I have a few, some truly deserved.
The first award I won was Runner-up in KSON’s Dirty Picture Contest. KSON was (and may still be) a Country station in San Diego. The title sounds much better than reality. The contest was to take photos of trash or pollution around town. I’ll have to see if I can find the negative or a print. It was a photo of a pile of trash behind a movie theater in Mission Valley. I won a Kodak Instamatic Camera Kit. Meh…
San Diego Museum of Art Invitational
The Back Story…
This was an image I made in my bedroom when I was in High School. I gathered the fruit, our paring knife, and a cutting board. I used my Mamiya C33 Twin Lens Reflex and a flash unit on the right side of the camera. It was selected for a monthly show at The San Diego Art Institute. Someone from the San Diego Museum of Art, located across the street (in Balboa Park), saw the image and asked the director if I was interested in having this photo in their Annual Invitational Art Show. I said yes. I do not recall if I had titled this image. I was surprised then, as I still am today, that this image was selected. I don’t think it is that great a photo.
Color Print of the Year
Felt Pen Meets Photograph
The Back Story…
I was experimenting with a fine tip Sharpie® to outline details on a few photos. The FWCC was not picky about what year submissions were taken. I submitted this to one of the monthly competitions and won a Blue Ribbon, which automatically entered it into the year-end competition. The judge that year was Maryanne Fitipaldi, a local commercial photographer. Maryanne selected this image for Color Print of the Year.
Color Print of the Year
Violin Image Transfer
The Back Story
I talked about Polaroid Image transfers in another post, so I’ll won’t repeat the process here. Just like the image above, this was entered into a monthly competition, and it was also awarded a Blue Ribbon. Maryanne awarded it Studio Print of the Year. If I recall, the club president at the time said that the judging was blind, Maryanne did not know who produced the submissions, the other officers backed up his statement. The reason is that I worked as an assistant for Maryanne.
The Courage Award
The Courage Award
The Back Story
I really don’t know what “Courage” it took to make this image… I went to Spain in 20XX. I started in Barcelona, spent one night in Madrid, and did a day trip to Bilbao to go to the Guggenheim. What an amazing building. MORE TO COME…
The Frame Award
Yearbook Moment Award
Frame & Yearbook Moment Award
The Back Story
I have a very eclectic artistic sense. I see things and think of how I can use them. I love yard sales. I found a mannequin torso. I call it a Wōmannequin… It was black and came with an expensive bracket. I painted it more of a beige, because I wanted the contrast in colors for different places I had in mind to use it as a prop or subject.
My photographer buddy, Doug, visited and posed with
Original Wōmannequin
Doug posing with
The Conteder Award…
Monsoon Clouds
The Back Story
I talk about this image and my modified Olympus camera, which I had modified to produce infrared images.