It was a tight competition with many excellent entries but, in the end, only one photograph could be crowned winner of the first Stone Quarry Hill Art Park / Cazenovia Republican photo contest, “Casting Shadows: Sculptures and Spring.”
The rules of the photo contest were to take original photographs inside the art park that capture the sculptures, their shadows and the essence of spring. Judges for the contest will be Art Park Director Emily Zaengle, Republican editor Jason Emerson and local professional photographer Gene Gissin. Entries were judged on how well they adhere to the contest theme, and general impressiveness. None of the photos were cropped or edited in any way by the judges.
The first place prize goes to Stephanie Hook, whose photo incorporated two sculptures by Rodger Mack, “Jazz Diz” and “Jazz Getz.” Stephanie wins a free individual membership to the Art Park, an Art Park mug and two tickets to Enchanted Forest Water Safari.
The judges felt that Stephanie’s photo was a good representation of the art park in general — showing both sculptures and people in the park — and also captured an excellent juxtaposition of light and shadow with the foreshadowing of the sculpture in the foreground of the picture and the shaded action of the people taking a photograph near a second sculpture in the background.
Second place goes to April Narsasian, of Chittenango, whose photo incorporated the sculpture “Pond Bridge” by Alastair Noble. April wins two free day passes to the art park.
The judges felt April’s picture made a bold statement as to what a shadow is, with the sun glare at the top of the frame and the dark, almost mirror-like shadow projecting forward from the sculpture. Its simplicity was elegant and powerful.
Two honorable mentions also were given out by the judges for the contest to photos by Jenna Steinberg and Ava Carmeli.
The judges felt Steinberg’s photo was of an interesting subject matter that incorporated excellent shadows — including the shadow of the photographer — that was a fun and dynamic piece of work. Carmeli’s photo, the judges felt, contained an excellent play of color and light, both in and out of focus, and that it captured an impressive texture of the photo subjects between the tree bark and the soft leaf petals. Overall, it was a unique perspective.
The contest received a total of 24 entries from seven photographers. In addition to the four mentioned above, entries were also submitted by Dana Carmeli, Paige Everson and Zoe Curtis.
“I was very impressed by the quality and the number of submissions we received,” said Zaengle.
“For our first outing we received a very respectable response,” said Gissin. “We look forward to doing more contests in the future.”
All four of the honored photographs will also be published on the Cazenovia Republican website and Facebook page for online viewing. Go to cazenovierepublican.com and Facebook.com/cazrepublican.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
