Photography — what a cool medium! All you’ve got to do is point, shoot and, voilà, make a masterpiece. Well … not exactly. Though accident or just plain luck led to a handful of the 495 photographs in the 22nd Annual Metro Times Photo Contest, most of this year’s participants seem to have worked pretty deliberately at their visions. Of course, the art of capturing light (reflected from whatever you want to slice out of time) has a lot to do with being in the right place and seizing the perfect moment — as well as with understanding the subtleties and limitations of your film stock, camera and subjects. With the massive changeover to digital technology in the past few years, the Photo Contest has received increasingly more entries in the color category. But nearly half of our participants still see a great deal of formal possibilities in good old black and white. Whichever way the creative winds blow, the image harvest has always given our judges a lot to like and more than enough to ponder. We hope you’ll enjoy their selections as much as we do.
Color First Place
Craig Brithinee, Walled Lake
Second Place
Bill Koechig, Pontiac
Third Place
Chris Sandon, Highland
Honorable Mention
Robert Bartley — West Bloomfield
Jason Grant Benberry — Oak Park
Chris Blunden — Detroit
Jeffery James Fetterly — Detroit
Stephen Gertz — Ann Arbor
Marty Gross — West Bloomfield
Steve Kozmor — Milan
Glenn Kujansuu — Southfield
Jillian Montgomery — Ferndale
Mary Sitto — Wolverine Lake
Black and White
First Place
Liza Pulgini, Detroit
Second Place
Kelly Hornfeld, Clawson
Third Place
David Damroze, Detroit
Honorable Mention
Brian Brown — Windsor
Tim Carpenter — Hamtramck
Derek Cerovski — Windsor
Jeffrey James Fetterly — Detroit
Marty Gross — West Bloomfield
James Janowicz — Warren
Mark Johnson — Clinton Township
Michael Pavlov — Windsor
Janine Surma — Northville
John Wright — Sterling Heights
Check out all of the winners and honorable mentions in Metro Times' 2003 Photo Contest
Finding the gems in a batch of 500 photographs is no easy task, but our three judges, as always, are art-world or photography professionals who share many years of looking and discerning between them.
Ann Arbor-based photographer Doug Coombe is a regular contributor to Metro Times, training his infallible eye on the arts and music scenes, and gracing our features or news reports with his captivating images.
Ewolf maintains three creative profiles: He’s a high-tech photographer for a large Detroit cultural institution, a freelance camera-slinger with a wild streak and a kickin’ rock drummer currently between bands.
Adventurous and thoughtful curator Michelle Perron worked for John Cage and Merce Cunningham in New York before deciding to bring her imaginative energies back to Detroit. She currently directs the Center Galleries at the College for Creative Studies.
The two-week exhibition that opens on Wednesday, July 9 , 6-9 p.m., at the Detroit Artists Market (4719 Woodward Ave., corner of Forest, Detroit — 313-832-8540) will present the entire Metro Times Photo Contest to the general public. It features the first, second and third-place winners in each category, as well as the 20 honorable mention winners and the rest of this year’s humongous body of intriguing entries. With scrumptious catering by Sweet Lorraine’s, the evening lets you roll up your visual sleeves, stroll and focus on wave upon wave of shots by amateur photographers who’re only in it for the fame and glory. But seriously, folks, the French word amateur means “lover,” and it’s clear that so many of our contestants have invested much love, sweat and anticipation into their work. And the results will leave you breathless.
We know you’re curious and can’t resist, ’cause the Photo Contest always lays a ton of surprises and inspiration on your mind. C ’mon down and check out the visions. Thanks to interns Kathleen Davis and Ronit Feldman for their research, interviews with our winners and writing of their statements. George Tysh is Metro Times arts editor. E-mail [email protected]
