The Lucie Foundation International Photography Awards

2012 International Photography Awards Announces Winners of the Competition

The 2012 International Photography Awards received nearly 18,000 submissions from 104 countries across the globe. IPA is a sister-effort of the Lucie Foundation, where the top three winners are announced at the annual Lucie Awards gala ceremony. The Foundation's mission is to honor master photographers, to discover new and emerging talent and to promote the appreciation of photography. Since 2003, IPA has had the privilege and opportunity to acknowledge and recognize contemporary photographer's accomplishments in this specialized and highly visible competition. Visit www.photoawards.com.

I'm very excited to announce that I was awarded in the International Photography Awards Competition for the following:

• Honorable Mention in Architecture - Buildings category for the winning entry"Solitude."
• Honorable Mention in Architecture - Historic category for the winning entry"Solitude."
• Honorable Mention in Architecture - Interior category for the winning entry"Solitude."
• Honorable Mention in Architecture - Other category for the winning entry"Solitude."
• Honorable Mention in Deeper Perspective - Deeper Perspective category for the winning entry "Solitude."

You can view my work and the other winners in the gallery here.

I've been working on an ongoing series, photographing abandoned prisons and mental institutes. Below is the five image series "Solitude" and a companion piece that I submitted to the competition.

Solitude emphasizes the quality of being or living alone.  We are born into this world in a state of solitude and we leave it in the same manner.  From a young age, we are taught to stand on our own two feet regardless of the countless interactions we may encounter through our existence.  What path those two feet lead us down depends on a series of choices that we, alone, make. The juxtaposition of our choices should allow us an unveiled view of the outcome; however, the world in which we live is filled with in betweens and blurred boundaries.  Black and white become grey, light and dark become neutral and right and left become moderate.  Regardless, one choice has to be made and each choice will bear a consequence which we must accept.  In the end, aren’t we simply making choices that somehow further our solitude in one way or another?