Winners announced in 9th Big Click

Published 8:34 am Sunday, December 6, 2015

The ninth annual Big Click photography contest has chosen the top three winners out of 35 photographs entered.

This year, Emily Gomez, associate professor of art and photography at Georgia College and a practicing visual artist, judged the entries. Gomez is a seasoned photography judge, having been the deciding vote in competitions at the Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton and the photography contest at the Georgia National Fair in Perry.

“There are a lot of different elements,” Gomez said. “The initial view usually has to do with lights and shadow and composition. Those are the things that initially draw me into the photographs.”

Gomez said that while judging a diverse group of work, such as what is found at competitions, she separates the works into different categories.

“It’s kind of the classic subject matter for art — such as portrait, landscape, nighttime photograph, nature, abstraction,” Gomez said.

Aside from the three overall winners, Gomez awarded six honorable mentions, which she said were the best of each category she separated the works into.

The first place winner is Lisa Wheeler for her photo “Dock at the Dawn.”

“The first place photograph showed the photographer’s mastery or exposure, composition and light in addition to excellent print quality,” Gomez said.

Wheeler said she took that particular photo two to three years ago at Kilkenny Marina in Richmond Hill.

“I take lots and lots of photos, and I just finally got around to printing that one,” Wheeler said. “The other two I entered were more recent — one in September and one in spring.”

Wheeler said she enters many contests, and much of the work she does is for the group Abandoned Rural America, which is an art group dedicated to the subject matter of abandoned farms and farmhouses.

“I always say the money’s nice, but recognition means that the judges saw something there,” Wheeler said of winning the competition. “Even an honorable mention, they (judges) had to recognize it as worthwhile, that it’s good art.”

Wheeler said that although she has entered many contests, including the contest at the Georgia National Fair every year, she mostly wins honorable mention.

Wheeler said she is a semi-professional artist, and she will have an Allied Arts exhibit showing in February 2016.

In second place is Cathy Dyer for her photo “Ain’t Love Grand.”

“The second place photograph presented a well-balanced, sharp and detailed image as well as noticeable patience on the part of the photographer, who waited for the correct moment to press the shutter,” Gomez said.

The third place winner this year is Janet Callaway for her picture “Country Bouquet.”

“The third place entry presented careful composition, good use of color, texture and visual weight within the frame,” Gomez said.

Callaway said she took the photograph on the porch of her house.

“My youngest daughter and I, when we have a rough time, buy a bouquet of flowers to make us feel good,” Callaway said. “We arranged them on the table and took a few pictures of them.”

Callaway said she’s been taking photos since she was a young girl, starting with a Barbie camera. Now, however, she uses a Cannon 70V, which she said takes seven pictures a second.

“I’ve been taking football and basketball pictures for the school (Baldwin High School) with it,” Callaway said. “I volunteer there.”

Callaway said she decided to enter Big Click again this year because she blew up the photos of the bouquet at work and saw the shots in closer detail.

“I saw how pretty they looked, so I had them professionally framed and entered again this year,” Callaway said. “I don’t know why I decided to enter — maybe because my father was sick, and he was the one who always encouraged me to do stuff like this.”

Callaway said she has entered Big Click as well as another competition where photographs are allowed, but this is the first time she’s won. This year is the first time she entered a photography contest since a Big Click contest held five years ago. This year she decided to enter two photographs, and her flower bouquet picture she took five months ago netted a third place finish for her.

“I’m so proud,” Callaway said. “I’ll definitely enter next year.”

Gomez said all of the entries were very good.

“I was happy to see what people are making in the area. It is interesting to see what the local flavor is, what people are looking at and what people are interested in, so it was fun for me to judge,” she said.

“Big Click started because there were so many photography entries in our annual Oconee Artist Exhibition,” said Brian Renko, program coordinator at Allied Arts. “The exhibit started to be taken over by photography, so we added a photography exhibit. We added Big Click to our exhibit schedule to satisfy the need and demand for local photographers to be able to display their work.”

Big Click is open to all professional and amateur photographers. The $20 entry fee allows an artist to display three photographs. Now in its ninth year, Big Click drew 35 photographs from 13 area artists, all of which are on display at the Marlor House, 201 N. Wayne St.

The Friends of Allied Arts and the Milledgeville Civic Woman’s Club will hold an opening reception to honor the artists from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Marlor House. The public is welcome to meet and greet with the artists and view the Big Click entries.

All of the entries will be on display at the Marlor House until Jan. 8, 2016. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is no entry fee to view the gallery.