Photo of the month for October 2021 by Jack Simon, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Jack about the photo:
“I often enjoy spending time in museums and feel fortunate that Stanford has a wonderful museum close to my house. My wife and I had taken friends to see the current exhibit featuring a variety of works on paper. A ghost like reflection onto a photograph in the exhibit caught my attention and seemed appropriately placed in a cemetery scene.”
Photo of the month for September 2021 by TC Lin, as voted by BME members.
Some words from TC about the photo:
“Though the pandemic has been handled quite well here in Taiwan so far, I've been spending less time wandering around the city and spending more time in my neighborhood of Bitan, along the Xindian River with
its many bridges. One morning while walking by the river I noticed that the sunlight and shadow happened to meet precisely in the middle of one of the bridge pillars where it met the greenish water of Bitan to form this pattern. I don't often see this array, so perhaps the angle of the sun that day was unusual. In any case, it says something about how the pandemic has affected my photography.”
Photo of the month for August 2021 by Gustavo Minas, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Gustavo about the photo:
“During the summer it rains a lot in Brasilia, or the sky is generally cloudy, so I totally change my way of photographing. Instead of going out just to photograph, some days I just ride my bike and stop if something catches my attention. This day the rain was so heavy that I had to stop under a bus stop for a couple of hours, there was nothing else to do but watching people and photographing. My camera and I were totally wet, and at some point I got lucky, and a raindrop on my lens created this somehow ethereal image.”
For July 2021, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the second of the 2 photos, by Efi Longinou.
Some words from Efi about the photo:
“This photo I took this year in a ‘Badestrand’, a bathing beach located in Berlin. After the quarantine due to a pandemic, it was the first time that I was among so many people, and that caused contradictory feelings to me. Many families were there relaxing, enjoying the sun, or swimming carefree. I started taking pictures of the beach, the swimmers, and I remember saying to myself, finally back to life and normalcy. When I suddenly saw a mermaid sitting on the shore pensive and keeping distance from others. Do they exist? I am sure they do.”
For July 2021, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the first of the 2 photos, by Sam Ferris.
Some words from Sam about the photo:
“I took this shot while commuting to work, early one morning in June. I travel an hour or so, each way, on the BLine bus, which is one of Sydney’s only double deckers. It affords an interesting, elevated perspective on the world. And what else is there to do to pass the time but make photos? At the time this was taken, I was reviewing the Leica Q2 Monochrom. As someone who predominantly works in colour, I was happy with this result, being able to render the inside and outside of the bus in a single frame, and encapsulating some of the feeling of being stuck in transit while the world passes by.”
Photo of the month for June 2021 by Andy Kochanowski, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Andy about the photo:
“I was in New York for a few days after a year of lockdown. The whole purpose of my trip was to take the first set of street photos in a year plus. I had always liked downtown and especially the World Trade Center area where in typical New York fashion a new mall was one of the first things to replace the Towers to open. My usual way of shooting is to stand back and watch, and within about a half hour I saw this. The only thing to do is not to F*** it up. Hopefully I didn’t.”
Photo of the month for May 2021 by Gustavo Minas, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Gustavo about the photo:
“I took this photo last year in São Paulo during the week I was recording my online course for Domestika, Introduction to Street Photography. It's not everyday I get paid to spend the whole day doing what I love most, so, as a semi-amateur, I always take a lot of pleasure from these assignments. This was an advertising for a pharmacy, if I remember well. I first took some wider shots, trying to use the image in a composition with the pedestrians around, but when I got closer to the car I realised that there was something uncanny about the image of the little girl reflected on the curved glass.”
For April 2021, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the second of the 2 photos, by Don Hudson.
Some words from Don about the photo:
“I found this frame in a box of loose negative strips labelled 1973. No other information about the shot was on the sleeve. The time frame though looks to be the Summer between my two years at art school in Detroit. That early Summer I did go on a road trip to Colorado and Wyoming from Michigan, so I can't be sure even where I might have made the picture. Perhaps if I had known that I would be asked about it 48 years in the future I would have made better notes”
For April 2021, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the first of the 2 photos, by Efi Longinou.
Some words from Efi about the photo:
''Cats, in particular, benefit from the corona crisis and the home office''. It is Sunday morning, and this is the title of an article I read, among others concerning the pandemic. It appears that 38 percent fewer cats have come to the Berlin animal shelter than in the same period last year because people feel lonely and they want the company of a cat. With these thoughts in my mind, I am going for a walk, and while I am crossing by an architect's office, I see a cat at the vitrine looking at me. It is the first time I see her there. The office is closed, the cat is alone, and I can not help by thinking that humans never asked these creatures what they want. Maybe they want instead to be free and climb up to the trees.
Photo of the month for March 2021 by Gustavo Minas, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Gustavo about the photo:
“Bus stops are the only spots in Brasilia where you can find enough people together to create a multilayered image, as is the case here. I really like the fact that they're made of glass, so I often stop by and try to shoot some reflections. I have tons of those. Apart from this aesthetic side, I think this photo is very representative of pandemic here: there was never a proper lockdown, many people kept going to work on public transportation, and of course the outcome is the health tragedy we're going through , with the average of 2,255 deaths per day in the whole country in the past week.”
Photo of the month for February 2021 by Efi Longinou, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Efi about the photo:
“This statue belongs to the Schlosspark Charlottenburg in Berlin, and it is located among the trees overlooking the River Spree. The day I took this photo, I was already walking for an hour in the woods to enjoy the snow, but mostly to breathe fresh air. When it started to get darker, I took the way home. I was utterly alone, and suddenly I saw this familiar statue in front of me, and I approached to admire it. It was so beautiful with this light and so different from any time I saw it. I photographed it mainly to remember this walk with snow and the days of the pandemic.”
Photo of the month for January 2021 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Dimitris about the photo:
“I traveled to Prague in the end of September 2020 for 2 weeks. It was just when the second wave of the pandemic had hit the Czech Republic. My plan was to shoot mainly in Charle's Bridge, the main touristic spot of Prague, a great place for street photography. In-between, I was planning to visit a beach next to the bridge, where many swans gather to get fed by the tourists. This was the first day of my trip. I started in Charle's Bridge and I was shocked to discover there were almost no people. I thought at least I have the beach and the swans left to shoot those 2 weeks. But the beach was empty of swans. Suddenly I had to forget my plans and readjust. I thought to walk along the river and see if I can find swans elsewhere. After an hour of walking, I found the swans, they had just migrated to another part of the river. Old plans got semi-saved finally. I spent 2 weeks following the swans in their new home. The settings were different, and this new environment inspired me a lot. This is the last photo of that first day. A shock can turn to something positive sometimes.”
