PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY LUKAS VASILIKOS

This photo owes much of its inspiration to The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. At the time I shot it I was in Lublin to attend the 2017 Eastreet photo festival. The Polish city is filled with numerous parks, many of which offer beautiful scenery, so in my mind, the walk back to my hotel presented another chance to capture something interesting. I walked through a park, absorbing the night scents and sounds. That was when I was drawn by the harsh caw of what sounded like a crow; to my amazement, there were hundreds of crows sitting in the trees. Crows are not known for the beauty of their song, but in my ears it was a mesmerizing sound which made “my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore”. Without any hesitation, I started taking multiple photos but, due to the low light conditions, I had to use slow shutter speed, thus transforming the moving birds into something entirely different from what my eyes saw. Interestingly, I went back to the park the following night at approximately the same time – however, the birds did not offer me a second go at it.  - Lukas Vasilkos

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY TC LIN

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"I was in Havana a month or so after our esteemed new member Gustavo Minas visited the city, producing his own fine work as the city was experiencing uncharacteristically cloudy weather. When I arrived in late February, however, the strong Caribbean sun had returned, casting strong rays down the streets and lighting the vivid colors of the rundown buildings. It was almost distracting, as anyone who had photographed in Cuba can attest.

I probably should have been heading east on the crowded shopping street in Old Havana that day, but east lay the harbor and west my destination, so west I went, wincing into the afternoon sun. I paused when I saw the man leaning against the wall at the end of a saber of light along a duo-tone pastel wall, the reflections of sunlit passersby flitting behind him on the green glass of the recessed door. His grey hair and coral shirt matched the ornate wall perfectly, and the light caught his face whenever he turned his head to look up the street. He seemed to be waiting for someone, peering periodically at his watch and rubbing his neck, causing his arm to continue the stab of light down his body. He glanced at me, saw that both my lens and my uncovered eye were fixed on the wall, and continued to ignore me as I shot a few frames and walked on, into the light."