A treat for the creatives

38th annual Photo Salon offers prizes to contestants

the candle.

SALVADOR FARIAZ Assistant Sports Editor @s_fariaz

The back of the library was filled to capacity with creativity and beauty as Pierce College hosted the opening night of the 38th annual Photo Salon on Thursday, May 14.

The winners of the Photo Salon were confirmed Monday night on May 18.

Photographer Brynn Bromley won the award of best in show. Her photograph was a close-up of a girl with yellow paint streaking down her face.

There were 47 photographs entered into the competition. The salon started at 6 p.m. and two judges were present to submit their picks for awards.

“The first thing I always look for is what catches my eye,” said Gil Riego Jr., a Pierce alumnus and one of the judges for this year’s competition. “I do a quick glance to see what stands out, and from then on I try to judge on creativity and sharpness depending on the type of photo.”

Best photojournalism photo was awarded to Mohammad Djauhari, the photo editor for the Roundup news.

The photograph was captured in Downtown LA where a protest took place after the death of Mike Brown.

“I was at the right place at the right time,” Djuhari said. “I see the Photo Salon every year and we have a lot of good photographers here. It’s nice to see my work hanging up next to them.”

Other winners included best landscape taken by Ernesto Delgado Vides. Second place for that category went to Giovanni De Lcon who captured a star-filled night.

Best creative photo was won by Carolyn Arrendondo. Her photo illustration was of a person walking through a mist appearing to walk on top of telephone lines.

Ellie Kuo is a photographer at Pierce College and she took synchronized perfectly.

The two often played closer to the middle, touching elbows as a way of maintaining position, and the sight and sound of it gave the listener the impression they were actually one in both mind and body.

The final piece of the performance was Libertango, a contemporary tango written by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla in 1974.

The piece was fast and loud, with a somehow mysterious tone that would break into erratic intensity, speeding up and slowing down throughout. Garvey and Hu took the chance to show off during the piece by standing and switching seats repeatedly, taking turns playing the high notes which took lead in the piece.

Hu said the program took them months of practice to be able to play so fluidly.

“We’ve been working on the program for about six months and we’ve played it several times at different places in L.A.,” she said. “With every performance we find new things to work on, so it’s sort of an endless process.”

The last piece, Libertango, was particularly well received by audience member Donna Hemans.

“I liked all of it, but the first piece and the last -- the last was exceptional, really I just loved it,” said Hemans, a music major. “The swiftness in her [Hu’s] fingers, just wonderful. I think they made a good combination together.” first place in best studio photo. She said she was pleased at how the nude portraits came out and thought the model’s expression gave a lot to the photo.

The next Thursday Concert will feature a performance entitled Music for Strings, and will be held on May 21, at 12:45 p.m. in the Performing Arts Building.

Second place in that category was awarded to Lynn Levitt.

Pamela Houghton is a Pierce student and had two photographs displayed in the salon. One of her photos depicted two women and a young girl gathered around a birthday candle. The adults were showing the child how to blow out

“One of the reasons I took this photo is because it felt like such a special moment between the three of them,” Houghton said.

Another photography student at Pierce, Ross Leone, explained how his silhouette picture came to be.

“It was spontaneous. It was my first time at the Griffith Observatory and I ended up shooting this photo,” Leone said. “I didn’t use flash. I’m into silhouettes, like having a person in the picture but not necessarily a face all the time. I think when a person is in a photo, it always make the photo better.”

Many of the photographers who had their work on display had been taking pictures for less than a year.

Photography instructor

Rita Nisan said you don’t need expensive equipment to be a good photographer.

“I believe what makes a photographer is not a camera. It’s the way you look at something,” Nisan said.

The Photo Salon is scheduled to go on until May 29, and until then more judges will be observing the art and submitting their votes.

There were many good photographs to choose from that night, according to Sean McDonald, an instructor in the media arts department. He said he had no idea which ones would win at the time.

“I couldn’t even guess at this point,” McDonald said.