Snag in contest***Vote your Opinion now*** or forever hold your peace

[Mira]

Poll question: Snag in contest***Vote your Opinion now*** or forever hold your peace

It would have been so nice had the contest run without a hitch.
But one problem arose that I hope we can solve together, and then hopefully all will be seamless after that.

I have not paid close enough attention, and therefore did not do my job well. I did not catch that the submission from Elfin Yeti being a photo of her sister does not follow the rule I myself laid down about this being about a portrait of a true stranger. I did not, at that time, include metaphorical strangers in that rule. I'm sorry this happened.

I got caught up in the emotion and the sadness depicted, and that it was an instantly popular photograph. All that masked the obvious for me, which is that it may not be fair to the group who struggled to take good portraits of "real" strangers.

I sent a message to Elfin Yeti, and she wrote back that she thinks a poll is the best way to address this, as do I.
She asked if she could include a few words on the onset, and here they are:

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I interpreted the contest title, "Stranger", more figuratively
than literally which I think is the essence of the art of
photography. My sister, Judy, is in every sense of the word a
stranger as she is dramatically changed physically and
mentally as a result of her frontal lobe dementia. She
recognizes no one from her "former life", is unable to
articulate, lives truly in the moment with no memory of the
past or sense of the future, and requires total care 24/7. A
stranger indeed. If it helps, the two in the background are
strangers to me(!).

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On to making a decision, please let's get this solved, and please submit some more photos.
I will stop this poll at 9 am sharp, EST tomorrow, Tuesday.
Please no ties :)

The submission thread ends at NOON Tuesday, EST.
I hope we get a full 30 photos !!!!!!!!