* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #961 / Revived #181 on 2026 09 16 *

Thanks! That's very interesting. That suit is almost definitely real and was used by miners, just like one of your suggestions. There are several (quite interesting) fictional works, which have a premise where humanity has to go deep underground again to survive. And these days it honestly sounds a lot more realistic than when any of those stories first appeared...

Sub-culture is more of a reference to that, but I really like your interpretation, since - as strange as it sounds - it is a lot more upbeat than mine. 😂

These manage to tick the boxes of being (1) holiday memories, (2) portraits, (3) fine photos on their own. We see glimpses of India, and juxtapositions, which whet the appetite for more. I like #2&3 and the last one the best. Since you did not look through the viewfinder for the last, the good spirit of photography guided your hand to frame all the individual portraits so well. It makes that one very special.

Roel’s comments are spot on. I also read Mike’s comments on deciding to leave the halo, and understand that too. My initial reaction was to worry about the halo, but then realised that, together with the sun-flare top right, it gives an almost exaggerated emphasis to the guitar, which goes well with the exaggerated nature of the guitar itself.

Manhattan skyline at night

Check this to get the flavour of Australia's Big Things. It won't do anything for your image of Australia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_things_(Australia)

Almost all the whole photo is made up of short dashes of lines.
I like the inverted T of the overall composition - the vertical stacks of lights from the buildings and similar lines but this time horizontal in the lower third. If the image was straightened a little, the three bands would feel stronger.
It's still very effective as is. A well known scene in a different way.

I like this as a geometric abstract, with the big eye in the middle. The B&W treatment is good for the abstract interpretation.
I also like it as a photo of the real world, with the ant-people and the rewarding Easter egg discovery of the elephants!
I really like the photo as it is, but if you have easy access to the scene, I like Mike’s suggestion of trying a larger crowd of ants. Since I enjoy experimenting with slow shutter speeds, you could try that on a busy day, when I would expect some people sitting or standing to be sharp, slow walkers to be a bit blurred, and hurrying people to morph into blurred streaks. Olympus/OM System IBIS is your friend for that!

This is another, which is a B&W geometric abstract and interesting real life shot and both are good. The birds are almost camouflaged amongst the electrical hardware.
Yes, I must also think of the birds, and the fact the birds are only noticed at the second glance, helps give them a slightly threatening feel.
You did well to see the potential in this scene.

At first I thought the highlights needed to be brighter, but the overall effect has grown on me.
As Mike pointed out, I like the mix of vertical and horizontal lines.

These two are a study of lightness and darkness, in literally and metaphorically.
The wonderfully captured rim light of the grass really suggests the lightness of the grass itself.
The miners’ gear almost disappears into the darkness as though it was in a mine. It also suggests another kind of darkness entirely, as Roel has pointed out!