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Readers’ travel photograph competition: April – street life

This month's excellent collection of photos captures street life around the world from Havana to Ho Chi Minh City. Click through to the end to find out who our judge Natalie Mayer selected as this month's winner
  
  


Photo comp April: baseball in Havana
Simon Maddison: Using a blue bottle top as ball to practise baseball in Havana. This is a scene you see throughout Cuba. Cubans are passionate about baseball, balls are expensive and would travel too far and damage things in a narrow street. A bottle top is an ideal soft projectile – and its size also improves skill levels. Photograph: Simon Maddison
Photo comp April: Street in Varanasi
Christopher Alexander: Varanasi in India is a treasure trove for street photographers. The alleyways are filled with stories, and these two men were so deep in conversation that they seemed to have forgotten the world around them. I tried to get their little bubble of calm into a photograph before quietly moving on, leaving them to set the world to rights. Photograph: Christopher Alexander
Photo comp April: Girl Power
Chris Mole: This is one of those every day juxtapositions you come across by chance, taken on my way to work. It's a hoardings in front of an office development in London. I like the fact that the stream of passersby are oblivious to looking as if they are being skewered by an electric drill. Photograph: Chris Mole
Photo comp April: Paris snoozers
Jan Piotrowski: In a buzzing metropolis, quiet spots can be like gold dust, and right in the heart of Paris, near the Champs-Élysées, I have a feeling that this was a regular haunt for locals on their lunch break. No one was talking, they were all simply enjoying the first spring sunshine. If the man with his back to camera hadn't been so comfortable and had moved, the composition would have been perfect, but c'est la vie. Photograph: Jan Piotrowski
Photo comp April: rickshaw wallah's, Kolkata, India
Ross O'Toole: A rickshaw wallah's world view, Kolkata, India
Photograph: Ross O"Toole Photograph: Ross O'Toole
Photo comp April: Havana there is music in every square and on every corner
Paula Harris: In Havana there is music in every square and on every corner. These musicians and their inquisitive visitor caught my eye. Photograph: Paula Harris
Photo comp April: Istanbul Galata Bridge
Henry White: I was near Istanbul’s Galata Bridge to celebrate the New Year. It was nearly midnight and pouring with rain so I was surprised to see this man trying to sell fried fish, caught in the harbour opposite. I admired his commitment and liked the vibrancy of his cart against the sodium street-lighting. I used a wide aperture to emphasise his stall and a slow shutter speed to blur the movement, waiting for two passersby to enter the frame. Photograph: Henry White
Photo comp April: Street seller siesta, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nic Stevenson: The street vendors of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, are such an integral part of life there; for a communist country, everyone is trying to sell you something! I was also attracted to the scene because while we were walking around the city in the heat of the midday sun, she was sensibly siesta-ing – mad dogs and Englishmen and all that ... Photograph: Nic Stevenson
Photo comp April: Kid beating to the sound of rumba music on a Sunday afternoon in Havana.
Jessie Padfield: Kid beating to the sound of rumba music on Callejón de Hamel, Havana. I was struck by the vibrant colours of the mural. Street life in Cuba is such a contrast to the greyness of urban life as I know it in England. Photograph: Jessie Padfield
Photo comp April: Mural in southern Spain
Brandon Clements: I captured this shot in southern Spain. The man almost blends into and becomes part of a street art mural as he walks through the city on a hot day. Photograph: Brandon Clements
Photo comp April: Barcelona street life
Ritty Tacsum: The whole atmosphere felt like I was in a fairytale – those gigantic bubbles, which a Barcelona street artist was doing, were almost surreal. I noticed this kid who looked so fascinated by them. Seeing someone so young appreciating the simple things is life was very amusing. Photograph: Ritty Tacsum
Photo comp April: Old lady walking alongside traffic in India
Sagar Shiriskar: This photograph was taken in the Mumbai rush hour. It reflects the pace of the city and the contrast between those who learn to live with its chaos and those who are always trying to cope with it. The old lady walking past traffic is a reflection of old values being replaced by new. Photograph: Sagar Shiriskar
Photo comp April: Skateboarder, Curitiba, Brazil
Ralf Sorgi: This picture was taken in Curitiba, the biggest city in the south of Brazil. I like the beautiful composition, colours and perspectives. And the cherry on top is the skateboarder, who apperared at the perfect moment, doing his trick. Photograph: Ralf Sorgi
Photo comp April: Three chicas on the streets of Havana
David Roberts, runner-up: Three chicas on the streets of Havana. I was struck by the symmetry of this scene and by the naturally cool attitude of the girls.

Natalie Mayer, judge: This is fantastic, I love the semi-symmetrical composition and the body language and attitude of the woman on the bike. And the little girl absorbed in her lolly. All women together, but having their own thoughts and attitudes. A lovely snapshot of life. Photograph: David Roberts
Photo comp April: Ho Chi Minh City motorcycle
Jason Dunnett, runner-up: The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are famously chaotic, teeming with motorcycles carrying entire families or overloaded with produce. I stood on a street corner using the panning technique to capture people with unusual or precarious loads – this man was so weighed-down with eggs it was comical. The fact that he's looking directly at the camera (instead of the road) while he has his right hand poised on the brake also lends a sense of impending disaster – although I can confirm that he disappeared into the distance without creating the world's largest omelette!

Natalie Mayer, judge: A lovely snapshot of life this one, and technically well captured – panning with a nice background blur and in-focus subject can be technically difficult and a bit hit and miss. I love the eggs (of all things!) piled high, and the super expression of the driver. Good work. Photograph: Jason Dunnett
Photo comp April:
Faye Maher, winner: Young and old enjoying the 'romance' of Paris on the edge of the River Seine.

Natalie Mayer, judge: There were loads of great entries again this month, but this one really stands out for me as a gem of a shot. Great compositions, wonderful subjects all with super body language and all interesting in their own right. I think this shot would work great in black and white, but either way it's a lovely scene, well spotted and captured. Photograph: Faye Maher
 

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