I like pretty much everything about this image that says as much about water itself as it does our dependent relationship with it. A strong graphic background that seems to act like a canvas onto which the girl is painted. I love the water droplets and I love the stark nature of the almost monochrome colour. The child's expression is authentic and natural and pure. All in all a winner. Well done.
Brief
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We rely on water to keep our bodies working, to feed the crops and animals that sustain us, to keep the land lush and healthy, and to aid with so many of the processes that we’ve developed. Fresh water is a limited resource, not evenly distributed around the world, and becoming even more volatile in its availability due to the changing climate. Longer droughts and more intense storms are creating many challenges. In this contest we’re examining ways in which we use water, as well as the ways we collect it, its many sources, and the impacts on communities and the environment of water’s often elusive nature and insufficient supply. Don’t feel too constrained by the brief, choosing instead to share your interpretation of the title.
I really like this - a strong, graphic composition whose (literal) fluidity contrasts with the hard angles of the square frame. But how to improve? I think that the photographer either includes more human detail or loses that detail to make the image more abstract. Either way that is an issue of framing. Personally, I'd have liked to have seen just the arm/hand coming out of the edge of the frame and none of the tree foliage. That way the image is cleaner and more intriguing. That said, a really good effort.
A frame more reminiscent of Florida than the South coast of England... I love the simplicity of this but more, the thought process behind it. An object lesson in thinking about framing and colour and technical ability in how to achieve them. It's very simple and striking and contrasts very well with the myriad entries of 'slow water'. Well done.
There is a lovely frame in here screaming to get out. Firstly, I do like what I see but how to make this better? Good reportage photography is as much about timing as anything else and sometimes we have to wait for a - sorry to use an over-hyped phrase - 'decisive moment'. Sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn't but this feels like a 'snatch' to me. Patience is your friend here. Still, good effort.
This is lovely - really well seen and decently captured. I like very much the arc of the water but the framing very slightly lets it down. I can see that the photographer as chosen to shoot wide open to blur the background and that has worked to a large extent although I am bothered by the pole by the boy's left shoulder... I wonder if the photographer had moved a couple of inches to the left whether this might have made a stronger frame? Sometimes little things are crucial. That said, this is a lovely frame.
I really like this: I like the simplicity and the monochromatic nature of the frame. I also like the fact that the photographer has metered carefully so as not to blow the highlights. But I remain unclear why the processing is such an essential part of the finished photograph. This is a strong enough frame by composition and just because we can change colours and make the palette less naturalistic doesn't mean that we should. This is a moment that is very human, we might need less artifice to show it. That said, a strong frame. Well done.
There is a real dream-like quality to this that is intriguing and rater magical. The splash of sunlight across the water does what good photography does - it cheers. I like that the photographer has framed the sunlight so that it's off centre and not predictable and I like the reflections that seem to shimmer. An image to get lost in. Well done.
I like this a great deal. A wonderful contrast between the lone figure and the patterns of the waves on the sand. Generally I'm not a fan of such dramatic post production although this is a very striking image. If I was being picky I'd like the figure to be less central in the framing and slightly better delineated. But let congratulate the photographer on a cracking frame.
This is an excellent effort: well seen and well captured with the girl's leg extended at the moment of action. I also like that it's backlit and you've done a pretty good job of shooting more or less into the light. Where this fails is that the background doesn't harmoniously match the foreground. Sometimes this is just bad luck but patience or moving yourself and reframing might have sorted. Anyway, well done.
Whilst I understand that there might be an image to be made here about access to water and the toil involved in retrieving it, I'm afraid that this isn't it. Good reportage photography is not only about spotting the potential for an image that might say something larger than itself but it's often also about 'breathing the same air' as the people that you're photographing. Only that way might we on anything but a superficial level enable empathy and some kind of understanding. Good for you for noticing something interesting but next time it would be worth spending time and effort and engagement. Shooting from a car doesn't do the subject or your talent justice.
This is brilliantly captured. I really like that you've caught a moment that is unusual and rather odd. Technically it's not bad at all and I like that the background is thrown out of focus. Extraordinary photos are made by millimetres though and I just wonder if there's another frame that shows slightly more of the beak. I know that it's a bird trying to get the last droplet but images sometimes have to prove by showing. That said, this is a cracker. Well done.
I love the graphic quality of this image. A really striking representation of how precious water is and the people making a living from it. Nicely exposed, the eye is caught immediately by the yellow basket at the top of the frame but then the eyes meanders down through the footprints to the urns on the left and then the square of the basket on the right. Well done.
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Nice frame. Well observed and exposed. I really like the central figure casting and that's what makes the image. However, this kind of frame is about patience. Waiting and waiting and framing all the time. I know that the figure at the front is just about to cast and I wonder whether both of then casting at the same time or just the shape of the first man doing so might have been stronger. Anyway, well done.
