PhotoMedia salutes the entrants in this spring's World in Focus Photo Contest.
In June of this year, PhotoMedia presented World in Focus, a multifaceted three-day event with an exciting mission: "To promote the awareness of the critical need to preserve and protect the beauty and diversity of our natural world and its cultures through the visual messages of photographers."
The event, held in Seattle, included inspiring seminars with some of the foremost nature, environmental and endangered-cultures photographers in the industry.
At the heart of the event was the World in Focus photography contest, which resulted in an exhibition of the winners' prints at Seattle's Rainier Square from June 1 to July 20. The impressive display was viewed by more than 10,000 spectators.
A total of 324 entrants from the U.S. and Canada submitted more than 1,700 high-quality images that were judged in eight different categories for their originality, creativity, technical proficiency and impact. The categories included Landscape, Wildlife, Plants, Indigenous Cultures, Environmental Issues, Underwater, Urban Wildlife and Creative/Computer-Enhanced.
The contest's illustrious panel of judges included Cathryn Buchanan, an editor at National Geographic for 12 years and currently executive producer with Peel Interactive Media; Carl Gronquist, managing photography editor with Corbis; and Robert Winters, art director of Alaska Airlines magazine.
Sixty-two photographers, with a total of 91 images, were selected for the exhibition. Another 53 photographers were awarded honorable mentions for a total of 98 images. All of the winners were recognized in a special video presentation that was replayed throughout the weekend of the World in Focus seminar series.
On this and the following pages, we present a sampling of images from the exhibit. As you will see, the photos represent a great diversity of subject matter and shooting styles. Category winners and runners-up are noted in red print below the images.
We encourage you to visit the entire collection of images from the print exhibit, along with image details, photographer biographies, contact information and links to their web sites, at worldinfocus.com.
Our heartfelt thanks to the many sponsors who generously supported World in Focus. They are noted at the end of this special section.
