Smithsonian.com

What section of the contest is this in? I was just in the Altered Image section and assumed I was still in it until I read the comments saying this was a real house in a real city, then noticed at the top of the page that none of the categories were lit up. I didn't even see the little house for quite a while, and when I did it seemed impossible that it should be tucked in among that many brightly lit high-rise buildings. Whatever the case, it is an impressive, thought-provoking photo that I admire.

In my community, the last remaining working farm among the modern houses, shopping centers and busy roads of suburbia has kept us wondering for years how long the owners would hold out before giving into the developer's offers. Sadly, I recently read in the paper that its time is coming to an end. How we shall miss that breath of fresh air and wide open spaces at that intersection. But time marches on everywhere.

As I cycle past this house every day, I can confirm that this pic has not been manipulated. It's part of a cluster of three heritage buildings (the other two are to the right of this one, behind the large rectangular building) that have escaped being turned into condos like the rest of Yaletown.

guess again, Timothy O'Shea, and other doubters - this is an actual picture of an actual place in Vancouver. My friend who lives there cycles past it every day on her way to the Vancouver Public Library and declares that that house is really there in just the condition that it is displayed in this picture. I think it is an extraordinary picture and deserving of any acclaim it may garner.

I too highly suspect "digital manipulation". Being a Photoshop expert myself and after closely examining this very creative image I notice some "issues".
1- There's a yellow excavator directly in front of the house, why? Not sure... maybe it's seeing it's last days!

2- The house and car seems to be on a slightly different plane, like maybe one story higher?

3- This is the biggest issue. The house is up against a building with two different size windows. Follow the dark upper edge of the "pasted in building" and it goes beyond the edge of the building behind with no apparent roof line to it.

So I say to you... Hmmmmm?

Believe it or not, I've seen this happen twice in Austin, Texas. Once back in the 60's on Brazos Street when there was a splurge of urban sprawl downtown. People that I knew just looked at that little house sandwiched in between a multi-storied office building and a new hotel (now no longer a hotel) and just smiled, wondering who had the guts to do that! Then, again, later in the 70's, it happened on Guadalupe Street, not right downtown, but a few miles from there. It was just an oddity at the time; but now, both of those oddities are gone, like other ghosts of historic times in Austin, Texas.

It is a great story to tell, but I think the photograph does not do it justice. The composition should naturally take a viewer's eyes to the focal point, but it is not the case with this photograph. It requires a pixel-hunting effort to actually find the small house, and it is like searching for Waldo - you only search for it because you read the name of the photograph and you know what to look for. Without the name, it is no more than an overexposed shot of a cityscape at night. An interesting story, but a poor technical realization for a competition of this scale.

Love this. It reminds me of "Up"

What's with the haters and non-believers? This picture is totally real and un-touched by photoshop. Beautiful urban picture Amyn!!

The little house that fought demolition
Amyn Nasser (Blaine, WA)

Speaks to the soul.

I don't like it that much.

BRAVO AMYN !!!!

In this compitition there were beautiful photographs of mountains and nature that easily express the wonder and delight of our world, because the subjects are just being what they are, naturally awesome. But to capture the beauty of the beast, the horror of urban mountainscape, requires deep sensitivity and a emotional connection to the divine universe, allowing the viewer to experience the awe and gratitude of 'silent power'.

Thank you for communicating such powerful expressions in our world.
Masood Ali Khan

Exceptional Amyn! Great work.

Subtle, but brilliant!