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As we wrap up the Third Annual Emerging Pro Photo Competition, all of us at Digital Photo Pro were impressed once again by the caliber of the submissions. read more »
In a business environment that poses more than its fair share of challenges to professional photographers looking to make a living in the field, there’s no shortage of talent to help give this next generation a firm foundation from which to launch their careers. In any photo contest, choosing winners is, in the best of circumstances, no easy task. With so many excellent submissions, the job was made even more difficult this time around.
Thanks to our sponsors, Microsoft and Olympus, we were again able to offer some incredible prizes to this year’s winners. Having such enthusiastic corporate backing makes it possible for us to award a $10,000 Grand Prize and $1,000 First Prizes to this year’s winners, and we’re grateful to both Microsoft and Olympus for their support.
A few years ago, it was suggested that there was almost no more need for professional photographers in a world inundated with more than 100 years of images. The naysayers who made that proclamation completely discounted the aesthetic evolution of the medium, as well as the ability of technology to revolutionize the very act of previsualizing an image. The next generation of professionals will have been brought up in a world of digital images, and their aesthetics and the very way in which they think about photographs will be seen through that filter.
We look forward to the 2009 Emerging Pro Photo Competition and to seeing how the next generation will continue to push the visual envelope.
Grand Prize Winner: Jason Blake
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
School: University of the Arts, Philadelphia, BFA in Photography
It wasn’t until early in Jason Blake’s college career that he fell in love with photography, becoming influenced after seeing other photographers’ work… read more »
One of his strongest influences was Francesca Woodman because of her use of narrative in her images. Blake’s goal is to create thought provoking and inspiring images with a sense of hidden narrative. He wants his images to elicit emotion, mystery and, most of all, a story.
Describing his winning image, The Brothel, based on an idea of woman’s power over man, Blake says, “Both the sexes have a debilitating power over the other, and in this case, I’m showing woman’s power over man— that one’s confidence has the physical power to melt the other one away in the form displayed by the top hats, which represent man’s physicality. The top hats also represent the trail of men that woman has control over.”
All of Blake’s images are examples of high style and high concept. Many inexperienced photographers have fantastic ideas and a sense of style, but their images fall apart because the photographer can’t deliver a polished, professional-level finished product. Blake stands out with his attention to detail in all aspects of the photograph.
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First Place—Fine Art: Jim Lind
Location: Savannah, Georgia
School: Attending Savannah College of Art and Design
Lind is in his third year of college pursuing a photography degree, but he got his start in photography through his father’s keen eye and quick finger for capturing the decisive moment… read more »
Only a student, but with a great eye for composition and telling a story through his photography, he draws inspiration from photographers like Diane Arbus, and Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick.
His goal is to follow many different paths in his career, but to ultimately do what he loves, which is photography, for a living. Of the many roads and areas within photography, he enjoys photo compositing and retouching, and hopes to never become stale or mediocre with his images.
Lind tries to tell stories of hope and mystery, attaching human characteristics like emotion so that the viewer gets something more than just an interesting-looking image. His winning image is part of a series called City of Exile and features heavy compositing using Photoshop.
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First Prize—Fashion/Beauty: Alex Lim
Location: Seattle, Washington
School: Self-taught photographer
Like many self-taught photographers, Alex Lim didn’t realize he had a passion for photography until he left college a few years ago. More into the technology side of the medium, his sensibility… read more »
for imagery evolved when he realized he could marry high technology with artistry. He lives for the creative expression, the technical challenges, the connection with the subject and viewer, and the story that comes with photography.
To Lim, the most inspirational photographers working are those who are just hitting their stride, shooting campaigns, seeing lots of printed pages and doing what they love. Lim’s im
mediate goal is simple—to be able to make a reasonable living as a photographer.
In the winning photograph, we see one of the first composited images Lim has ever attempted. The foreground of the image with the model and columns were all shot together in daylight with a single strobe, while the town square in the background was shot at a completely different location later that day. Using Photoshop, Lim focused on details and made a flawless composite and an evocative final image.
The realm of Fashion/Beauty lies very much in the eyes of the beholder. This image is striking for its use of imagination and the way in which Lim departed from the normal rules governing a fashion shot. Too many young professionals move in lock step with the safe imagery that has come before. It’s always refreshing to see a photographer feel confident to step out of those boundaries.
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First Prize—Photojournalism: Bill Hoenk
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
School: Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Bill Hoenk grew up sailing around the world and eventually ended up waiting tables for some time until his father purchased an SLR film camera for him as a birthday gift, at a time when… read more »
he was questioning what he wanted to do with his life.
Since traveling was in his blood, Hoenk figured there was no better way to make a living than getting paid to do what he loved. He learned everything he could about photography through books, magazines and practice and eventually at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to get a formal photography education.
Working on various projects post-school, he concentrates on many different areas of photography. This image of a Pittsburgh firefighter was shot after Hoenk heard sirens pass by his studio. He ran outside and followed the sounds to the scene where he got this vivid and moving picture. He concentrated on zooming in and creating portraits of the firefighters as they cleaned up the scene. In the aftermath of the fire, the expressions of the firefighters that Hoenk captured were a mixture of joy amid the signs of devastation.
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Honorable Mention:
Jean Philippe Dobrin
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Honorable Mention:
Bob Garas
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Honorable Mention:
Morgan Boss Markwick
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Honorable Mention:
Daniel McFadden
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Honorable Mention:
Christine Szeredy
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