Truly the most desolate landscape of the month. The judges felt quite strongly that the environmental portrait is the ideal for this category. And yet, sometimes the access to the environment is lacking. We felt the portrait of mother and son, outside their home, for a story on access to remote learning, had an almost “American Gothic” feel, and was a good compromise if access inside the home is not there. The faces and body language created a sense of empathy even if the environment was not a perfect embodiment of the story. While a “mere” head shot would usually fall flat, the judges did like the use of light and shadow and shape in the portrait of the unemployed construction worker. Lacking any storytelling context the photographer managed to make a visually eye-catching image which motivated us to award second place. We were unable to award beyond a second though.
Judges:
Sean D. Elliot/ The Day Publishing Co., Robert Button/ Freelance, Wes Bunnell/ Shore Publishing
Judges Comments
Truly the most desolate landscape of the month. The judges felt quite strongly that the environmental portrait is the ideal for this category. And yet, sometimes the access to the environment is lacking. We felt the portrait of mother and son, outside their home, for a story on access to remote learning, had an almost “American Gothic” feel, and was a good compromise if access inside the home is not there. The faces and body language created a sense of empathy even if the environment was not a perfect embodiment of the story. While a “mere” head shot would usually fall flat, the judges did like the use of light and shadow and shape in the portrait of the unemployed construction worker. Lacking any storytelling context the photographer managed to make a visually eye-catching image which motivated us to award second place. We were unable to award beyond a second though.