jay hoppenstein

This is his first time entering a State Fair contest, but Jay Hoppenstein is no stranger to photography competitions. He’s a member of the Dallas Camera Club and has placed in several of the organization’s monthly contests.

Hoppenstein, a 72-year-old retired Presbyterian Hospital surgeon, has been toting around a camera since he was a teenager.

“I’d say I’m a serious amateur,” he says.

The State Fair photography contests require that the photos be of Texas subjects and taken within the last 18 months. Hoppenstein entered two photos — one color photo of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge at sunrise, which received an honorable mention, and a black-and-white of a World War II veteran and his grandson aboard the USS Battleship Texas. He’s particularly proud of that image, and the judges seemed to like it, too, awarding him first place in the photo contest.

“It’s more journalistic,” he says. “It’s not manipulated. We’d been on the ship for about an hour, touring and taking photos. Most of the other visitors on board were just getting in our way.”

Then he came upon the scene of the veteran who was holding his young grandson up to look through the viewfinder of the ship’s gun.

“It was just a wonderful moment,” Hoppenstein says.

Does Your Lawn Look Like This? Does Your Lawn Look Like This?

Didn’t think so. Didn’t think so.