PR35 Photo Challenge: It Takes Two

We were happily overwhelmed with the outburst of photographic creativity inspired by the ‘It takes two’ Photo Challenge. To the average person, ‘Diptych’ may just be a moderately useful Scrabble word, but for our photographers it was the impetus they needed to come up with an extraordinary variety of artistic juxtapositions. There is something special about the way two well-chosen pictures can exemplify the old cliche about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. These pairings are each, in their own way, arresting. They make you want to linger for a time as you decode their respective stories.
As usual it was very difficult to pick a winner. In the end though, we decided to give the nod to Kalo Foleti for the luminous dual portrait of Karla Shephard. Every time we look at those pictures, we smile! We’re very pleased therefore to send Kalo a terrific Epson Stylus Photo R1900 A3+ printer. It uses clever technology to reduce grain and improve colour transitions in prints. Just the thing, we would’ve thought, for printing out a nice big version of that winning diptych.

By Kalo Foleti. Karla Shepherd was born with Spina Bifida, but lives with a spirit that is inspirational.
Coming a very close second, was Zorica Purlija’s Eros in Nature. Zorica was the subject of a profile in last issue and this strangely mysterious combination of images has quite a beguiling dynamism that speaks volumes about her skill as a photographer.

Eros in Nature – By Zorica Purlija
Ever suckers for lovely natural symmetry, we decided that Frank Copley should be our third place getter for his pure and simple inside-outside study of a Nautilus shell.

Nautilus Shells by Frank Copley. Frank writes: “My entry features views of two Nautilus shells (one cut in half to reveal the internal structure). I photographed them on a black background with the low-angled light from a desk lamp.
Without the caption from fourth placer Kellie Blinco, we might not have worked out exactly what the two images were of, but the combination was intriguing enough to pique our interest.

Untitled by Kellie Blinco. Kellie writes: “The first part of the photo is a silhouette reflection I caught of myself while photographing through a window into a lingerie shop. I applied a radial blur in Photoshop around the silhouette.
Damian Lloyd shows that he really likes to think outside the box with his quirky portrait of the famous Coal Coast flyover and one of the crusty locals.

“Rushing past, past is present” by Damian Lloyd. Damien writes: “The diptych is designed to show that man’s best designs have not lasted as long as Nature’s have and a design eons old can be found immune to the activity of mankind on mankind’s structure.”
Once again regular contributor Leigh Beer bobs up, this time with a clever pairing of two rather prosaic subjects.

“Go!” by Leigh Beer.

Honorable mention: A storm water drain times two by Jan Huisken.

Honorable mention: It takes two by Charles McKean. Charles writes: “At the back of the football stands in Bathurst. I thought about this challenge a lot. It really is open to interpretation. I decided to try and get two images from one scene, rather than use two completely separate scenes and try to link them together. I wonder if Linc is punk or a spunk.”

Details of the current Photo Challenge are published in Photo Review magazine. Click here to order online or find out where to buy your copy.
The prize for Photo Challenge 33 is an Epson Stylus Photo R1900 A3+ printer.
Released almost three years after the Stylus Photo R1800 (which it replaces), Epson’s Stylus Photo R1900 introduces a new UltraChrome Hi-Gloss2 ink set in which an orange ink replaces the blue ink. The new model is slightly larger and marginally heavier than its predecessor and carries an Energy Star logo.
Physically the R1900‘s styling is a cross between its predecessor, the Stylus Photo R1800 and the professional Stylus Pro 3800 (which prints up to A2 size). It’s more solidly built than the R1800 (and also the pricier R2400 ‘pro-sumer’ model), particularly with respect to the output support tray, which folds up into the front panel. A solid plastic flap, which doubles as a paper feed support and has extending panels, folds down over the paper feed slot when the printer is not in use, preventing dust from entering.