Point of View

Winners of SAAC Viewfinder photo contest announced

The South Arkansas Arts Center announced the winners of the bi-annual photography exhibition during an artists' awards reception Friday.

Steven Ochs, professor of art at Southern Arkansas University, served as judge and presented each winner with a cash prize.

"You never know how to judge because you don't know what to expect, you don't know who people are, you don't know what they're interested in, where do they come from and why do they take photos," Ochs said.

Ochs said it will sometimes take him two to three hours to judge photographs, and usually a theme will develop.

That being said, Best of Show was one he could decide on quickly — Paul Waschka's "Flamingo Shine."

"This is a crazy feast for the eyes and the mind." Steven Ochs, judge

"This is a crazy feast for the eyes and the mind," Ochs said in the juror's statement for the competition. "Nature, figures, objects and architecture are all swirled together in vivid colors where geometry melts in a fury."

Ochs said during the awards ceremony that the longer someone looks at the photo, the more the images shown in it begin to morph and turn into things that aren't really there.

Ochs has been in photography for 40 years, and as someone who teaches a photography course, said he's always looking for something different and something that excites him.

He said he wants to see something in a way he hasn't seen it before and appreciates being able to look at the world through photographers' eyes.

"Just bending your knees or taking a step to the left or right, it changes our perspective and we understand a subject when we see it from so many multiple perspectives," he said.

"The Viewfinder" exhibition hosted about 63 photographs by about 40 photographers and showcased nature, landscapes and people.

The exhibit will be open to the public through Feb. 27. Viewing hours for the Price and Merkle galleries are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call the SAAC office at 870862-5474 or visit www. saac-arts.org

The winners revealed Friday are as follows:

Honorable Mention:

• "Hollow Ground" by Ray Scott

• "The Wait" by Abel Oliver

• "First Kiss" by Scott Brown

Third Place:

• "Jasper Wild" by Taylor Thomas

Second Place:

• "Bubbles" by Brianna Craig

First Place:

• "Pear Leaves" by Randy Harbour

Best of Show

• "Flamingo Shine" by Paul Waschka

Siandhara Bonnet / News-Times SHINE: Steven Ochs, professor of art at Southern Arkansas University, talks about Paul Waschka's "Flamingo Shine" during the South Arkansas Arts Center's Viewfinder artists' awards reception Feb. 21. The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 27.

Siandhara Bonnet / News-Times Winners: The winners and judge of South Arkansas Arts Center's "The Viewfinder" bi-annual photo contest (from left) Scott Brown, Taylor Thomas, judge Steven Ochs, Randy Harbour, Paul Waschka and Abel Oliver.