First Place ($500 Prize)
Untitled
by Vanessa Migone
In first place comes the best of the "naked torso with leaves on it" shots. There were many of these, but Ms. Migone clawed to the top of the crowd for several reasons. Artful and thoughtful composition is the primary one. No casual casting of moldy ivy here. Every shadow has been thought out, each leaf carefully arranged. Also, her model has a really hot bod.
The strongest of two entries by this photographer is a pastoral pic with nostalgic resonance. It's like a still from the '70s soft-porn flick Terrence Malick never made, sensual and Scandinavian in ambiance, making the most of the colour contrast in sky and landscape to frame the author's toothsome subject. The artist's second pic is a more angular, contemporary affair so is this image a fluke? No matter. We'll let this one do the talking. It speaks volumes.
Third Place
"Falling"
by johhnyangel
Squeaking into third is this wry, tongue-in-cheek and just plain cocky shot by Johnny Angel. Taking a different tack than most of the competition, it tells a story, fulfills the brief, sidesteps the cliches, frames the subject perfectly and ticks all the boxes technically. If he'd found a model with some better looking feet, it might have rated more highly, but it he didn't, so it doesn't.
Question: Do conifers actually have leaves? Aren't they all prickly and spiky instead? Does it really matter? In arriving at my judgment, I thought about this for many, many seconds (four, actually) before deciding: who gives a fuck? Whether the trees in the golden section of this icy flesh run are leafy or spiny, one thing's certain this image is a winner. Or, at least, it would have been if we hadn't had the miniature objects on your foo-foo schtick win several previous competitions. Whoops.
Still, in a contest where the majority of entrants interpreted the brief all too literally, this brought wit, sex appeal, style, subtlety and (snow) balls to the party. Kudos to you, Anonymous and next time have the grace to reveal your name.
