Winning Images 2004

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The ballots are in and the decisions have been made. We have a new leader,
and his name is Forrest L. Doud. The winner of the Best of Show award for the
Winning Images photo contest was a dark-horse candidate that emerged out of the
pack to take the top honor.

Each year hundreds of photographers who live in this county take thousands of
pictures for work, pleasure, or both. The readers of New Times reap the benefit
of seeing the very best of these images in our annual photo issue, Winning
Images. Every back road, alley, field, beach, animal, vineyard, and person is
fair game when it comes to these image-makers. We are allowed and honored to see
who and what creates the magic of the Central Coast. From the hills of Shandon
and San Miguel to the bluffs of Nipomo, photographers have been capturing
photographs of our place, of our time, or more simply put — us.

Selected from among the first-place winners of each category, the best of
show was unanimously picked by the judges.

We started a new tradition this year of inviting the best of show winner of
the previous year to be a judge for the next year’s contest. Barry Goyette
filled that role admirably, and, along with two other judges, pored over 472
entries. As for the other judges, we brought in some outside experts.

John Tonai teaches still photography at the world famous Brooks Institute of
Photography in Santa Barbara. John holds an M.F.A from the University of
Minnesota, an M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado, and a B.A. from the
University of Sioux Falls.

Barbara Parmet, from Santa Barbara, holds a master’s degree in journalism
from the University of Missouri and has been a fine-art photographer for over 20
years with numerous exhibitions to her credit around the world.

As usual our favorite sponsors are still involved. First Bank’s Business
Development Representative Ligia Vargas states, “We love to support our local
community by getting involved … it’s amazing how many talented photographers
enter the contest … it must be a very hard decision for the judges.�

New Times is also pleased to welcome as a sponsor local ad agency AdMinds,
run by Finney Smith. When asked why he decided to be a sponsor this year rather
than a participant, Smith responded, “All of us at AdMinds want to support and
promote the local arts community. We want to let folks know about our
large-format printing services for photographers and other visual artists in the
area. Our goal is to integrate art into commerce.� ³

Christopher Gardner was the coordinator of the event, not a judge, so don’t
whine to him.

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This article appears in Nov 11-18, 2004.