The road to pursuing his dreams hasn’t been easy for Photography student Carlos Santana but, as he embarks on graduation with multiple awards from his program’s end-of-year celebration, he believes it’s all been worthwhile.
Santana was recently declared the winner of Portfolio of the Year, the Architectural Award, and the Tym Hrycusko Memorial Trophy as part of the 10th annual Photography Awards. The achievement has been tremendously meaningful to Santana. He recalled how he took a giant leap when he left his country, friends, traditions in his homeland of Bogota, Colombia to begin a new life in Canada – with his wife and children in tow – to study at NC.
“As an international student, the amount of effort and sacrifice is huge. I am not implying that it is bigger than the locals but it is different,” said Santana, who is currently living in Thorold. “Nothing in life will give you more sense of pride and accomplishment than taking a leap, a real risky leap like mine, and see that everything is going in the right direction, is worth it.”
Santana is just one of many students whose works were celebrated as part of the 10th annual Photography Awards. The special milestone marked the first time the awards have been celebrated with a virtual launch on April 22 at photoawards2020.com/.
Professor and program coordinator Stephen Dominick noted that the Photography awards show is a highly anticipated event for students that recognizes exceptional creativity, technical excellence and professional industry standards in photography. That’s why not even campus closure due to COVID-19 pandemic could shutter the annual awards celebration.
“They motivate our students to push themselves and strive to produce the best work they can in a highly competitive and amicable teaching/learning environment,” said Dominick. “It was extremely important for us to continue the annual tradition of these awards since students begin working on their entries many months beforehand.”
This year’s awards reflect submissions from about 40 first-year and 20 second-year students. In addition to a series of photography award announcements, it includes a SickPix competition for all students with work in portrait, splash, still life and street photography for first-year students; as well as commercial, portrait, food, fine art, photocomposition and stop-motion photography for second-year students.
The site showcases portfolio projects from second-year students. These images represent a culmination of their Portfolio Project course, where students work with their professor one-on-one, to create a well-edited series of 10 photographs, which reflect their interests and passions.
Santana valued the opportunity he had to build his portfolio as a ‘visual cover letter’ which will be used as his secret weapon in a challenging job market.
Carlos Santana’s Portfolio project won Portfolio of the Year.
“After two intense years, I am ready to go into the real world with the abilities and competencies to face the market with a really good chance to succeed,” said Santana.
First-year student Terry Rotella, who captured the Associate Dan’s Award of Excellence as well multiple awards in the SickPix competition – including first place in the Still Life category, second place in the Portrait category, and third place in the Street category – applauded the virtual awards as a way to celebrate the works of her tight-knit ‘photography family’ at the College.
“We were all looking forward to the end of year gala and, of course it’s disappointing that it’s not happening this year. However, our instructors did an amazing job of putting together a website to showcase everyone’s work,” said Rotella. “I’m honoured to win these awards and so grateful to my instructors who taught us so much in such a short period of time.”
The Niagara Falls resident was a full-time teacher and after retiring, she decided to enrol in the program and further develop her passion for photography as a possible future career.
Terry Rotella’s photo wins first place in the Still Life category.
“I love photography because it’s a way to share those things that strike you as remarkable – maybe it’s a person’s expression or the geometry of a building or the way shadows fall,” she said. “Photographic images preserve the ephemeral and can communicate in a way that has far more impact than words.”
Judges included Oliver Hannak (program alumnus now working in Europe), Ashley Senja (program alumnae now working in Toronto), Robert Bagliolid (president of Bell Arte Camera), Ciaran Murray (visual arts teacher at Dennis Morris High School), and Moe Labade (technical representative at Nikon Canada).
Dominick noted that the website which was designed by multimedia and photo editing professor Max Kaiser, with input from all Photography program faculty, including Dominick, Grace Smith, Jerry Zolner and Roberto Acosta.
Winners include
Associate Dean’s Award of Excellence: Terry Rotella
Architectural Award: Carlos Santana
Vanessa Bassett-Bradley ‘Big Heart’ Award: Shu-Tuan (Jack) Hsu
Tym Hrycusko Memorial Trophy: Carlos Santana
Portfolio of the Year: Carlos Santana
For a full list, visit photoawards2020.com/.
Congratulations to all who participated in SickPix 2020!
