Thanks again to all of you who entered this challenge, really a lot of different interpretations. Below are my thoughts of each entry. My apologies in advance for any obvious, tedious or pointless comments, and for the points and meanings which perhaps I failed to get.
SpecialK: Your entry comes very close to the atmosphere I wanted for this challenge. The distant smoke in the background and the red utility car in the foreground give a subtle sense of danger. There's even a fire hydrant in the frame to emphasize a bit more.
Arjay Bee: My only hesitation to call this a great shot is the fear of somebody getting hurt. Was he OK? Something went definitively wrong here, perhaps a bit obvious, as you said.
jasonkb: Once you realize it's more than a pile of rubbish, your shot becomes disconcerting and certainly fits the theme well. The man in front watching the truck coming out as there is nothing wrong only adds to the atmosphere.
CristiC: I have no knowledge whatsoever about ice diving so I might not get all the clues. But just looking at your picture gives me a sense of impeding danger. Well done.
atupdate: Although there seems to be no immediate danger for the kid, that green sign was probably there for a good reason. Excellent framing.
slowpez: To me your shot seems creepy and funny at the same time, which is not easy to achieve by all means. I think it fits the theme in a creative way.
sealonsf: I always had a soft spot for cats so for me this picture is really disturbing... oh well, I guess that's what I've asked for with this challenge. However this leans more towards the sad part.
Murfy: A disturbing photo and an arresting image. I like it a lot and I think black and white was a good choice.
charliezap: Tiny little unsuspecting ant in the bottom left corner with the humming bird looming above, perfectly filling out rest of the frame... you can just see it coming. I suspect making a hummingbird looking threatening and dangerous is really really difficult, still it was so expertly done in this picture.
K David: Took me a while to get the point, thank you for making it clear.
simon_199: This frame may seem a bit dull at the first glance but reading your comment, I definitively get your point. I tried to imagine myself walking around that area and I think I can understand your feeling that something was indeed wrong. Very powerful contrast, nice work.
tessfully: A very complex photo which leaves me baffled, I don't even know what to comment on it. Great mix of colors and textures. I won't even start writing on the message and details of this shot as I suspect it will be too long. All I can say is that I like it... a lot.
Tamia: Quite possibly the most disturbing of all the entries, I'm not sure I even want to know what happened there. From the middle of the pile there is something sticking out slightly resembling a human hand, making the photo even more sinister.
ramseybuckeye: I enjoyed this image a lot. It may be weird to say this and I hope you don't mind, but I was thinking this shot could have been more effective without your comment that explains the problem, or maybe even without the sign on the left which kinda gives away the clue. The abundance of warning signs without any explanation would have been really creepy, enough to make me keep some distance from the water.
mtux: I like how you spotted those guys peeping out from the back of the truck, which is also brighter, draws focus and makes a nice contrast with the overall darker tone of the image.
RollsUp: Simple yet powerful image, the black silhouettes of the ravens contrasting so nicely with the white snow, and the poor thing lying there (bird?) catches your eye immediately. Also a clash on symbolic grounds here. Snow can symbolize purity and new beginnings (but it can also mean death, coldness, sadness, and despair), while raven is generally thought to be a symbol of sadness, loss and death (at least in most European countries).
Bill2849: Your entry made me read about the painting of Rene Magritte. However, while I can see where you're going with this homage, the picture you submitted somehow reminded me more of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" mood - full of puzzles and riddles - a spooky atmosphere of mystery and uneasiness.
frankthewitchdoctor: From the picture I cannot clearly see what were those guys doing, but the somewhat deserted road and the black and white processing certainly help this shot fit the theme. One of the instances where placing the subject in the middle of the frame is actually justified.
noemnlc: Interesting take on the subject, who would have thought a peach oozing sugar can fit this theme? I love the colors, details and bokeh and the depth of field is just perfect. Reading the comments on your original image I found out that there is an insect that bores holes into the peach and the sap comes out and twirls like that. Made me think of somebody bleeding.
crewl1: Again the contrast principle exploited with great framing here. Good choice to make it black and white as the colors would have been a bit distracting perhaps. I like the way he (or she?) is walking head-down and the somehow contemptuous look of mannequins watching him. Great and timely capture, would have been easy to miss the moment.
Cuthbert: Another original approach, I'm not really sure what's going on here (which fits the theme I guess). Was the trunk ready to be planted there or just excavated to make room for another tree? Somehow creepy and to me the trunk looks a bit like a hand (after Tamia's shot I've started seeing hands everywhere). I like the black and white processing but I would have added a bit more contrast to make the shadows stand out more.
Mike L: Really hope he enjoyed it more than he looks, is water skiing safe for kids at his age? Great capture I would say, granted that everything was fine afterwards.
MadMathMind: Signs are a little bit confusing at the first glance, but I suspect the entrance was a bit further away towards the right and this door was an emergency exit only. I don't know what's inside but let's just hope this door doesn't get much use
Now for the hard part. I tried to be somehow objective here but the entries were so different and difficult to compare that I finally gave up and just selected the photos which impressed me more. Sorry for perhaps overlooking, or overestimating some of them. I threw in quite a lot of ties and honorable mentions just because there were so many pictures which I liked. So here goes:
Honorable Mentions: SpecialK, noelcmn, crewl1, slowpez
3rd Place(Tie): charliezap, tessfully
2nd Place(Tie): Murfy, RollsUp
WINNER and Next Week's host: Tamia
There are just too many things wrong in her picture.
If you came so far reading all this, you're probably wondering when is this post going to end. Fear not! to make it even more interesting (or maybe just to feed my fascination with this film), I have decided to add a special prize for the winners, in the form of the short clip below.
"Let's get the hell out of here!"
Post #1 by Hattifnatt
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