New England – September 2017 – Portrait/Illustration

Judges Comments

None of the traditional portraits spoke to us. The winners here are strong portraits capturing a politician, an honorary fireman, and models, in their respective environments. They all shared a natural candidness that we liked, each showing a distinctive personality and mood. 1st place ­ Making a photo of someone speaking to a group of people is probably one of the blandest of assignments. We were impressed with the photographer’s vision in seeing beyond the obvious of documenting the event inside. The framing, the reflections, the color,all came together quite well. 2nd place ­ We just love the joy and excitement the honorary fireman radiates. 3rd place ­ The low light definitely strikes a mood backstage just before the models take the catwalk. And we like the in and out framing, and the movement. We weren’t 100% percent sure on this one, but there wasn’t much to standing in its way.

Judges: Anita Baca/Associated Press, Leslie Mazoch/Associated Press, Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press, Dario Lopez­Mills/Associated Press