Mid-Atlantic – June 2018 – Portrait/Illustration

Judges Comments

Another category without many entries. First place was a clean, well-lit execution. It has an aspirational posture, the tilt of the hurdle helps the eye move around the frame and uses the cloud cover and the sunburst to become part of the emotional content and some rim light. Second place, the background was a total bummer in this image, but the posture, rain, and empty streets added to the storytelling aspect of this frame which was 'this is our one weekend to celebrate and it's raining'. It's a take what you can get shot and we get a sense of melancholy, but was there a better background, or execution of the frame. Third, the news content of the photo is supposed to be cease and desist and the controversy around short-term rentals, but the emotional content of the photo is nostalgia, or childhood bedroom, or scholarship winner with the warm tones and over-the-shoulder with a smile pose. It's a mismatch for what the photo is supposed to be communicating. There's many ways you can work with your subject to set a tone for the image - a more straightforward, confrontational posture. When you are creating a portrait you have the control, so use it.

Judges: Julia Robinson/Freelance, James Gregg/Austin American-Statesman