clone out the bright spot in the top right corner, to remove any distractions.

A very engaging and personal self-portrait, and makes one want to know more about the subject, and the series of images that this might come from. The photographer's title/description is "Self-love - Break taboos until you love yourself." Self portraiture is a particularly challenging and rewarding genre of photography, and a good exercise for all photographers to undertake - as both a photographic and personal voyage of discovery.

I love this! And I love the story, that it's your son and he's only willing to be photographed with the panda head on. Not that it needs a story, as it invites us to imagine ourselves what might be going on. Personally it reminded me of the film Napoleon Dynamite. I'd love to see more images from the series, and a bigger file size so that we can appreciate them better.