| Title | Full Name | Comments Judge 38 |
| Beyond life | Bruce Dorset | Great concept and execution, you have a good collection of skulls and props! It was a little hard to distinguish some of the elements but the viewer is well rewarded for taking the time to study this image in detail. Honours |
| Vanitas Game's | Michael Sullivan | Another great image full of symbolism and meaning. I liked the use of the clock for time, rolling the dice and life being a game of chess. A modern version. Lovely image Merit |
| Vanitas Project | Michael Sullivan | Fantastic image and it fits the genre well and I can see you have done some research into the subject and included both traditional symbols and more modern symbols for example the watch for time and smoke for the extinguished candle. You have handled the highlight on the bottle very well. The stylized skull in the jar is a highlight for me. Honours Runner up |
| Vanitas | Stacey Townsend | Simple, elegant image which includes a reference to rolling the dice and includes fresh cut flowers to remind us of the shortness of life. Merit |
| Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll | Jack Horlock | A well constructed image with a huge amount of symbolism involved. At first I struggled to make a connection between rock and roll and the subject of Vanitas. This is a modern day depiction perhaps. The Drugs suggest a high speed life, passing quickly, washed down with large amounts of alcohol and ego! Often vanitas images were designed to show what was important to a person or family of rank and in this regard this image fills the requirements. Very entertaining. HC |
| Mourning the Encyclopedia | Jack Horlock | Excellent title, it evokes an image of older objects with a more modern word play. Lovely image - I did wonder if you could have involved smoke from the candle and if the skull could have been placed to look at the camera. Merit |
| What's my Future | Noel Herman | Great inclusion of the candle and the leaf as a supporting background for the skeleton. The fact that the orb is blurry is a wee bit distracting for me as that is here my eye is taken. The cloth over the head is a great piece of stage setting. Acceptance. |
| A story to tell | Ruth Mooney | This is a lovely selection of items and I love the fruit, I did struggle to find a connection or story theme that ran though this image. The book title of 'Home study dictionary' holds too much weight in the image without corresponding meaning. Hold onto these props I am sure you will use them again in the future!! Acceptance |
| A dying art | Ruth Mooney | I loved the theme of red running through this image, the petals, tatty book and general textures in the image help to develop a theme. The skull is amazing and you have captured great detail in the eye socket. Honours |
| Vanitas | Karen Newton | beautiful image, great use of texture and symbols. Yet the story is simple and well composed. Honours |
| All good things must come to an end | Karen Newton | I suspect this image was created by the same photographer and many of the comments apply to both images. There are some great elements to this image, I was drawn to the moths, the round calendar, the fob watch to name a few. The lighting was well handled and the pearls seemed to glow. The unhappy expression of the skull gives the impression of not wanting it all to come to an end! All the elements of the image are clearly visible. Honours Winner |
| t87iVanityVersusMortality | Christine Anderson | The roses in this image give the scene an oil painting feel. The skull looks well placed and the candle adds to the ambience of the image. The books that the skull is resting on draw my attention as they are lighter in colour. They have more weight in the image than they deserve. The orange peel is a great touch which would have been better utilised if the candle had not partly obscured. H/C |
| George Rules | Rose Tantau | George looks to be having a great time. Almost like a DJ spinning disks! Nice composition, although I did find the crease in the red background distracting. This might have been cloned. Acceptance |
| I Need Light | Rose Tantau | I am assuming from the text in the background that a light was located! Possibly that is how we ended up with a skeleton. I loved the false teeth in the front. Merit |
| On The Table | Margaret Hooper | Interesting collection of items, It looks like the skeleton is trying to escape from the suitcase ! Nice colour pallet. Acceptance |
| Madame Vanitas | Julie Horlock | There is a lot going on in this image. The plant in the background gives it a very dramatic feel while the gold coins and treasure map give it a south pacific theme. I love the treasure and items that the Madame valued being included. Merit |
| s52i_GiveItAGo | Craig McCormick | Looks like a drunken skeleton! I have to admit that I struggled to connect some of the items into a theme. There seems to be a crossover between the religion (crosses and an angel) and the more primitive cultures represented in the masks. The figurine of the canon and bull seem at odds with balance of objects. There is a small piece of white showing in the background top left hand corner. Acceptance. |
| WonderHowSheDied | Noel Herman | The statue certainly does appear to be pondering the demise of the skeleton. This is a nice piece of storytelling. Acceptance |
| The Game of Life | Barbara Herman | Title fits. The hand is very eye-catching and the creases in the cloth are diminished by the texture of the image. Not a bad hand (5 aces) does that mean the person was holding all the aces? Merit |
| The Dark Side | Barbara Herman | I think this is a double up of '15 On the table'. I would say that I prefer this version of the image as more details are visible in the flower and the colours look to be in keeping with the theme. It is a good example of how the finishing touches in post processing can affect the outcome. Merit. |
