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"My favorite picture was Carsten's. I really liked the bright colors (I can't explain why, but these bright artificial colors I do associate with Northern Europe- which is usually hazy and sunless and comes to life only in summer... ), but above all I liked it because it is just so funny and witty. This all represents summer very well. I also liked very much Matthias' picture, I think he captures very well the moment of awakening, with indistinct figures. And yet the simplified landscape, the black and white figures seem to be still part of a dream - but then in those lazy moments dream fantasy and reality are all mixed up."

"I liked Matthias' picture best because it made me think of how quickly the summer goes by. The watch on his hand is prominent and makes me think of time. His hand is outstretched, as if he's reaching out to take hold of all that summer has to offer before it is too late. It is a thought-provoking, interesting picture."

"... the excitement of the race makes Carsten's photo my hands-down (or is that thumbs-up ??) favorite; one may be prone to wax poetically at the metaphoric (or is that meteoric) speed at which life melts away at the proverbial snails-race so well depicted (semi- otically speaking) by the contrapuntal icecreambarsticks (at a suggestive angle) on the one hand and the organic melt on life's asphalt pavement. However, I'm not going to too far when I say that the Schreiber's image writes a new chapter in molluscan natural history..."

"I am very impressed by all the pictures and it is really hard to choose the best one! Let me rank them (they are all original): 1.Carsten (for baldness in the good sense) 2.Matthias (for "artfulness") 3.Ralf (an excellent black and white picture!) 4.Christoph (for capturing a rare moment in all of its greatness)"

"Ah, Mat yours was ok but. Technically the grass looked fake and there was light line just above the grass at the horizon level that added to the impression that there was a lot of photo manipulation going on. Christoph should have added more contrast to his picture to make it more vivid and I Ralf should have subdued the background to give his subjects more attention. Great idea. I enjoyed being a judge."

"The faux museum "side notes" next to the other images was not only demeaning to the artist but to the audience as well. Which is why I chose Carsten - much more was left to one's own imagination. Although, Cristoph actually had the more powerful statement and visual stimulation."

"I suspect that Matthias's picture looks much better in its analog form; this digitized image looks like it was made by cutting and pasting on a computer. Then again, perhaps it was. In any case, I am forced to judge based on what I see. Carsten's photo is well composed, creative, and draws the viewer into the context: sticky hot."

"I think nothing says summer more then women in their summer dresses!"

"I actually liked all the photos but had to finally choose the boiling ice cream on asphalt because it is something about summer time and urban life that I could relate to."

"Christoph captures the very essence of summer, especially for me now that I live in the lightening capital of the States (Florida)"

"I liked Carsten Schreiber's picture as well but thought the positioning of the popsicles looked too posed or not natural or accidental enough. Yet, Ralf Brüggemann's picture best captured what I associate with the rites of summer."

"I'm afraid that these images mostly left me cold. All seemed to be attempting to provoke more of an immediate emotional, rather than intellectual response, but except for Christoph's they seemed forced and artificial. The composition in Christoph's photograph could have been better, but at least it seemed more honest and less contrived than the others."

"Loved Matthias image. One of the very few times I see something refreshing, new and creative on the web."

"This was a difficult call. Ralf was what I would feel a photo- journalist's approach: it implied a feeling that you would easily interpret as a spectator. Carsten was well done but the composition kept asking for some copy to tell you something. Christoph was too obvious for the title, I felt. Matthias was imaginative and seemed to capture the feeling of the title. Just a comfortable fantasy."

"This is a very good lightning photograph, including the "bottom up" lightnings. I just wonder why did he not remove the lamp in the middle bottom, and why did he not adjust the purple background towards something more dramatic? This is a web competition, remember: everything you see is artificial. Everybody overdoes everything here, so if you show some lightning, then dammit overdo it too! (I'm overdoing it myself as well, but just to make my point, I hope.)"

"'I visualized frozen icecream on boiling asphalt'.. - I have to admit that I never shared this particular summer rite with you! Alright it's hot and the icecream (and whatever there is to summer) all too soon boils away - but here in the north (Finland) the short short summer is long long long - and it has nothing to do with boiling asphalt!"

"Summer is colorful. So, Ralf's photo is not my pic. Summer is sunshine. Christoph's theme is a little bit strange to me. Summer is hot. Matthias' one is quite good, but I don't feel so hot from it. Summer makes the unexpected things happen. Carsten's one clears every criteria. Anyway, I like summer and these photos!"

"I would have preferred to see more "air" in the image but Ralf's depicts summer best of the collection. Love in the color in Christoph's but I'm a photojournalist and look for people things. LOVED Carsten's sense of humor and yes, it too is sum mer but the eyes win."

"All of the images featured are pretty bad - overly contrived, nothing new said and in the case of the lightning shot, just plain boring. A bunch of lightning - nothing else."

"It reminds me of my childhood and eating ice cream and popsicles. I can't remember the last time I had a popsicle. All of the pictures were pretty interesting."

"I find Matthias's photograph very inspirational. It is an enigma to me - that this "awakening" from lying in the sun, when, for a brief and puzzling moment one sees the world around him in some new colors and tries to protect the eyes from the blinding sun, has not been portrayed by artists as often as I would think it deserves to be. Great idea Matthias!"

"It was a great surprise opening my mailbox, receiving not one of those boring chain letters, arriving all the time than such an interesting link in the web. Nice offer to vote for a picture, but the choice really isn't easy. Anyways, I finally found my favourite picture which is in a certain way an unbelievable waste of those delicious Solero Ice Cream Sticks. The other pictures are very impressive as well, but the combination of ice cream and asphalt is irresistable. It was interesting to see that ice cream must be linked to the summer cause you have it twice within this four picture competition. Finally, there is only a little thing I would like to add. I think it would be even more interesting and fascinating to have the chance to have a look at some more pictures by this young crew of german photographers, so why don't you make a competition with more pictures? One question is left: when will the next Spontax-Web-Event take place?"

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