Okay, I have to say this is one of the hardest I have judged. I'm going to comment upon all, so please bear with me. I'll use screen-names for consistency. For the record, the yardsticks I have applied are a) Meeting the brief b) Visual impact (does it catch and hold my eye) c) Narrative impact (does it make me think or feel)
PETACH: A powerful image, made all the more so by the aggressive crop to letterbox format combined with the visually unsettling "dutching". There's a sparse, tight narrative going on here, made all the more effective by the fact that so many "rules" have been broken. The key word here is "tension", which oozes from every pore of the two faces that we can see on either side of the image.
JOCK ELLIOTT: This raised a smile. There used to be a comedy tv series in the UK called "One Foot in the Grave" whose opening titles featured a tortoise walking across the screen. The fact that one foot is raised adds a dynamism and shows clear movement.
THEOLDSMITHY: Lush colours and depth. The sort of composition that was timed well. Lots to like in this one; it tugs at the heart strings and just has to be in colour.
AJRAMIREZ: There's a lot to see, and to like in this one. The eye moves around the frame, taking in the small details. The half-smile of the man on the right. The signs on the bin, the feet, the trickle of fluid. Strong contender.
DRD1135: Painful, just painful. The impact here comes from the thought of being stuck in the jam on the left, and the "release" of the relatively clear road ahead. I like the sweep of the road, providing contrast and movement.
PICTOGRAMAX: Beautifully presented study. The hands tell a story, and the drooping cigarette adds punctuation. There is a stillness here, but also a feeling of time running out.
KILLRAMSEY: This is remarkable, and has some of the qualities of a renaissance painting. The raw emotion leaks from the image and is hammered home by the face of the woman right in the centre and the look in her eyes. There is no comfort to be had here, and the eye moves around from face to face reading the emotion, the agony. The only thing I would have done is to render it in monochrome, particularly to tone down the slightly distracting yellow line, but that's being picky. As a piece of reportage it is spot on.
DONLAW: It's almost a relief to scroll down to your image! Happy people at a happy time, and very much moving on into the new lives that they have worked hard to achieve. Every face tells a story, even the woman at the front, ducking down.
MIGUELATF: This looks like something you would see in a World Press Photo essay. Clearly a happy occasion and a narrative that jumps out of the image and grabs you by the throat. The two fathers are at the centre of the maelstrom and for a moment nobody exists except the two of them. I like this so much.
RED: This says Greece. Even before I read your caption. It's the yiayia that gives it away! There's emotion here, and the woman on the right looks like she is just holding it together.
RAY SACHS: Another happy occasion. There's a vibe about this that feels almost like a religious procession rather than academic. The composition is strong, and what really does it for me is the one woman in the audience who has turned around; the almost cheeky expression on her face is a delight.
So, some really strong images here and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to peruse them. After much deliberation I brought it down to what I saw as the three strongest contenders: PETACH, KILLRAMSEY and MIGUELATF and from those three I think that there can only be one winner, who has ticked all three of my judging criteria with a big fat magic marker -
KILLRAMSEY
Congratulations, Kyle. The next round is yours.