The theme of this year’s CL photo contest was “Time,” and the finalists’ photos (see slideshow below) reveal how widely that theme was interpreted.
Some photographers contributed images of old age, like Jonathan P. Drago’s portrait of his grandfather on his 80th birthday, or Julie Busch Branaman’s poignant shot of an unguarded moment in the day of a 94-year-old woman. In other photos, youth and maturity are in dialogue: Jamie McWade shows the worn-down sole of a young Dominican’s workboot, given to him in recognition of his passage into manhood, while Tony A. Blue pays tribute to his late, beloved brother Sam, in a photo-illustration that utilizes old family snapshots.
Steven S. Gregory, known for recording the ravages of time on Tampa’s urban landscape, conveys the haunting allure of an abandoned house in Virginia, while Andrew Vernon used a 25-second exposure to achieve an other-worldly sense of stillness. Patrick Smith also manipulates time with his camera, using a neutral density filter to create multiple blurred self-portraits.
And some finalists can attribute the success of their photos to having been in the right place at the right time: Nina Thrasher saw beauty in the reflected lights at a party in an old cigar factory; John Mazzello’s photo of an old trailer and pink flamingo has a vintage Florida feel, but was taken at a car show; Readers’ Choice Winner Maida Millan caught the sense of foreboding in an overcast St. Augustine sky; and Joseph Priser’s eerie shot of a shadowy figure walking into light was the first photo he took in art school in 1972.
These talented photographers get their own moments in time on Thurs., March 29, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in downtown Tampa. That’s when we’ll announce the winner of the $1,000 grand prize, as decided by our judges: Joanne Milani, FMoPA curator; Rebecca Sexton Larson, Tampa Photographer Laureate 2005 and co-founder of Boxfotos Airstream; Megan Voeller, CL visual art critic; and Todd Bates, CL creative director. The awards reception, which also launches the CL Visions photo show at the museum, is open to the public ($5 donation), and includes refreshments and tours of FMoPA’s Andy Warhol exhibition.
We hope to see you there — and the next night, too, at Cinebistro in Hyde Park, where we’ll be holding the CL Visions Video Contest awards.
Check out the slideshow below.
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2012.