A66 TAKEN FROM THE CAR by CHRIS CHANDLER

I’ve been asked to step in to make a selection, in the absence of Yvonne this month. I found it quite difficult to choose this month, as there are many really good entries. In making a selection, I think it is fair to ask if images are bona fide ‘Taken from a Car’. Many images were not, strictly speaking! There were some great ‘straight’ photos of objects / scenes taken from a car, including Janine’s Swaledale sheep (lovely composition and portrait of a sheep), Brian’s eagle, Harry’s Swaledale road, Tim’s pheasant and Peter’s copse of trees. However, these were not particularly ‘interpretive’ of the subject and did not necessarily have to be taken from a car.
I liked the use of a car mirror by Andy, Jill and Paul. Also David’s thoughtful abstract collage. However, in the final event I went for Christine’s A66, closely followed by Sue’s Motion Blur, as they were both innovative photos providing a good interpretation of the subject title. Christine’s has a real abstract quality to it, while giving a real sense of the wide open spaces in which the car is travelling. The scene is the ‘natural’ countryside, but the arrows on the road are truly a surreal element and I particularly like the strange way that the right-hand arrowhead is cut off. Although it’s a fairly simply constructed image, it does keep you looking!

John Bentley