What makes a photo a prize winner?

[halesr]

I too love Ulesmann and he does the manipulation in the darkroom with multiple enlargers. BUT, I also love his wife's work. Maggie Taylor uses a scanner (for some it would not be a photography) since it is not the traditional camera. Check out her work at http://www.maggietaylor.com/. She uses multiple images and PHOTOSHOP.

I think the term photography has something to do with writing with light. [A definition that is somewhat broad == Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light. It involves recording light patterns, as reflected from objects, onto a sensitive medium through a timed exposure. The process is done through mechanical, chemical or digital devices commonly known as cameras.]

So, perhaps a scanner does qualify. It seems to me that even a "PURE" photo through the lens with NO correction in the darkroom (Ansel Adams did a lot of processing in the darkroom) OR the computer still has an element of "manipulation". Whoever shot the image, selectively (on most occasions, as there are some photos where you don't focus, and you just shoot and see what you get) chooses what to include or as importantly what not to keep in the frame. I don't think that the artist/photographer is not a part of the process.

An interesting quotation, "We do not see things as they are; we see them as we are." Anais Nin I think our photos/images reflect who and what we are as much as the "reality" of what is in the veiw finder or on the LCD when we snap the shutter. Or, in my case what is on the scanner bed.

I agree with others, for juried art shows, ART or prize winners are in the eye of the judge. You can submit the same photo to multiple judges and sometimes they will be deemed a WINNER and at other times the same image will not even make the cut to get into the show. So, art is also in the eye of the judge and commercially, art is in the eye of they buyer or the eye of your reputation as a good buy that will appreciate overtime.

Sorry, I think I got to rambling here, but it is quite and interesting topic.--Rene