6 November 2021

Success

In the week ending October 29th, 2680 new images were submitted to the Geograph project. I am always hopeful that one or two of my photographs will make the "Picture of the Week" shortlist. When they do they are in with a chance of being chosen as the overall winner.

For the week in question, I had three photos in the shortlist - all taken in Lincoln on October 25th. The previous week's winner happened to be a published writer called Mike Parker who was responsible for "Map Addict" which I reviewed here  just before COVID19 really started to take a hold of our lives. I am delighted to announce that he picked one of my Lincoln pictures as the overall "Picture of the Week" for Week 43. It is the one shown at the top of this blogpost. It also headed the post I created on October 27th.

In selecting it, Mike Parker said this: "Congratulations Neil! This was the shot to which I constantly returned, and each time, saw something new in it. The lines, angles and shadows go in all directions and create a real sense of street drama, enhanced by the unmistakably low autumnal light. The boldness - yet shabbiness too - of the central question, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?, is somehow poignant, philosophical and comical. Where have you been? To Evensong at the cathedral, lording it over the whole scene, or to buy some cheap pants at Primark, down at the bottom? All life is here."

When I first checked this photo out on the computer, I knew instinctively that it was a good one and it was so uplifting to have that view confirmed. Now I wait to see the Week 44 shortlist from which I will have the honour of picking  the next overall winner.

19 comments:

  1. I would have to agree with Mike Parker's comments. Love the photo.

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    1. I take many photos and only occasionally do I say to myself, "Yeah, that's a good one!"

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  2. Oh, well done. Congratulations YP.

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    1. I bow to thee in gratitude fair damsel.

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  3. How very cool! And you deserve it!

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  4. Also people on the move - where are they going? The way you caught the guy on the bridge with arm out mid-stride and the girl on the right turning to look at her friend is perfect.

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    1. Thank you Tasker. I suspect the two girls are students at The University of Lincoln.

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  5. Anonymous10:14 pm

    Well done that boy. Is there a nice cash prize?

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    1. I am afraid mot. Just the honour of judging.

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  6. Congratulations! It is a deep photo on many levels.

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    1. I think it is the golden light that does it.

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  7. Congratulations! I have not yet seen a picture that you took and that was not good. Of course, photos speak to us on different levels, and evoke different reactions. An abandoned barn on a Yorkshire field may just be a heap of rubble in the middle of nowhere to some, while it will draw me in very strongly.

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    1. You make a good point. One man's meat is another man's poison.

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  8. Congratulations YP - yet another of your excellent photos.

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  9. Ancient and modern. Well done YP.

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    1. Is it wrong to be proud? I am proud of that picture.

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  10. (I begun to write my comment, but it disappeared - if it reappears your side, disregard first edition!). This is a wonderful photograph Neil, and you are right to be proud of it. It's not often that this aspect of the bridge is recognised, with the bigger emphasis being on the shopping centre side, so it's lovely to see a different angle. 'Where have you been?' is a question that is not only being asked as the world slowly starts to reconnect - some striding out confidently and unafraid like the gentleman crossing the bridge, others taking security in numbers, and then there are those who are shadowy in their engagement, sticking close to the wall sides, but also in a more abstract sense people are taking stock, re-evaluating their lives, brought to question by their enforced time away from the rat race, asking, where have I been for all of my life, is this really where I want to be, or do I want to approach things from a different angle and view life going forwards from a new perspective. Perhaps a life that doesn't emphasise the mercenary economy and isn't bound up in how much more stuff/money/workload can I acquire, but a new direction that meanders through the places the buses can't access and there's time to stop and watch the dragonflies at the water's edge.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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