Congratulations to Sonja Quintero of Dallas, the winner of the Flickr Photo of the Week contest ! (Her creepy-beautiful shot of doll hands looks either like some lost, antique photo from the 19th century or a still from a recent Japanese horror movie.) Sonja last won our contest in November 2010 for this very different image,  a speedy capture of a water droplet.  She follows our previous week’s winner, Richard Payson.

If you would like to participate in the Flickr Photo of the Week contest, all you need to do is upload your photo to our Flickr group page. It’s fine to submit a photo you took earlier than the current week, but we are hoping that the contest will inspire you to go out and shoot something fantastic this week to share with Art&Seek users. If the picture you take involves a facet of the arts, even better. The contest week will run from Monday to Sunday, and the Art&Seek staff will pick a winner on Monday afternoon. We’ll notify the winner through FlickrMail (so be sure to check those inboxes) and ask you to fill out a short survey to tell us a little more about yourself and the photo you took. We’ll post the winners’ photo on Wednesday.

Now, here’s more from Sonja:

Title: Hands by Window Light

Equipment used: Nikon D80 , 50mm lens, ambient light

Tell us more about your photo: I have started to collect thrift store and vintage dolls. Some are in pretty bad shape, so I started to take them apart. I’ve always been intrigued by the psychological creepiness of dolls and have focused on that feeling in my photos. Once I started to take them apart, I realized the individual doll limbs could be just as unsettling. I posed these hands on a draped chair by my office window. I think the black and white and deep contrast add an ominous touch.

They seem to be reaching for something …  or someone!