The Remote Island by Bryan Christian The burning question of the day: Life on Mars or Eleventh Hour? Plus: Britney goes on the record, USA may not renew Monk, and our Grey's Anatomy recap.
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.
, featuring curious yet marvelous infusions of cucumber and rose petal.
