See also the BW Gallery and the Color Gallery
2016 Annual Conference Print Competition
Arthur S. Vaughan, HonNEC, Chairman NECCC Print Competition
The annual B&W and Color print competitions were held at the 71st NECCC Conference in Amherst on Saturday, July 16, 2016. A total of 118 Color and 93 Black & White prints were entered. The number of prints submitted was up a bit from last year’s conference totals of 109 Color and 85 B&W. The judging and medal winner selection process took nearly three hours to complete.
Judges for this competition were Larry Cowles (FPSA, GMPSA, EFIAP), Daniel Charbonnet (HonPSA, EPSA, MNEC), and Jacob Mosser (HonPSA, EPSA, HonNEC).
Larry Cowles specializes in human and pet portraiture, plus is a proficient nature photographer. His work has been accepted and shown in 68 countries around the world. Larry is very active in PSA, local camera clubs, and other photographic organizations as a writer, teacher, judge, presenter, and serves in many administrative capacities both locally and nationally.
Daniel Charbonnet is the NECCC 2016 Conference Dedicatee and was a recipient of the PSA President’s Award. He is a Vice President and member of the Board of both NECCC and PSA. In his role as PSA’s exhibition Services Vice President, he’s in charge of International Exhibitions throughout the world that receive patronage from PSA. Dan is a member of the Greater Lynn Potographic Association, a member and past chairman of the Massachusetts Camera Naturalists (CamNats), as well as past chairman of the PSA Nature Division. He holds multiple Star and Galaxie ratings in Color Projected Image, Nature, Photo Travel, and Photojournalism. He’s also a club, interclub, and International Exhibitions judge, and a lecturer / author on all aspects of photography.
Jacob Mosser has earned top honors from the PSA, NECCC, and the Greater Lynn Photographic Association for both his photographic skills and his efforts on behalf of the photographic community. He has been a recipient of the PSA “Stuyvesant Peabody Award” for his significant contributions to pictorial photography and along with his wife Susan, has had a past NECCC Conference dedicated to him. Jake is a member and past Chair of PSA’s Nature Division, and PSA’s Ethics Review Committee, past President and Honorary Life Vice president of GLPA, and is a past President and a current Vice President of NECCC. A multi Galaxie and Diamond Star competitor in International Exhibitions, he has served as a judge and lecturer throughout the USA and Canada, and has had his work published in numerous magazines and calendars.
The judging process to determine which entries went into the “final fifteen group” for medal consideration took just under an hour for both the B&W and Color divisions. An additional hour was spent in selecting the Honor Award and medal winning prints in both categories, with the competition wrapping up at about 3:30 PM. As is common in the later stages of the conference print competition, a great deal of “lively discussion” took place among the judges in determining which prints received the various medals, and all thoroughly enjoyed participating in this event. Their enthusiasm, effort, and willingness to serve on our 71st conference print judging panel is greatly appreciated. The work performed by all the members of the 2016 conference print competition committee is also greatly appreciated. Sharing print room and competition duties this year were Richard Cox, Glenn and Jane Guaraldi, MNEC’s, Susan Hall, Gary and Judi Hoyt, John Lowe, MNEC, Dave Powell, Barbara Soghigian, and Valerie Whittier. Their annual commitment to share the work in the print room makes light work of all the tasks involved in running the conference print competition.
As always, special thanks must go to all the members of the equipment committee who did a first-rate job of getting the Cape Cod Room rigged up for our third year at this great location. Their instant attentiveness to any print room need or staff request is greatly appreciated.
Very much appreciated also are all the folks who took the time to visit the print room and browse through the prints on display, both before, during, and after the competition. One of the benefits of serving on the print room committee and having a space so well suited to the exhibiting of prints (Cape Cod Room), is the opportunity to discuss the work on display with print makers / competition submitters, and conference attendees in general. A great deal of information regarding the entries, print making, mounting, and photographic technique is exchanged at this time, and folks not having entered the print competition, including first-time conference attendees, are encouraged to do so in the future.
Finally, thanks must go to all the folks who made the effort to submit their prints. Without them there is no competition. The entire print operation is totally dependent upon the enthusiastic participation of the conference attendees. It’s gratifiyng to know that each year we can look forward to having our print racks filled with more than enough entries to challenge our judges and provide a meaningful exhibition experience for competition participants and visitors to the conference.
