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Sam Sargent Award for Excellence
Jonathan Richards, Haverhill, MA
"Bomba"
Cibachrome Print

Bomba is a richly depicted surface of layered posters and ads that says more about the passage of time than a Greek Temple. By choosing a close-up detail, the viewer experiences a journey from one fragment to the next – Each a different moment in time. The monochromatic palette adds to the richness of the surface.
–Ellen Miller

Laura Coombs Hill Award for Excellence
M.J. Benson, Amesbury, MA
"Castellina in Chianti, Italy"
Color Photography

Castellina in Chianti, Italy is a beautiful color photo that captures a sense of place and longing. The viewer is placed in a dark ambiguous interior space that barely opens up to a landscape filled with delicate Tuscan light. The viewer longs to be in that light but can’t quite get there. An exquisite dilemma.
–Ellen Miller

NAA Award for Excellence #1
Sheila Groonell, Exeter, NH
"Nativity"
Toned Silver Print

Nativity is an elegant expression of photography’s potential. Although she chooses real objects, possibly the empty vestments of a priest (belt and robe), their clear linear elegance creates a moving composition, which expresses a faith in the beauty of things.
–Ellen Miller

NAA Award for Excellence #2
Tammy Picone Nohelty, Marblehead, MA
"Red Tide"
Digital Photography

Tammy’s digital image "Red Tide" takes photography to its most painterly level. The image of the lighthouse is bathed in atmospheric light. This is a wonderful example of digital photography’s fluidity.
–Ellen Miller

NAA Award for Excellence #3
Pearl Racette, Newburyport, MA
"Flowing Hands"
B & W Photography

It takes on the challenge of classical figurative black and white. The pearly gray tonality of "Flowing Hands" enhances the elegance and sensuality of this nude. She exists harmoniously in her space both in terms of her position (the elegant angles of her arms and legs) and in terms of her porcelain skin tones. The interior space in the figure becomes beautifully married.
–Ellen Miller

NAA Award for Excellence #4
Robert Currier, Newburypot, MA
"Plum Island Fire"
B & W (Toned) Reversal Print

This reversal print of the Plum Island Polio Camp fire is a haunting image of a modest building disintegrating before our eyes. The tones of the photo are quite subdued. Yet as the smoke and flames overwhelm the image, the image dissolves. One will never think of a fire in quite the same way.
–Ellen Miller

NAA Award for Excellence #5
Paul Cary Goldberg, Rockport, MA
"Parasol with Red Berries"
Iris Print

"Parasol with red berries" beautifully illustrates magical qualities of photography and the surreal possibilities open to photographers through manipulation. A simple yet detailed image of a tattered parasol floating unsupported above a table with a few isolated berries opens up all sorts of questions. How did he do it? What does it mean? And why are we so taken by it?
–Ellen Miller

HONORABLE MENTION AWARD
Eric Smith, Newburyport, MA
"Rainbow Wheel"
Color photograph

This color photograph of a Ferris wheel in motion is a wonderful example of the level of abstraction that can be achieved when photographing the reality of motion. By using time exposure, motion becomes a "thing" …simple, elegant and timeless.
–Ellen Miller

HONORABLE MENTION AWARD
Robert William Streeter, Rockport, MA
"Passages and Obstacles"
B & W Photography

"Passages and Obstacles" says a great deal visually about our journey through life. By layering the negative the viewer is given a sense of time and motion. There is a poetic quality to the image, speaking to the boy’s isolation and connection to the world.
–Ellen Miller

HONORABLE MENTION AWARD
Sue Anne Hodges, West Newbury, MA
"Peppers 2"
Digital Giclee Print

This is a beautiful example of the strength and elegance that can be achieved in Digital Giclee. The pepper forms seem to dance in space. The viewer understands them as a red and green pepper form but we are permitted to enhance them with much more meaning in their isolated state.
–Ellen Miller

Juror’s Award
Marge Motes, Newburyport, MA
"Peugeots"
B & W Sepia Toned

This sepia toned photograph is a marvelous example of the clarity that can be achieved out of chaos. Through subtle shifts of the camera, cropping, and depth of field, the viewer is given an opportunity to view hundreds of bicycles and enjoy the beauty of repeated forms.
–Ellen Miller

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