This was my submission to Lensculture Critics’ Choice 2023 award. None of them got selected but I got some nice feedback:
Dear Omar, I am glad to be your reviewer today.
Your compositions do express something eerie, but definitely not soulless. Starting with image 4, which to me is the most evocative of them all, I see a creative attitude and advanced aesthetic concerns projected in the frame. The image causes me to think and creates space to imagine. The menacing sky announces a storm to come. A slim line of water separates the sky from the field, while both share the same precedence of the composition. A rocky formation stands on top of this water line like a boat floating in the open sea. Beneath the line, tiny little figures imply movement therefore life in the scenery. In the foreground, the thin layer of water over the sand adds visual value to the theme. Textures blend with reflections via an interplay of light and shadow. There is a rapidness to the visible forms that evoke a dramatic feeling of both unreality and extreme emotion. The analogous colors and the restrictive color palette become the essential value of the image binding the sky and the field. The great unrest of the scenery is juxtaposed with an eery silence and both are reflected in every element of the scene. A photograph that causes you to think and imagine can be nothing less than a good photograph.
Image 1 is also a scene with the narrative operation. It could be an alternative version of image 4, or the same story with different characters if you prefer. The only difference I consider essential is that in this picture the sky and the ground pull away from each other in a violent dance. Whereas the monochrome works well, I miss color.
For some reason, picture 3 brought to my mind the classic oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder “The Hunters in the Snow” made in 1565. References to other artworks whether occur involuntarily or have been purposively put in the work by the artist add more value to the theme and the approach as well. They also project the internal attitude and aesthetic concerns of the person behind the camera.
The two vertical frames feel more documentary-oriented. There is an evident intent to surpass the objective reality, especially in picture 5, but both images remain too close to realism while the prior three feel like being a journey of revelations yet to discover. Thus, I keep the three horizontal ones to be your best shots. In each of these images behind the sweet melancholy and introverted perspective, there are hidden stories pieced together. I wish you the best of luck in the contest and keep up being as creative and expressive as you are in these images here.
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