DAY 17

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Day 17! Let's jump right into today's recap! 😆

First up is Taka-san!
One player laughing in victory, another brought to their knees in defeat — the two sides of a basketball game. Chiaroscuro is all about using contrast to make each element sharpen the other, but to express that through human emotion and the swing of fate? That takes real creative vision. And yet what struck me most was this: all three of today's themes — confrontation, Chiaroscuro, tears — are captured in a single frame. Two teams face off, fortune divides them, and one is moved to tears. One photograph, and the whole brief is answered!🤩

Next is Juniper B-san!
Look at how the light is handled here. The weight of black and white doesn't just sit quietly — it presses in on you. That's what makes Juniper B-san's work so striking. The shadows read not only as grief, but as loneliness and anger too. The subject faces forward, head held up — and yet her back is turned to us. I can feel the emotions being held tightly in check. This is a photograph that carries a quiet, aching sorrow. 😍

Next is KOM-san!
This theme tends to conjure more serious images — so it's genuinely delightful to see it approached with this much warmth and charm. What on earth brought these two face to face? Neither one seems ready to give an inch, both holding their ground in a steady, unwavering stare. My vote? He'll be the first to blink — and graciously step aside for the cat. 🐱🪄🥰

Next is 0(:3 )〜 ('､3｣ ∠ ) (Mikage)-san!
A close-up of a Porsche headlight — the part that, for a car, is its eyes — scattered with droplets of water. The theme is tears, and the matte finish, with all its gloss stripped away, gives those droplets a quiet, tender quality — less like rain, more like something genuinely felt. I don't think this image could exist without Mikage-san's delicate sensibility and genuine love of cars. It's beautiful. 😳

Next is Donnkichi-san!
The familiar world seen through a bedroom window — a Night City painted in dazzling neon. A figure gazes out toward that glittering world, yet the cold blue light that falls across their back tells a different story. Light and shadow, side by side — and the words "look to the future with your own eyes" ring out, somehow hollow, right between them. 😊