The Maktese Falcon springs immediately to mind! Extremely moody and yet not too menacing because of the warmth of the light.

Fantastic capture my friend and thi picture is absolutely marvelous... Fantastic lightins also !

Outstanding shot Mark happy to visit!!

this is cool, I like the lighting a lot!

The grittiness & speckled textures help to create a mood here that is a perfect fit for the subject - a gritty & at least potentially dangerous city alley at night. It may be a perfectly safe place to walk for all I know, but conventional stereotypes would indicate otherwise. Hope your arm heals quickly, Mark...

What danger awaits hidden in the shadows of this thoroughfare? Egad, an image ripped from every urban crime movie I've ever watched! Talk about courage, you bravely ventured out at night into the mean streets/alleys of Chicago to record this marvelous shot of the hidden side of your toddling town, Mark. Love the spooky ambience of lighting effects, color, depth and shadows. Kudos to you. Oh, by the way, what happened to all the snow?

What a great shot! I love night shots and this is a perfect one! Now, of course, I'm trying to discover which alley this may be: an alley somewhere on the planet Earth is all I can really be sure of. There are bits of it that make me think of where it could be, and yet nothing really defines one particular location. I love the mood. It's easy to see alleys as menacing, but there no menace in this shot. It's simply quiet: meditative in an urban way (urban meditation probably involves running shoes, a doggie-poop-bag, and a steaming cup of Starbucks, if Chicago Avenue's intersection with the Gold Coast is any indication. Chicago Avenue's intersection with Orleans Street...is something else all together: the bar scene in Star Wars comes to mind...but I digress.) I love the way darkness and golden light dance in this image and play around with each other; the paler, florescent highrise-skyscraper lights in the distance provide a nice counterpoint. The wall and fence structure on the right makes me think of the Jewish cemetery in the Josefov region of Prague. This whole image simply swims in mood and it implies such a great degree of silence; something in short supply in cities like Chicago. I like the lone figure in the distance: his posture is relaxed. He definitely knows this alley and isn't threatened by it; that lone human figure tells a story, of course, and I'm really curious about what that story may be. This is really wonderfully done and I love the way you've presented this. The grainy feel simply adds to the quality of this image: rather like something Noire-inspired, but not obsessed with shady people doing shady things in shady areas full of smoke and booze and other shady people doing shady things in the most shady way possible. This goes the other way and simply presents darkness as darkness: and that's it. The sense of grain gives this a nice, timeworn feel, and it adds a nice bit of texture that really does work on an emotional level. I really like this. It's making a trip into my favorites.

Excellent photography.

Great night's interpretation !! The night make magic also the most desolated places. The micro figure of man on the street give a great sensation of solitude. A very very suggestive image !!!

Outstanding gritty urban alley!

Awesome. My favourite street work is actually alleys and narrow little passages at night. Oh, and this one really has to be opened up to see the lovely solarization effect. I normally love high f stops for night to get the beams of light but here a shallow DofF works so well with the grittiness and solarization. Why waste time on details if you are going to blow them out for special effect. Excellent.

I so love what you have done to this photo, Mark. Something only you can do and this will look fabulous on a wall. An exhibition of all these urban shots and the awesome darkroom work you do, would really open up the eyes for people. And this has such a special mood. Love it.

Mark, first of all let me say that I'm so glad to see you back even if it is for a limited time. Please take care and I'll be sure and keep you in my prayers that your healing process goes well. This series was a marvelous idea as I love the atmosphere of this first mysterious alley you shared with us. The lighting certainly sets this one apart as it has an almost eerie glow. As always you pick the most ideal location to make for a perfect photograph.

Great mood and lighting in this shot. Strange things lurk in alleys, especially in the dumpsters. I like the glowing sky and the building with all those lights in the windows at the end, as if to say if you can just make it through the alley all will be okay.

Eerie and moody, and full of tangential mysteries; what a marvelous scene you have captured and created here!

Wonderful capture and motif, Mark. It almost touch the sepia feeling. The warm deep color really build the atmosphere. Great work.

hope your recover on that arm is swift, love the capture of this area, cool lighting and shot. the figure walking down the alley adds to the shot.

Great composition - I like how the roadway leads us into the shot. Also like the atmosphere you've captured. Well done

fabulous image

Oh man, this one's even spookier!! Seems to go on forever!!

Foto fantastica! Hai concentrato in un unico scatto una grande atmosfera .Colori , luci , ombre , ed infine la silouette che sembra essere in secondo piano , ma che in effetti è il punto focale di tutta l'opera! Grande!!! Fantastic picture! You have concentrated in a single shot a great atmosphere.Colors, lights, shadows, and finally the silhouette that seems to be overshadowed, but which in fact is the focal point of the whole work! Great!!!