People at Rest and Asleep

I think that there's an interesting images in here (or perhaps several) but that a more organisation and ordering of the frame is needed. - and that's about the photographer moving themselves to make a more harmonious image centred on the first two or three couples whilst utilising the curved motif of the bollards. The detail of the door and the crowd are entirely superfluous.

I like the boldness of this - the deep and darkening curve of the marble that bisects the frame. It forces us to engage with it and then scan the image for interesting shapes. I like the 'anchoring' of the smartly dressed couple bottom left and the woman, partly obscured bottom right with the raised hand. Nicely done.

I think that this is lovely and quietly dynamic. A good base exposure ensures that the highlight and shadow detail are retained and the simple composition means that we concentrate on the contrast of textures between hair and skin. A delightful and fortuitous mirroring between the eye and the curl of the hair just above it. I think that this is rather moving, simple and very human.

There are several photographs in here - although the main object is clearly the men sleeping in the back of the truck. I decided to review it because of the self-portrait in the wing mirror that reminded me very much of Lee Friedlander. I wonder whether there might have been a way to combine these whilst excluding the extraneous and distracting street scene behind because the juxtaposition of the two elements might create a third visual motif. Food for thought anyway.

Although I can see the intention here - and I like the shape of the 'bench' and the figure - the image feels too stark. The highlights have blown completely and I sense that the areas of shade have been brought down dramatically in post. I think sometimes it's best to let an interesting composition (and this is one) speak for itself without interference - and that means just getting the basics of exposure right in camera.

Sometimes images are all about shouting and being direct but this is rather more subtle and suggestive - and therein lies its strength. I think that this is very well seen and nicely composed - very little extraneous detail interferes with the rather impressionistic take on sunbathing and the colours are bright and cheery. A charming effort.

This rather stark (and stripey) image has both wit and warmth and I like the way that the photographer has followed format with the rather elongated figure. Monochrome certainly helps concentrate on its form and it reminded me very much of Tony Ray-Jones' meditation of the English at leisure, 'A Day Off'.

I think that this is an interesting image in potential and I can see that the chap enjoying a drink is interestingly dressed but here the interplay of background and foreground means that we are looking beyond the obvious to the distractions behind. Part of making successful work is about making both zones harmonious and we do that by positioning ourselves in a position where they are. Essentially we compose the world in a way that a viewer might easily translate what we conceive. I think a little more attention to background in composition would have made this much stronger. Well seen however.

This is a great idea, humorous and pretty well executed but I wonder whether we might make it more impactual by making the framing do what your eye was actually drawn to? Simply put, what is the picture of? It's a woman asleep beneath an illustration of one of Penn's portraits. Everything else - with the possible exception of the odd shaped street lamp - is extraneous. If we're more judicious with our framing, the viewer will be able to see exactly what we're driving at visually. Well done however for seeing.

I thin that this is nice moment caught rather well - decently composed and exposed. However I'm always left wondering why a potentially strong image needs such a pronounced vignetting. I'm no purist and will crop as necessary if I have to but it does seem to me that if an image is well imagined ad composed it probably doesn't need additional artifice to make it stronger.

Whilst this is an engaging and somewhat humorous shape, I think a little more consideration might have made a better image. Firstly, it isn't sharp which, although is sometimes not so important, here is rather essential. Secondly, as much as I like the idea of a silhouette the inaccurate exposure means that the background is unnecessarily distracting by its brightness. Finally I think I;d have liked to have seen the entirety of the wheelbarrow rather than the crop that we have. All that said, well seen.

I think that this is really interesting and it's a brave way of framing that makes the viewer really search for the subject of the image. I think however that a slight tweak might have improved it. For me, I'd have liked to have seen the full umbrella and its shadow and perhaps the exclusion of the greenery bottom left. That way, we might have seen a tiny bit more of the platform. That said this is a cracking, graphic composition.

Sometime an image tells and sometimes an image hints and this is an example of the latter. I'm very sceptical of people making photographs of the homeless outside of a serious journalistic context but I think that this has about the right balance. Compositionally, I might have bene inclined to frame a bit closer in on the left hand side however this works without compromising several issue around identity.

This is nicely done: simply framed and utilising a slow shutter speed (and presumably a tripod or additional support) we get a visual juxtaposition of speed and rest. Well exposed, I might have been tempted to frame so that the (overexposed) extraneous detail of cars at the top of the frame were excluded, but this is a good effort.

I'm rather sceptical about photographing homeless people outside of a journalistic context but I think that this is rather nicely done. Its strength lies in its simplicity - of shape and intention but also in the framing of the flowers which 'cushion' the image and additionally 'mirror' the sleeping figure. Nicely exposed and with a little fortune to have the face upwards with such an expression, this is a strong frame.