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Abstract photo competition - The result

Photo competition abstract 1st place Sandra Rothfu?

"Those who are only satisfied with reality miss out on details and fascinating worlds." In our last photo competition, we were looking for the best images that appear abstract. Photos that seem unreal and photos in which you don't immediately recognize what is being shown. We were sure that this was a very challenging task and were all the more surprised that over 850 photo enthusiasts took part. More than in most other photo competitions. In addition, the creative output of the more than 2,250 photographs is remarkable. The five winners show impressively ambiguous motifs that make you wonder. The winner was Sandra Rothfu? from Mettmann. Her picture is convincing because it misleads the viewer. At first glance, you simply see an alley or a corridor in a presumably Mediterranean area until you realize that something is different. It looks a little cold and run-down, but there is a warm glow coming from below. A man is walking under the area where the floor should actually be, towards the light. It seems as if you can see through the ceiling to the floor below, except that this is not a normal floor, but a small street. The illusion is a success. "The main picture is a corridor in the Beelitz sanatoriums. However, as I didn't like the reflection on the original, I thought about having something else reflected in it and looked for a picture that could fit in there. At some point, I had seen a similar picture with a surreal reflection on Instagram. The alleyway in Florence was the closest match for me. Using the Filterstorm app and the double exposure function, I finally edited the images together," the winner explains afterwards.

Photo competition abstract 2nd place Franz-Josef Besche

The photo in second place is a beautiful colorful chaos. You can recognize the individual elements, but at the same time it is not clear why they are positioned together. It is as if someone has collected hundreds of lamps from various rooms and spaces in houses, hotels, caf?s and offices and hung them in one place. There is a crazy sense of obsession and overreaction, but at the same time there is a magic. The star-shaped constellation leads the eye in all directions. Again and again you discover new little things. All the lamps are reflected in the panes and repeat themselves in a new image. The photograph is by Franz-Josef Besche and was taken at MARTA, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Herford. "...a detail of an installation by the Chinese artist Song Dong..." he tells us.

Photo competition abstract 3rd place Peter Henning

In third place we have an indefinable but very interesting image. Is it two blue gas planets lying next to each other in space, surrounded by everything floating around up there? If so, the subject of "astrophotography" would take on a whole new meaning. Could it perhaps be the eyes of an insect or an animal from the field of microphotography? It could also be a manipulated drone shot of two islands in the sea...in the evening...during a strong storm? In any case, this shot hit the nail on the head and made us very curious. As we later learned from the 56-year-old amateur photographer Peter Henning, the picture was taken as follows:
"The base is a black cardboard and on it a shallow glass bowl with some lukewarm water. I placed two blue M&M chocolate lenses in it and photographed from above using a tripod. The whole thing was illuminated with a powerful flashlight. "
We think the result is just great and are happy to be inspired by this load of creativity.

The next photographer took fourth place with his playful picture. It is an abstract type of street photography, as it is not possible to define exactly what the viewer sees and what they should pay attention to. It consists of familiar components such as the half-profile of a person - also one of the first eye-catchers in the picture. Was the person photographed behind glass? Are they sitting in a bus? The reflection reveals something like a bus stop or a street. It must be summertime, as many people can be seen wearing short sleeves. It is a repetition of reflections, shadows and shapes on a milky dull surface with natural colors. We asked ourselves: is it a perfect accidental composition? Photographer Frank Wouters enlightened us: his plan was to capture a few street photos around Cologne Cathedral. He wanted to take these analog photos with his Zorki 4 (Leica II replica) with a Jupiter 3 lens and a Kodak Portra 400 film. The camera did not transport the film when the shutter was cocked and so one shot was exposed 15 times on one film. "After that I deliberately alternated between portraits and still lifes and had resigned myself to only getting one (very special) photo. I kept shooting even though I didn't know if the film could handle that much light. The Portra 400 apparently can." What is particularly remarkable is that the 53-year-old only started photography three years ago and discovered his interest in analog photography this year.

Our fifth place goes to Annette Hakenberg. She presents us with a photo of the endless expanse of the sea. But it is not that clear and distinct. It feels as if all the shades of blue have been captured in one picture, as in a painting. The soft sea and the sky are lost in the horizon. It is as if the viewer were sitting alone in a boat very early in the morning or simply on the surface of the water and drifting along. It is calm, liberating and full of emotion. A new day begins. If you look at it for a long time, you may feel the illusion of light waves coming towards you - a force that encourages you to move and gives you a positive boost. "It's a shot of the Atlantic Ocean on La Palma and edited with various filters in Photoshop," she tells us.

We would like to congratulate the winners and thank all participants! The decision was again very close and we look forward to your entries in the upcoming photo competitions. The pictures are also available in the new Schnappschuss magazine which will be published at the D?sseldorf Fototage on November 9 and 10 will be presented at the D?sseldorf Photo Days on November 9 and 10

JK | 25.10.2018

Photo competition "Abstract" - All pictures

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