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Winners of Monthly theme Abstract

The results are just in! We are happy to present the winners of the first Monthly Theme contest. The top three winners have been selected by our guest judge Paolo Abrantes. The rest have been decided through public voting. The 1st prize is $250 in cash and the top three winners receive PhaseOne's new processing software Capture One Pro 8. I'm sure the winners will find this software very useful when creating new abstract wonders. Without further ado, here are the winners.


1st place 

"Lines" by Peter Pfeiffer.

Judge's comments
This is a completly abstract photo. I know that this is some kind of structure or object, but I just don't know any more than that. It´s just for the viewer to go further or not, in the mind projection game. The light is just beautiful, spreading all over the subject and in accordance with the source's location. The values of the the light spread are very similar to the value of the source. It´s beautiful and the image becomes almost instantly very pleasant and smooth for the eye.

It´s pure formal, amazingly well ballanced, the shapes really works very well together, the visual dynamics are pure visual poetry. The black and white extraction, with those precise chosen tones, is 100% according to the subject, matching perfectly, and one gets the feeling that there couldn't have been any better option than the black and white. In conclusion, It´s simply a beautiful abstract picture, very pleasant and it made me go there to watch it, again, and again, and again.



2nd place 

"3" by Abi Danial.
 
 
Judge's comments
A very strange and beautiful picture - 100% eery, mysterious, almost impenetrable and a picture that challanges the viewer with a real effort to get inside. It invites you, but you must "pay the visit". It doesn't make your life easy, because it gives you more questions than answers and unexpectedly your mind turns into a decoder.

The texture emphasizes those feelings and is not working against the subject, it doesn't steal any depth from the picture, The twisted figures are working together with the very subtle smooth light source in the middle of the frame, are also contributing to the experience.

Finally the 1:1 format is also perfect with this composition, because it doesn't allow us to have any distractions with hypothetical negative space (more than the exactly amount needed for that precise and tight composition). It also offers us just a little hint of claustrophobia, thanks to the scale used for the twisted figures. A great picture, reduced to the lowest common denominator, with the elements working really nice all together.



3rd place

"Light" by Fernand De Canne.

Judge's comments
A very compelling and mesmerizing picture that pulls you in. It's completly abstract and it's done using a common (processing or shooting) technique. What's not common at all is the final result achieved, with this very precise picture.
Many say that mood is an important part of photography, some may even say that photography is all about mood. In my opinion, this is an amazing, powerfull, strong moody picture.

What makes it special is just the play with the smooth blue tones (they all seem to be inside the "gamut"), merged with the light and the blur. All of these elements have been applied in very well balanced amounts. It also have the capacity to play with your brain and lock you in. The human figure is beautiful with a precise amount of blur. One can easily see a human figure there, without needing more than a first look.

The light doesn't hurt the viewer´s eye, it does the opposite: it invites the viewer to come inside by pulling in and not pushing out. It's a beautiful exemple on when the light is really working for the subject and at the same time becomes a major part of the picture´s subject. It´s a photo that have the power to easily connect with the viewer. Anyone can look at the photo and feel related or associated, some time in their life, with that precise moment shown in the frame - powerful and beautiful it is.



HIGHEST VOTED


 

"Ebbed and flowed" by Dave Quince.

"Icelandic Aerial 19" by stavros charisopoulos.




"Lacma" by Christophe.




"Watercolours" by Susanne Behr.

"Autumn Swamp" by Steve Hallmark.


 


"S" by ZbynÄ›k Cincibus.




"Abstraction" by Jan Bereza.




"Circles" by Aida Ianeva.




"Babel's dream" by Raffaele Corte.
Write
Jalili PRO
Really amazing
Emerald Wake
"Ebbed and flowed" by Dave Quince is Sublime, always love Abstract ,Congratulations to All ,Bless
Sulaiman Almawash
Congratulations to the winners
Hardik Pandya PRO
Congratulations to all of you, well done
Anna Golitsyna
Awesome pictures, love the variety!
Bertram Schemel
Hi everybody, Let me say this first: I think the winning picture would really have been deserved if it wasn't for this rule: As far as I understood one of the rules for the monthly theme is: "You can not enter photos published in the 1x gallery." I hate to point this out but the winning photo "lines" had been published about 9 month ago. The title back then was "entwined" (https://1x.com/photo/818910/latest:user:256528) and for the monthly theme the photo has been rotated by 180 degrees and the contrast has been slightly increased. In my understanding that still makes it the same photo - especially because it is an abstract. I have also seen a photo in the monthly them birds that had been published before and has only been turned to black and white for the monthly theme. This poses the question as to how far an image needs to be altered to classify as a new one and to be a legit submission for the monthly theme. I suggest to clarify this in the rules. Sorry for saying this but I thouht this is just to obvious Regards Bertram
Mercedes de Rueda
Tiene usted razón y me pregunto por qué 1X sigue poniendo trabas (cada vez más) para publicar y sin embargo después no cumple sus normas para todos igual. Cada vez me encuentro con más personas que antes admiraban este lugar y ahora lo abandonan.
Hans-D. Zimmer PRO
Thanks for your Words - i am bitterly dissapointed from 1x myself. The curation process is all but tranparent. Best regards -H.D.Z.
Antje Woolum PRO
Congratulations to all!! Fabulous images that so deseve to be here...
Antje Woolum PRO
Deserve...
Mohammad Soheilinia
This series of photo have a new look to the around world through The Lens of camera, Thank you for your constant presence THOMAS!BRAVO!
Ariel Ariel PRO
Great images - congratulations to the winners! Very well deserved.
Delphine Devos
Congratulations to the winners and Congratulations dear Paul for your responsability and excellent choices!!
Paulo Abrantes PRO
many thanks, Delphine, for the kind words
Olavo Azevedo PRO
Congratulations to the winners. Congratulations too Paulo Abrantes, my friend, for the great job and responsibility to achieve the winners, among all the good photographs. The quality is very hight, but Paulo did well the trick! Congratulation to 1x.
Paulo Abrantes PRO
many thanks, Olavo
Yvette Depaepe CREW
Big congrats to Peter Pfeiffer, Abi Danial, Fernand De Canner for winning the first monthly theme. Congrats to the 10 most voted photographers and to all the participants. My best compliments to Paulo Abrantes for his thoughtful choices and excellent reviews. And last but not least, congratulations to the management of 1x for this outstanding initiative. Best greetings for all, Yvette
Paulo Abrantes PRO
many thanks, Yvette
Peter Pfeiffer
Wow ..... that was quite a shock for me when I first saw the results. I have to admit I'm speechless. I would like to say a big THANK YOU. Thank you to all who took a look, to all who took the time to vote, to all who congratulate! A big THANK YOU to the judge, Paulo Abrantes, for all his / your work, for the time he / you spend for the community here. It's such a great honor! (Sorry for my limited english!)
Paulo Abrantes PRO
congrats, Peter
Thomas Brindt CREW
Congratulations Peter! That's a great photo.
Gerard Jonkman
Congratulations Peter with winning this monthly contest.........a beautiful "Berlin"abstract
Olga Mest
Congrats to all and a real pleasure to see these beautiful works!
Paulo Abrantes PRO
thank you, Olga
Paulo Abrantes PRO
Congrats to 1X for the intiative, to all the winners, to all the participants; and many thanks to all, also, for making my job so difficult. It was an honnor, to participate in this Monthly Theme.
Hans Martin Doelz CREW
Congratulations to the winners and to all who made this first monthly theme such a success !
Paulo Abrantes PRO
thank you so much, Hans Martin
Nick van Dijk
Congratulations to the winners Peter Pfeiffer, Abi Danial and Fernand De Canne but also to all participants and of course to Paulo Abrantes for his excellent choices! Grtz, Nick
Thomas Brindt CREW
Yes, I think the first round of Monthly theme went very well. Many wonderful entries. Tomorrow, the voting will start for Monthly theme "Birds".
Paulo Abrantes PRO
many thanks, Nick