Judging Criteria

First of of all, we would like to thank you for your submissions – we thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the entries.

 

So many excellent entries are submitted to the contest. The voting process unfortunately resulted in the elimination of many good images. The winning photographs you see posted on the site feature a strong combination of the assets we sought in an image.

 

An explanation of our judging criteria – used as a guideline during the voting process – follows.

We sought images that had thoughtful attention to aesthetic; awareness of light as an essential component of image formation, colors, composition,and other elements. We looked for your creativity and “personal vision” in each image. We also required that entries pertained to the contest theme, “Detroit’s Sacred Places”, and were accompanied by an artist statement – which we absolutely delighted in reading!

 

Thank you very much for participating Detroit’s Sacred Places photography contest.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kyohei Abe

 

Fountain at Hart Plaza

Fountain at Hart Plaza,  jejules 

(From Detroit’s Sacred Places Flickr Photo Contest)

This photograph reminded me of Charles Sheeler’s photograph, specifically from a series of River Rouge Plant images which were exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2004. In this series, Sheeler documented Ford Motor Company’s plant at River Rouge (1927). Sheeler captured the beauty and precision of the industrial structures and machinery. What I liked about this image was that Sheeler was able to capture the sacredness through his sensitivity and his deeper observation of the subject matter.
In your photograph I really enjoyed the composition, the format and cropping, which creates a sense of the discovery of a new world. I also liked the use of black and white process in this image – I have always loved the look and feel of black and white photographs. I feel the sacredness because of this image – because the fountain has been photographed, and not necessarily because of where it is. This is a definite collaborative moment between photographer, camera, and subject.
Your image definitely captured the beauty and precision of the sculpture and its reasons or purposes. This image of fountain and water, somehow overlaps with religious place or like a spiritual monument. I love the strong horizontal line dividing the water fall (which acts a bit like a curtain, maybe hiding something very special?) and pavement and also love that blurriness at the front of the image. Those little details create a dynamic photograph.

Thank your for posting your photograph.

Psychological Sacred Place

 tEdGuY49® (From Detroit’s Sacred Places Flickr Group)

To me, this image has more to do with the psychological aspect of what is considered a sacred place. I think the photograph is very interesting and shows a sort of cultural geography. It shows the history of humankind – in relationship to its place and culture.

I also like that the fact this photograph shows both physical and psychological evidence of the human struggle, the successes and failures and in some way shows the beauty that lies beneath the image. The beauty in this photograph appears to be not simply about the surface reality of the situation, but more to do with an inner narrative, when you look more closely, it is as beautiful as it is simply spooky or unsettling.

I really enjoy the style of photography, straight/ face-on/ documentary style to approach the subject. The detail of the image is excellent, peeling paint, broken windows, rusted metals, and winter color earth. The separation between background and subject is very effective. I like that fact that the image was taken with an overcast or foggy sky. This sets not only the mood of the photograph, but also sets the focus and gives the viewer a chance to examine the subject, in this case the house. This style reminds me of series of water tower photographs made by Bernd & Hilla Becher.

I appreciate this kind of sensitivity. Thank you very much for posting this beautiful image!

Kyohei Abe

Work by Kyohei Abe

My name is Kyohei Abe. I grew up in Nagoya City, Japan, but have lived in the U.S for the past 13 years. Taking hints from artists like Max Ernst and Joseph Cornell, I found that I enjoyed toying with the atmosphere in my images, juxtaposing unmatched objects and concepts in building the environments of constructed still-lives. I’m energized and inspired by many different photographers,… I see art-making as an intriguing, satisfying mental process.