New Mexico Magazine Annual Photo Contest Winners

Photograph by Grand Prize Winner ©Michael Mudd

New Mexico Magazine and the Eloquent Light Photography Workshops announce the winners of its ninth annual New Mexico Magazine Photo Contest and unveils its new look and new logo in the January 2010 issue, which is now available on newsstands.

“This is the most competitive contest we’ve ever hosted,” said Michael Cerletti, Secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department. “It speaks volumes to the creative talent of residents and fans of New Mexico, as well as the natural beauty of our great state.”

New Mexico Magazine, founded in 1922, is a division of the New Mexico Tourism Department. It was the nation’s first state magazine and is third-largest by circulation.

One grand-prize winner, five category winners and 28 honorable mentions were selected from approximately 1,600 images captured by 345 nonprofessional photographers. Nearly 60 percent of the entries were from New Mexico residents, and the remaining entries represented 24 other states.

The Grand Prize winner is Michael Mudd, a former corporate executive for Kraft Foods, now retired and living in Santa Fe. A photo hobbyist since he was a teenager, Mudd says he took numerous photographic expeditions out West but had never ventured to New Mexico.

“It wasn’t an obvious choice for a new photographer,” Mudd said of New Mexico. “Its beauty is subtler; it takes a different eye to see it. In the last two years, I’ve traveled thousands of miles in New Mexico to photograph and been rewarded every step of the way.”

The judges of the contest said the body of Mudd’s work (primarily vertical landscapes) exhibited a strong depth, consistency and viewpoint. “The best images that I’ve made aren’t a matter of thought,” Mudd said. “They are usually composed quickly and almost completely on instinct. It feels like something magic just happened. If that can happen once or twice in a day, I’m more than happy.”

Joining Mudd in the winner’s circle are Bert Norgorden of Albuquerque (Landmark category), Joe Bridwell of Albuquerque (Landscapes), Judy Sanchez of Lafayette, Colo. (People), Sharon Sperry Bloom of Albuquerque (Wildlife) and Bryant Bullard of Hobbs (Miscellaneous).

Awarded honorable mention were Steven Bundy (Oceanside, Ca.), Steven Jackson (Santa Fe), Michael Murillo (Nambe), Victoria Stamm (Santa Fe) and Patti Zolnick (Santa Fe) in Landmarks; and Paul Basile (Santa Fe), Robert Fugate (Albuquerque), Ana June (Santa Fe), Mike Katona (Halfway, Ore.), Josie Lenwell (Taos), Augustin Lopez (Anaheim, Calif.), and Brad Stamm (Santa Fe) in Landscapes.

Also, Edwin Loyola (Vallejo, Calif.), Sherry McHenry (Atlanta, Ga.), Corey Walker (Nogal), and Robert Lee Williams (Santa Fe) in People; and Keith Bauer (Albuquerque), David Cramer (Placitas), Stephen Dorn (Redrock), and Rance Rogers (Perrysburg, Ohio) in Wildlife.

Also, Sandra Corless (Corrales), Patricia Fallon (Lake Park, Fla.) and Barbara Rosner (Placitas) in Miscellaneous; and Kayla Paulk (Portales), Jeanette Everett (Clovis), John Enslow (Suches, Ga.) and Julian Neri (Albuquerque) in Humor.

Contest judges were Craig Varjabedian (executive director of the Eloquent Light Photography Workshops), Cathy Wright (director of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History), and Fabian West (art director of New Mexico Magazine).

Thanks goes out to the prize sponsors of the contest, Manfrotto Distributing, Lowepro, SanDisk, X-rite, Alien Skin Software, FolioLink, West Coast Imaging, NIK Software, On-One Software, the University of New Mexico Press, the Lodge at Santa Fe and the Eloquent Light Photography Workshops.

For more information and to view the winners of the contest, please click here