#3 tells quite a story (stories, I suppose!) and I very much like the hazy yet contrasted rendering.

1, 4 and 9 work best for me - they offer a different view, surely! Also they, to me, feel the most "alive", each for different reasons.

Cambridge simply has so much movement that the buildings feel alive; it's a very intriguing impression. Blackpool works not only thanks to the gull, but also thanks to the elevator hung in time between stories.
And Belfast's spire, quite elegantly, aspires - alive indeed!

Yes, the cobbles work for me, too (both versions).

Nicely atmospheric, and I do like how the closest bird's shadow brings a dynamic point to the picture. I almost wish the human wasn't there, the ghostly quality of the image would be reinforced (but that's just me).

Thanks for the kudos, DSP.

And thanks for the thoughts, Nigel. I do admit to striving for a general feel in most of my images, rather than necessarily having a clearly delineated subject. Your first paragraph is a confirmation I should continue that route, while your second gives me good warning that, perhaps, attention must also be paid to affirming structure within that mindframe.

Like my last post from a while back, these are from the very nice municipal museum in Agen (halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse, southwest France).

This room was mostly occupied by local native François-Xavier Lalanne, known for his utilitarian (cabinets, drawers, sofas...) animalistic sculptures. Quite talented with pencil and ink as well.







The display cabinets were themselves objects of great craftmanship. These bird-lamps by Heike Muhlhaus fit in beautifully.




And I liked this flaming sun-mirror (I'm not sure this was a Lalanne creation), which somehow echoed the aforementioned bird-lamps.

How lovely! I see a flame-headed swan - really intriguing.

I like the composition of #s 2 and 3. They were doing a great job modelling for you!

Not easy to come up with interesting compositions in this kind of environment - good job! And the pp is indeed of high quality - l do like that last image!

Ah, another series of thingsthatyouhaveseen!

I'm not sure I would have used the term "vs" here, nor "man", for that matter. What I mean by that is that I don't really feel the presence of humanity within the urban constructions (in fact, they seem somehow "inhuman" to me, lifeless yet possibly overbearing, sitting there as if they hadn't even needed to be constructed...)

The trees, and foliage, and movement in the clouds, are what I see as most "human" in your images.

Or perhaps they evoke the better part of humanity, trying to make the world a better place; and the constructions the lesser inert part, that which takes up so much space for nothing.

#s 1 and 4 work the best in that regard for me. #4 does it the "easy" way (or should I say the most immediately recognizable way), yet is very effective - indeed, à beautiful environmental portrait.

#1 is more dynamic - the clouds mimicking and even mocking the rigid lines of the building with their own, more supple variations; the trees growing to their own rythm, ignoring the staves that the electrical lines and fence would impose upon them. And really, whoever thought that tree in the bottom right would stay within it's fenced border?

A graphic yet moving and lively image, that one!

#s 5 and 9 feel a bit different - more like construction and nature are working together. The water reflections under the bridge/overpass of #5 bring it to life, and I feel no antagonism between it and the foliage. On the contrary, there's an interesting conversation going on.

In #9 there seems to be a game going on between the lamp post and the backlight through the trees. A complicity of sorts between them, taking turns working and resting.

Quite frankly, I had to do a bit of looking to "get into" this series, but it is definitely worth the effort!