People

FIRST PLACE ($150)

“Christa” by Ken Penn

Ken Penn is a full-time web designer and graphic designer for Kiawah Development Partners. He is a freelance photographer for Shepard Fairey’s Swindle magazine, based out of Los Angeles, and he’s been photographing AFI lately, along with other small hardcore bands. He met local model “Christa” through a friend. He says he prefers to take pictures of “alternative women” with a different sense of style and tattoos. Judges thought this was an all-around great picture and upon first glance felt like they knew this woman on a personal level. She spoke to them through her smile and her tattoos.

Luis Bisschops of LJ Photography is a professional photographer who travels all around the world capturing life beyond tourist traps. He goes deep into the wooded life of villages, where even his satellite mobile phone can’t be reached, and documents the culture before him. He’s currently in Vietnam doing more of the same, says his wife. This picture was taken somewhere in Southeast Asia, and judges loved the vibrancy of the photo. Bisschops wasn’t just relying on the fact that he was someplace others had never seen, and he created an intense emotion by going beyond the common shot.

HONORABLE MENTION ($50)

“Restaurant Portrait” by Jerry Esch

Jerry Esch took this dinnertime photo of his 10-year-old daughter Anneliese last summer at Manny’s with a Fuji pocket camera he carries around everywhere in case a good picture op should fall in his lap. His shutter victims are his family, and he hopes this picture will make people chuckle. The judges noted the comedic feel of this picture, adding that Esch’s framing of the subject went beyond the typical snapshot by taking special measures to encompass light and both the background and foreground to make the picture pop.

HONORABLE MENTION ($50)

“Man = (Wood x Tired + Vertical)(Water x Hungry + Horizontal)” by Corey Kinsella

Corey Kinsella’s wife urged him to enter this photo into the contest. Photography is only a hobby for Kinsella, and a few months ago he was downtown taking pictures around Waterfront Park when he stopped to talk to some fishermen. He spotted this half-asleep, half-awake stranger sitting by the pier. He took 12 pictures of the man, who inspired him by simply existing. Judges loved the color and focal point of the piece, not just the man, and the feeling of tranquility this composition brings. “You want to be where he is,” says judge Leslie McKellar.