I'm so glad I went with this theme this week...not only did it bring a good turnout, but when you have a passion about what you're looking at (as weird as that may be), it really makes the viewing/judging fun!
Thank you to everyone who entered, I really enjoyed your photography and I hope you enjoyed entering the contest.
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@_timo_redux_ : One of the things I really like about this photo is that the focus, the bike, is in the city (at least it looks like a city to a hick like me!). Generally, the abandoned focus is found in rural areas; out where it has been left to decay. (After thought: as I’ve gone through all the entries, I see there are quite a few set in an atmosphere such as this.) Here’s a bicycle that’s been abandoned in the middle of the city (as I view the scene) as if someone couldn’t get the bike out of the snow, said “screw it”, and just left it there. The passerby’s, the lights in the windows and things not normally found in my “typical” abandoned photos. I love it!
@goldmac2006 : The first word that came to mind when I saw this photo was “Pandemic.”
It reminds me of the first time I walked into Walmart when all the craziness in 2020 had began and asked where they moved all the toilet paper to? Someone kindly informed me that they HADN’T moved the TP, but they were sold out of it! This image shows abandonment in such as someone hasn’t done their job and refilled the cooler but a more appropriate name for me would be “conspicuous consumption.” I do think it’s a cool idea for this theme.
@oblomow: Love the stones against the lush green hillside in this shot. I’d love to hear the story behind this one…was it a village that was abandoned all at once for some plague or other reason or army barracks that got left behind to allow their stones to crumble? (As noted in another thread, I have a very vivid imagination). Or perhaps these were out buildings of a large estate? Whatever the story, it fits the theme AND is a lovely photo.
@mollyc: Oh, it was love at first site on Molly’s entry. The torn, abandoned teddy bear combined with the dark red leather furniture and the perfect golden light are so simple yet so classy and fitting to the theme so well. Love it.
@Snowlover : If any of you took a gander at my Flickr Gallery, you saw that I have quite a few abandoned old rigs in it. I personally can’t imagine abandoning a rig out in the open, but I have to remember that perhaps it wasn’t in the middle of nowhere when it was left. The colors are gorgeous and tie-in with the rust of the truck. Definitely abandoned with the addition of gorgeous color.
@someoldguy : You really found a keeper for this theme! Once again it begs me to hear its story, which is the true markings of an excellent photograph. The boat has certainly been left to abandonment alongside the river. I love the battered destroyed chic white paint and the beautiful blue sky. I’m also liking the 1/3 placement instead of centering the focal point in the middle of the frame. It really makes a big difference in this shot. Very well done.
@Jonk1183: Wow! That’s some gorgeous aqua blue surrounding that ship. I love the texture all the garbage on the stern gives the image and again, the placement of the focal point really adds to the image. Makes me wonder if the boat was brought up from the bottom of the water or if the water drained away to reveal the ship. Beautiful shot.
@bushman4: I like the image, Bushman, but I’m having a difficult time figuring out how this image fits the “abandoned” theme. Did you perhaps get this confused with @Snowlover’s silhouette theme from last week? It’s a lovely photo but I can’t pinpoint any abandonment in it.
@dwrufus53: Great abandoned house in black and white and a super POV as well. The arms (limbs) reaching out from the old tree really add to the image. I like how even the porch skirting being ripped partway back adds to the photo as does the pile (not sure of it’s just a pile of leaves and garbage) seem abandoned…they almost look like skulls to me! Excellent entry.
@Parowdy : Nice lighting illuminates the shell of this old (burned out?) building. I think the vapor trail of the jet makes a nice dichotomy to the image. Good job.
@cjsuk: I’m not sure what was here but whatever it was it is certainly abandoned now. Since I don’t actually see an abandoned object as the focal point it loses the point for me but the blue hills and the white clouds behind it as well as the stonework framing it still make it a nice photograph.
@OldMacs4Me: Beautiful scene. Maybe a little TOO beautiful for an abandoned theme as I personally like the focus to be more obviously abandoned, but it’s a lovely image set in the mountains (looks like home!).
@Janichsan: I like this idea…an old graffiti-ridden factory well-captivated in black and white. I like the texture it gives off as if looking into the guts of an abandoned building. Great shot.
@kendallm: Heh…this looks like the dead end street down from my place on occasion! The pickup itself doesn’t look completely abandoned but with all the elements around it (the mud or oil puddle; the stacked equipment; the peeling walls; the bricks and graffiti) all combine to really fit the theme. I don’t think it would have had the same punch if you wouldn’t have done it in black and white.
@Apple_Glen_UK: Really cool old abandoned bike in a scene that really adds to it and puts perspective on “abandoned”. It’s as if someone rode to the boardwalk to spend a day at the sea but forgot about their bike when they left ( or perhaps something happened to them?) and never came to retrieve it. While I noted that
@kendallm photo would not have had the same effect if it wasn’t in b&w, I think the opposite here as the colors really added to the image. Nice job.
@StrollerEd: Another bike photo only this one doesn’t look as abandoned as the others. I love the lines of the fence and the bridge behind it, though.
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Third Place -
@Apple_Glen_UK
Second Place -
@dwrufus53
First Place -
@mollyc
Thanks again to all of you for participating in this weeks contest!
