Image is everything
Though we are surrounded by conversations, written words and text messages, our view of our city is shaped most powerfully by the images we see: a swathe of picturesque scenery, a mouth-watering plate of food, a friendly face.
Seeing is believing.
Images are a window to our experiences and our environment, signposts for the memories, the emotions and the people we hold most dear.
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This year, amateur and professional photographers submitted more than 350 images to 225’s Photo Contest in nine categories, including Celebration, Children, Food, Landscape, Local Culture, Pets, Portrait and Travel. With smartphone cameras, apps and digital filters all improving at a rapid clip, we even created an Instagram category.
This year’s judges are Lawles Bourque and Amy Shutt, who, in addition to being innovative 225 contributors, are also experts at their craft (see their own work below). This pair of pros pored over each entry and delivered to their editors the slate of photographs you will find below.
WINNER: Julie Cerise
“This family of five has a special tradition. They throw a cupcake party for each of their boys on his first birthday. This image was taken this past June in a field near City Park in New Orleans. The family members featured are Kenton and Andrea Schaff of Luling and their three boys: Griffin, Roman and Cohen.” —J.C.
WINNER: Aaron Hogan
“Payton, age 3, is the daughter of Danielle and Ryan Jenkins, who perform as a band of the same name. When she was two, the little girl did not speak much, but she would always play her father’s guitar. So they bought Payton her own to inspire her musically. She insisted on carrying it throughout their family photo session at the Rural Life Museum.” —A.H.
WINNER: Jessi Arnold
“This photo is actually a part of a series called Guilty Pleasures that I shot in New York. It was taken when my right-hand man and makeup artist Eric Vosburg and I traveled together to shoot our first editorial in the Big Apple. Featured is the lovely Kalli Keith.” —J.A.
WINNER: Todd Rossnagel
“I have often said the best camera is the camera that is always with you. For me, that is my iPhone. I have fallen in love with mobile photography and have been hooked on Instagram since its inception. This photo is of my nephew happily swinging in a neighborhood park. I immediately saw the dramatic backlighting but had to adjust my angle. To do that, I lay on the ground to capture the sun directly behind him. An added benefit of falling to the ground was that my nephew was so intrigued by his uncle laying on the playground floor that he looked directly at me. As I began to process the photo with my favorite iPhone app, Snapseed, I almost left the photo in color, but the black and white seemed to make the silhouette pop.” —T.R.
WINNER: Bruce Thomas
“This was taken on the Snćfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland during a vacation to visit our daughter, Dana, a geologist doing research in the area. The picture depicts a single lane road through the Berserk Lava Field. This was the only glimpse of sunlight we had all day. The moss covering the lava rocks is the only plant life on the peninsula and is like a green carpet six inches deep. The lava field is from a volcanic eruption around 4000 B.C. According to Icelandic lore, these lava fields are the places where elves live.” —B.T.
WINNER Nicholas Martino
“This photograph was taken on the morning of a local hot air balloon race. Photographers had lined the trees as they captured the beauty of the fog caressing the grounds of the untouched fields as the sun awoke.” —N.M.
WINNER Ryan Weilenman
“Heavy rains created a flooded Bayou Manchac in January. Coal could not resist the urge to play in his bayou-flooded backyard and retrieve tennis balls while splashing around. This rescued Labrador found the perfect home!” —R.W.
WINNER: Natalie Mancuso
“I attended NOLA Fashion Week as a supporter for Ella Rose Design and did a bit of behind-the-scenes photojournalism. I tend to gravitate toward the psychologies (beauty) of my subjects and caught Miss Tanyell Quian—the model in focus—taking a mental breather in between walks.” —N.M.
WINNER: Nicole Colvin
“My sister is a teacher in Moore, Oklahoma. Her school is less than one mile from where the massive EF5 tornado barreled through and left a path of destruction on May 20, 2013. My husband and I visited her this summer and saw where this storm literally flattened a community. Among the hardest hit areas was Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven young lives were tragically taken. This picture shows a small section of the fenceline at the site where Plaza Towers Elementary once stood and where visitors have left mementos, American flags, crosses and prayers for the lives lost there.” —N.C.
WINNER: Sean Richardson
“This image was taken off of Lafayette Street in downtown Baton Rouge, and it was a very spontaneous moment. Alex Biglane (pictured) and I wanted to explore, and we came across this construction site with a dark grey fence. Using a gold reflector, we bounced the sunlight into the subject as the key light and let the light fall off into the background. I didn’t want to have anything distracting the viewer from Alex. He gave me this amazing look. When there is trust between the subject and the photographer, you can get amazing results. I think we were able to capture something special.” —S.R.
“Richardson’s portrait is not only technically sound, but it also embodies a great deal of mystery, beauty and emotion. All of these aspects combined have produced an absolutely outstanding and captivating portrait begging for recognition of a job well done.” —Amy Shutt
“Like a shot from a scene of a well-made movie, the viewer is drawn to the subject’s face, to the mystery of his expression, through the careful attention to detail in the eyes, face and mouth. It’s the photo that Amy and I were continuously drawn to throughout the voting process, and it’s a darn good photograph.” —Lawles Bourque
Instagram, Tess Brunet
Landscape, Irene Kato
Portrait, Felicia Braud
Gray by Amy Shutt
amyshuttphotography.com
Alexa by Lawles Bourque
flickr.com/lawlesphotography
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