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(via 4Corners Favourite) When you recognise what you see, but it isn't really there; like a ghost, maybe a mirage? Seen on a hot day in the desert by Susanne Kremer

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Slightly tipsy houses line the Damrak Canal in Amsterdam at dusk, supporting each other like good friends. Lovely framing from photographer Richard Taylor

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From summer to autumn. Central Park, NY by Luciano Guadenzio. How quiet and still the city is, frozen in its monochrome chill

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A bucolic summer idyll is captured in this image from Cesare Gerolimetto; I love the way the geese flow downhill and pool together in the hollow, like milk poured from a jug

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The first sight of this image by Giovanni Simeone leaves me in a state of shock, concerned for the welfare of two children left in peril, trapped in a surreal standoff with two angry grizzlies. Does the girl look bravely defiant, or frozen with fear? The boy looks ready to have it away on his toes. Whatever their thoughts, they’re hand in hand, facing the situation together, tugging at our heart strings. It's a playful composition created by witty thinking and the patience to wait for the right moment - chosen by Richard Taylor

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An ethnic Chinese lady bends over her wok while preparing lunch in Dali, in southern China’s Yunnan province. I simply love the way the decorative Chinese character on the wall parallels the woman’s body shape, reaching into the rising steam as she cooks. Photographer Oscar Tarneberg tells us that the painted character might be “cang” meaning blue, grey or ash, which I also find strangely appropriate for this shot.

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St Lucia and the Caribbean are synonymous with beautiful beaches and luxury holidays, but few visitors venture away from their 5-star resorts to meet wonderful local people who live the real island life - not just a two week fairy tale. Dani Devaux gets beyond the beach 

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Cromer is a largely unremarkable English seaside town, famous for its crabs but not a lot else. Chris Warren’s picture, looking down Jetty Street towards the open sea gives this ‘gem of the Norfolk Coast’ an exotic, almost Mediterranean air. The sky is unusually blue, the North Sea even more so and the light catching the jettied upper floors of the houses adds a warmth not always associated with this stretch of coastline. Hang some washing lines between the houses and you could almost, almost be in Naples.

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Suzy Bennett’s images from India burst with colour. Yet the picture which stands out for me the most is this almost monochrome shot of a traditional shepherd with his herd of animals. The depicted environment and subdued, creamy colours (the grass, animals’ backlit fur, the man’s white tunic) give the image somehow symbolic and spiritual feel; and yet there is warmth to it. In contrast with the rest of the collection, the mood here is a lot calmer and contemplative. I also find it very intriguing and wonder how long the stick carried by the shepherd really is!

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When it came to building churches in the pre-modern era, size mattered. St Peter’s in Rome is still amongst the largest churches in the world but in these days of modern, monumental architecture its original impact can be reduced. Maurizio Rellini’s overhead view of St Peter’s Square restores this sense of scale, using differential focus to give the scene the look of a model village in which the human figures are reduced to mere dots in the frame.

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Tim Mannakee’s study of ice on the black volcanic shore of Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon in Iceland is captivating because it encompasses both perpetual motion and stillness: The blurred water in the background highlights the immobility of the cold ice left stranded by the retreating wave. The sombre monochrome mood is cheered because the mysterious forces of nature have seen fit to carve one of those icy remnants into the shape of an alert and lively terrier, poised to jump into the waves after a favourite ball.

                                                                                      (via 4Corners Favourite)

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The essential element here is the net curtain and Paolo Giocoso, Sicilian himself, beautifully captures the essence of Sicily with this image – cool dark secrecy inside and glorious sunshine outdoors. The empty chair is for the patient observer, the witness, she who sits quietly behind the curtain watching the world pass peacefully by…or unfold into a major drama; it’s a very common Southern pastime.

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Warmth and nostalgia of a summer’s evening by the sea. This shot affirms Francesco Carovillano’s skill in composing his photographs. I love how the warm-lit grass winds through the shot like a big ‘S’, coming out of the frame at the bottom and leading the eye up, past the red-haired woman (what a lovely contrast with the greens around her!) and further; towards the children playing at the beach and the house in the distance. The fact that the woman is looking back towards these things ties the narrative of the shot together. I like that.

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In September 1981 Heaven 17 released their debut album, ‘Penthouse & Pavement’, featuring a cover illustration that (ironically) celebrated a new corporate world of high technology and high finance. There’s something in Claudio Cassaro’s image of Mingzhu Park in the Lujiazui Financial District of Shanghai that reminds me of that iconic cover. A clean, bright, shiny new high rise world with outdoor escalators, waterside pavilions and purposeful men in sharp suits, the whole environment geared to one pursuit: making money. The fact that the shot is from Shanghai rather than Phoenix or Frankfurt only adds to the shock of the new.

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Vietnam’s Imperial city has stood at Hue since the early 1800’s, and in this shot by Richard Taylor, brightly dressed 21st century tourists create a harmonious point of focus as they step into the bright light at the end of the gallery, almost like ghosts of the imperial past.

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This seems a classic image but I like the way Francesco Carovillano has framed the sun drenched castle with the tree that appears much larger – it makes me feel that the romantic castle, and all the treasures within, are a hidden secret. Lara Croft might be here somwhere, or Bruce Wayne...

                                                                                      (via 4Corners Favourite)

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The second picture which stood out for me from Richard Taylor’s new photoshoot from Baku is also from the Flame Towers – the reception area of the luxury Fairmont Hotel. To me this image is more redolent of the Soviet era: the symmetry of the desks suggesting order and control; the inscrutable, downward gazes of the staff/officials; the modernist art installation. A city that, for all its new-found wealth, hasn’t fully shaken off the shackles of the past.

                                                                                      (via 4Corners Favourite)