Wilbur the pig, played by senior Anna Wright, grasps for freedom from the Zimmerman’s oven during her performance in “Charlotte’s Web.” This was Wright’s favorite moment in the play. “I’m picturing running from an intruder or just like a monster,” Wright says about what goes through her head during the scene. “Theater is important to me because it is a way to get a bunch of people with nothing to do in common in the same room to laugh together, to cry together, and teach moral lessons right in front of their eyes. And it’s really fun.” (Sophie Hegyi, Liberty-Talon)
Judge’s Comments: The intensity in this image is fantastic. While the viewer might not know what the plot of this performance is, it does not detract from the emotion that is captured. The photographer’s image has a clear focus and exposure, and despite the main subject being centered in the picture, the framing does a nice job of capturing the performers in the background in a clean and non-distracting way. The caption gives the performer a voice and clarifies the picture as well.
Second Place: Alex Porter, Richland R1-The Rebel
Country music star Zach Bryan strums his guitar and sings as snow falls in the open-air stadium while singing “Open The Gate” at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Morrison, CO. The tour stop was Bryan’s last tour stop of 2022 and fans that braved the nearly 20-degree temperatures received close to two hours of Bryan on stage instead of his normal 45-minute set. Bryan already has tour stops in Texas, Illinois, and Alabama scheduled for the summer of 2023. (Alex Porter, Richland R1-The Rebel)
Judge’s Comments: The clarity in this image is so clear you can see the dust swirling around on the stage. The photographer also did a great job of placing themselves so that they had a clear angle of the stage so nothing is cut off in their framing. Though it makes sense that they couldn’t get a quote from the subject for their caption, they did a wonderful job of providing plenty of information to elaborate on the image’s context.
Third Place: Olivia Hager, Webster Groves-Echo Yearbook
Mia Willis, junior, putting on her wig and makeup as Sandy for the first run of the fall musical, “Grease”. When asked about how she felt the first night she told us, “… I really wanted to meet people’s expectations and I want to do a really good job and I’m like, really competitive. I wanted to be the best person on stage”. She went on to tell us about how glad she was to be able to participate in this and the relationships she got out of it. (Olivia Hager, Webster Groves-Echo Yearbook)
Judge’s Comments: With fall plays happening, many school publications will have an actor preparation photo printed somewhere, but this photographer did a great job of thinking of a different angle by shooting through the subject’s body position in order to frame their reflection. It adds nice depth to the image without losing any action or emotion. With this tight of an angle, there is also nothing else in the frame to distract from this one actor’s preparation, which can happen a lot in busy dressing rooms.
Junior Anastasia Jensen, playing Morticia, and junior Felix Reeder, playing Gomez, perform a salsa dance in the fall musical "The Addams Family." The crowd burst into laughs after seeing Jenson dip Reeder at the end of the dance. "This was such a fun experience, and being able to play Morticia was a dream of mine," Jensen said.
