May Been there competition: urban – in pictures

Here are the shots that best capture May's urban theme. Click through our gallery to see which photograph judge Natalie Mayer picked to win a £200 Point101 voucher, and a chance of winning the grand prize of a photographic safari to South Africa with &Beyond
  
  


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Heather Bolton: I took this in March in one of Rio de Janeiro's largest favelas. I barely saw the boy at first among the wires and chaos. To me, he represents the human side of urbanity. Photograph: Heather Bolton
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Tom Hume: Many of the homes in Port of Spain (Trinidad) have guard dogs, apparently even those that have no residents. I was initially attracted to a shot of three dogs patrolling a vacant property, but shortly after entering the gate the dogs showed their (very aggressive) territorial instincts. Luckily I managed to get a quick shot in before running like hell. Photograph: Tom Hume
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Olly Denton: I took this in Yokohama, Japan, at the remarkable Osanbashi. This family were running through this wooden tunnel to get to a concert, the two little boys trying to catch up with their Dad, all three laughing and shouting. It was a wonderful, photogenic place and a moment that I was lucky to get. Photograph: Olly Denton
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Michael O'Brien: The image is of a Richard Serra sculpture called 'Intersection II' placed in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Photograph: Michael O'Brien
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James Manisty: This was taken in spring outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, The old woman was feeding the birds and the young girl was running around scaring them. The pigeon flying away adds an extra dimension to the shot. It was taken on a Canon 550D, Tamron 75-300mm lens. Photograph: James Manisty
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Rosie Thornton: This picture was taken on New Year's Eve looking over Sydney Harbour. It was the most beautiful evening! Photograph: Rosie Thornton
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Chris Jones: I spent quite a long time watching the busy traffic in Hanoi in wonder. At first it is just complete chaos but as you look closer little patterns and flows start to emerge. I felt it was akin to photographing water. Without the movement you cannot see what is really going on, so I chose to use a slightly longer shutter speed to add blur to the traffic to help convey the madness. Photograph: Chris Jones
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Elisa Kelly: This photo was one of the first I took in Havana, Cuba. I was in awe of the cars, vivid colours and architecture. I liked the composition of the cars with the foliage in the background, and how the shadows of the telephone poles draw your eyes to them. It was taken on a DSLR Cannon EOS 1100D. Photograph: Elisa Kelly
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Nick Carn: This is my daughter snapped using my Samsung Galaxy phone and the Vignette application. We were walking through Shoreditch in London and the light against this fence was stunning. Photograph: Nick Carn
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Matthew Puskar: I was exploring Manchester for the first time (I've just moved here) and ended up north of the Northern Quarter. There is currently a lot of urban redevelopment going on. These fellows seemed to be drawing up battle lines behind their barbed-wire rooftop: which buildings were safe, which buildings would be razed. Photograph: Matthew Puskar
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Megan Darling: I took this picture in Tarakan in Kalimantan, a bit over a month ago. I was there to investigate the Australian military connection we have with Borneo when I found this little guy in front of his parents' shop. Photograph: Megan Darling
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Peter Leyden: The photo shows a unique slice of urban life in a city devoted to the bicycle: Malmö, Sweden. The bikes are parked on a floating platform on the canal beside the central train station. I was intrigued by the mass of bicycles, and, as I didn’t have a tripod with me, distant bikes are out of focus. I believe that this selective focus emphasizes the sense of overcrowding. I took it on an Olympus E-300, ISO 100, Zuiko 40-150mm lens, 141mm, f 5.6. Photograph: Peter Leyden
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Tom Gifford: I work near the More London development by Tower Bridge and I was struck by the way the angles of the buildings converged, thrusting into the sky making a striking composition. Although the office blocks aren’t very tall, the angles give the illusion of large skyscapers towering over the viewer. I took the photo using a cheap film camera with a plastic wide-angled lens, so I’m probably quite lucky it came out at all. Photograph: Tom Gifford
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Helene Tronc: Walking down 7th Avenue in Manhattan, I noticed this scene out of the corner of my eye and turned back to take a snapshot. I was struck by the contrast between the two blonde women, the green and the pink, the wide smile and the apparent sadness, two strangers physically close but a world apart. With the ads, cabs and crowd, my reflection luckily didn’t show.

Photograph: Helene Tronc Photograph: Action images
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Youichirou Ninomiya: Just before midnight, it's time to crawl back home. After hours of rambling around Kabukicho district, I finally set up my panorama head and started shooting this. While shooting, some passers-by posed in front of my camera. Unfortunately, each shot took 3 seconds of exposure (22 shots in total to stitch), so they've got blurry figures. Photograph: Youichirou Ninomiya
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Damien Sass, runner-up: The Big Apple, photographed from the observation deck of one of New York City's most iconic skyscrapers: the Empire State Building. It was from this vantage point - some 1,050 feet high - that I realized that I would need more than sturdy walking shoes to get around this vast and awe-inspiring metropolis.
Natalie Mayer, judge: Great rendition of a popular type of scene. Beautiful tones, and fantastic composition. This deserves to be printed large and hung with pride. It would look fantastic printed on a metallic paper, or perhaps go the opposite way and try a textured Hahnemühle paper ... Loads of options for a gorgeous image! Photograph: Damien Sass
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Chris Bond, runner up: This was taken in Barcelona in May from the viewing platform above the new 'Las Arenas' shopping mall (designed by Richard Rogers) converted from the old bullring. This shot took my eye because of the uniform quality of the apartments at face value and the fact that all were quite different. The colours also attracted me. The photo was taken with a Canon G12 compact. 0.005 sec (1/200) on f/4.5.
Natalie Mayer, judge: This shot is great. The photographer has managed to avoid bending distortion towards the edges of the shot, which really helps the scene. I must say, I've seen this kind of shot done before, and thought of doing it myself, but still, this is a well executed version of a graphic and interesting scene. Photograph: Chris Bond
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Winning photograph by William McCracken: On Curzon Street in London's Mayfair last year a heavy rainstorm appeared from nowhere. The streets cleared within seconds; doorways filled with unprepared pedestrians, including me. We all marvelled at and discussed the rain apart from the lady with her umbrella who battled through. Thirty seconds later the weather completely cleared and the streets filled up again as we left our temporary shelters. I quickly took this before the rain obscured my lens with a Nikon P6000, f3.5, exp 1/40s, ISO64.
Natalie Mayer, judge: This is a really classic photograph, and the composition is spot-on. If that lady had been any further forward or back it just wouldn't have worked, and because of the combination of thought and intuition that has gone into that, I've chosen this as the winner. Lovely atmosphere and feeling: I can almost hear the rain pattering down on to the road. Photograph: William McCracken
 

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