Farming Chocolate wins Doug Boult Award for Photographic Excellence

Cobourg photographer Jeff Gardner received the prestigious Doug Boult Award for Photographic Excellence. The colour image “Farming Chocolate” was determined to be Best in Show at the fourth annual CLIC Photo Show and Sale.

Gardner is a fine art printer inspired by nature and the character of the land. Not unlike the late Doug Boult’s work in later years, Gardner uses a variety of digital techniques to manipulate images to create “photo art”.

Boult and his wife Phyllis retired to Wellington in 1991 where Doug opened a small gallery and taught workshops. He was a long-time member of the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA), serving on the CAPA Board of Directors and making major contributions to the organization over the years. Both a teacher and a mentor, he was appreciated for his passion for the cause of Photography and of CAPA. For many years, he was Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Camera Magazine.

Following his passing in 2005, his family established the Doug Boult Award for Photographic Excellence, to be administered by the Prince Edward County Arts Council. It was first awarded in 2007 at the annual Art in the County Exhibition and Sale, but upon the launch of the then named CLIC Eastern Ontario Photo Show in 2010, the award now finds its permanent home as part of this annual celebration of photography.

Presented by the Prince Edward County Arts Council (PECAC), the CLIC Photo Show was established in 2010 to celebrate photography as an art form and the creative vision of photographers from across Eastern Ontario.

The jurors this year were Marilyn Lightstone, Toronto-based photographer, Genie-award winning actress, artist, author and host of the New Classical 96.3 FM radio host “Nocturne”; Richard Martin, Kingston-based photographer and columnist for Photo Life Magazine; and Graham Davies, Prince Edward County-based photographer, owner of The Bald Photographer Gallery in Cherry Valley and 2011 winner of the Ilford International Photo Competition.

In their remarks, they noted Gardner’s winning image was: “Dramatic, powerful and beautifully executed. The arrangement of lines and shapes immediately establish a rhythmic structure in the composition. The absence of scale allows the viewer to interpret the image on his or her own terms, while lending an abstract quality to the work. A beautiful image.”

The  jurors reviewed more than 300 image entries and chose 92 images by 64 photographers to showcase.

Seventeen photographers were honoured:
BEST IN SHOW & THE DOUG BOULT AWARD FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC EXCELLENCE
Jeff Gardner, Farming Chocolate, Cobourg

ADULT DIVISION, COLOUR CATEGORY
1st Place   Susi Walters, Hens-Switzerland, Napanee
2nd Place   Geoff Noxon, Glade at Midday, Hidden Groves, Ottawa
3rd Place   Gabrielle Holowacz, Window on the Lake, Carrying Place

ADULT DIVISION, BLACK & WHITE CATEGORY
1st Place   Lola Reid Allin, Life, Belleville
2nd Place   Bob Perks, Farmer, Colbourne
3rd Place   Allan Short, Darken Foss, Grafton

STUDENT DIVISION
1st Place   Britney Pasion, Birds in Snow, Frankford
2nd Place   Heather Beach, Child Portrait, Picton
3rd Place   Arionna Scaletta, Freedom to Love, Belleville

HONOURABLE MENTIONS  ADULT DIVISION, COLOUR CATEGORY: David Vaughan, Checker-Mates, Napanee; Mark Hopper, Road to Heaven, Wellington; and Andrea Osborne, Winter of Discontent, Consecon.

Honourable Mentions ADULT DIVISION, BLACK & WHITE CATEGORY: Dave Taylor, Sugar & Snow, Picton; Lola Reid Allin, Waiting for Supper, Belleville; and Raymond Williams, Street Music, Port Hope.

STUDENT DIVISION, HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Noah Redka, Danger, Rossmore; and to Amanda Paulhaus of Carrying Place, for two images, Fallen Flower and Eyes Only.