WINNING IMAGES 2021
Flash in time
Local photographers capture milliseconds of life from behind the lens BY CAMILLIA LANHAM
P
ictures encapsulate a moment, a look, a perspective, without using words. Photographs are as different as the attitude of the person who took them. They seize on an instant in time and keep it forever, just as it was—faces, light, and landscape. Since 1994, New Times Media Group has invited local photographers to show us life from their point of view in our annual Winning Images contest. This year, because of COVID-19, we once again conducted an all-digital contest and received more than 475 photos. Our judges narrowed them down to three winners each in eight categories, plus
eight honorable mentions. Every entry also came in with a $10 fee, which will be rolled back into prize money for the winners, who also receive awards from the contest’s sponsors. While you can see the winning images from 2021 on the following pages, you can also view them in Paso Robles through July 24 at Studios on the Park, 1130 Pine St., from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. ∆ Contact Editor Camillia Lanham at clanham@newtimesslo.com.
Judges PHOTO COURTESY OF BRITTANY APP
Brittany App is a local photographer, filmmaker, voice artist, and self-proclaimed shepherdess-in-training. She grew up in Los Osos and now lives off the grid on the vast Carrizo Plain with her rescue-dog, Luna; 13 lucky ducks; and a rag-tag wooly crew of sheep and alpacas. Her first feature-length documentary film, titled Where There Once Was Water, is currently touring the 2021 film festival circuit. She ruminates to the beat of Mary Oliver these days: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do … With your one wild and precious life?”
San Luis Obispo native and perennial Winning Images judge Peggy Mesler is a photographer and the owner of The Photo Shop in SLO, where she shares her appreciation for—and knowledge of— photography with customers, clients, and friends. Peggy graduated with a journalism degree from Cal Poly, and she opened her shop in 1995.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PEGGY MESLER
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SECREST
Stephanie Secrest has a master’s degree in photojournalism from Ohio University. She’s been a freelancer for more 15 years and was with the press for 21 years before that. Stephanie was invited to attend the exclusive Eddie Adams Workshop, a top honor for photojournalists. She was also a pre-qualification judge for Adobe with its ADAA contest. She’s been published in Newsday, The London Sunday News Magazine, The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, and San Francisco Chronicle among others and was chief photographer and photo editor for two newspapers. ∆