Collection: https://civitai.com/collections/15937
TLDR; This is a public civitai collection of selected images (all of them with metadata) from the SDXL image competition: https://civitai.com/collections/110
It's filter using non-artificial intelligence (i.e., me ). It will save you from having to wade through thousands of images (which can take a long time even just to load them all) in order to see some of the good ones.
Long version
I decided to make and share this collection, in the hope that others will use it to see some of the gems (specially older posts) that are now swamped by the new entries. Once the contest is over, I'll try to continue adding to the list so that will be a good resource for people to learn and enjoy.
Of course, the collection will reflect my idiosyncratic personal taste, but the choices are not completely arbitrary. They are based on a system of elimination. I tried to filter out the following type of entries, but making exception when an image stands out above the crowd.
1. Subpar images, of course
2. Duplicates of the same idea/prompt
3. Celebrities (so no Keanu, Trump, Swift, etc.)
4. Mimes/Joke. They can be funny, but most lack aesthetic value.
5. Images based on Iconic games/movies/anime that have already saturated the contest, such a Super Mario, Zelda, God of War, Halo Spartan, Geralt of Rivia, Marvel and DC Superheroes, etc. (but I'll include it if the image has some nice twist to it)
6. "Standard" photo portraits, no matter how pretty the woman/man is
7. Horrors, such as Zombies, decaying stuff, etc.
8. Images that I've seen too many times, such as cyberpunk samurai walking in a neon lit cityscape, cat and dogs in various poses, etc.
9. Some creators are very good and also very prolific, so I can only include a small sample of their oeuvre. If you like an image, I suggest that you click on the image, and then click on the image of the creator, which often lead to other images that you will likely enjoy.
What we are left with, I hope, is an eclectic collection of interesting images that one can enjoy and learn something from. More than anything else, I am looking for unique artistic styles (for example, it is amazing what people have done using the paper cut LoRA) rather than ideas, because styles are much more reusable for one's own prompt ideas.
Please upvote your favorite images if you have the time. This has the side benefit of making the image part of your own favorite collection, which you can see by going into your civitai profile, click on the "images" tab, then click on the "My Reactions" sub tab (this is a neat trick that I just learned recently).
Alternatively, you can also add images to your own collection by clicking on the 3 dots on the top right-hand corner of the images, and then select "Add to collection". Unintuitively, to remove an image from your collection, you also use "Add to collection". If the image is already in a collection, then you "uncheck" the collection name and then save it.
Full disclosure: I did include some of my own contest entries in the collection as well. I created a new account just to host this collection, so that there is no direct link from the list to images created by me. That way, I would not be doing any self-promotion. My entries will be judged like every other entry in the collection.