This year’s Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library photo contest drew an eclectic mix of images. Jenny Greene, adult services librarian and coordinator of the annual photo contest, thinks the variety is result of the theme “Public Places, Sacred Spaces.”
“What strikes me about the photos people submitted is that they prove that just about any place can hold a special, sacred meaning for someone,” says Greene. “Our winning photos include landscapes, city scapes, and buildings.”
A case in point is the winning photo, “Indoor Skeeball Range and Amusement Center” by Mike Cargile. The image, says Cargile, is important to him because it captures the wonder and excitement his grandchildren experience when he takes them to amusement park arcades, places they love. “I also became fascinated with the lights and the textures all around you when you’re in these places,” he says. “It’s hard to capture that look, a flash won’t really work, so I was thrilled the photo came out so well. It looks more like a painting than a photograph.”
Cargile says he is glad the Heights Libraries’s contest attracts so many photographers, especially in an age where so many people are using cell phones to take photographs instead of learning the art and craft of more traditional photography.
The Heights Libraries photo contest is an annual event co-sponsored by University Heights business Motophoto, which provides the contest prizes. Ten final photos, chosen by library and Motophoto staff from 48 submissions, were displayed at each branch of Heights Libraries for a week throughout November so members of the community could vote for their favorites. A total of 820 votes were cast resulting in the following five winners:
First Place: Mike Cargile, “Indoor Skee Ball Range and Amusement Center”
Second Place: Scott Pollock, “Kiva at Mesa Verde, CO”
Third Place: Scott Pollock, “Redwood Grove at Armstrong Redwoods Park, CA”
Fourth Place: Eric Silverman, “Pylon and Progressive”
Fifth Place: Ed Becker, “Going to the Sun”
The winning photos are on display at http://heightslibrary.org/page/photo_contest_winners.
