By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
More than 150 photographs will be displayed starting Friday as a part of the 34th annual Five State Photography Exhibition at the Hays Art Council.
The exhibition is the anchor of the this year’s Winter Art Walk, which will run from 7 to 9 p.m.
Artists entered 352 photographs that were narrowed to 154 final pieces for the exhibit. Brenda Meder, council director, said the council takes a unique approach to juroring the exhibit. All of the submitted photographs are displayed at the art center and John Finch, this year’s juror, removed pieces from the exhibit until there were as many images left as would fit on the art center’s walls.
Finch is a longtime photographer, who has retired from his studio to focus on wildlife photography.
“It is multi-faceted, rich and diverse as it every has been,” Meder said, “so I am thrilled at what we ended up with.”
There were three categories of entries: nature, people and open. Cash awards were given for the top pieces in each category. Another 12 pieces were honored with non-cash juror’s merit recognition awards.
Those artists selected for the show represent all five states that the competition draws from. It includes both photographers as young as high school to seasoned professionals. The range in the art itself also is quite diverse.
“It is about an artist’s style. Some artists’ styles are more representational and realistic and maybe more illustrative or detailed. That might be their style,” Meder said. “This is an art exhibition. It is just the medium is photography. Some people look at that and say, ‘Is that really a photograph?’ Its basis is in photography. Photography is light writing.”
Meder said there are pieces in the exhibition that don’t look anything like a traditional photograph.
“This is an art exhibit where the medium of artistic presentation happens to be photography,” she said.
She added this show pushes the boundaries of photography.
“Photography can be a respected, creative art form,” she said. “It is not just about the technical and I went someplace and caught a real cool thing on my 15-megapixel camera. What did you do with it? What was your point of view? What is your unique perspective that is different from what someone else’s would have been if they had standing there next to you with their 15-megapixel camera phone?”
There will be many other offerings for the Art Walk on Friday night.
Lauren Wright will have her own photography exhibit at the Hays Public Library. In addition, Sean Conroy will sign copies of his book, “Through the Eyes of a Young Physician Assistant” in the lobby, and Schu’s Crew Daycare will have a children’s art exhibition on the second floor.
The Niche will host the creation of a community mural on canvas.
There will be a variety of opportunities to listen to music downtown Friday night. The Hays Community Theater will have music by the Ellis Junior Honor Choir. There will be a Christmas tree lighting and caroling at the Union Pacific Plaza from 5 to 7 p.m. The Ellis County Historical Society will host the Crossroads choir and Wayne and Tammy Lang as a part of its Merry Christmas Memories from the Fifties. Finally “Broken Root” will perform American folk music from 9 to 11 p.m. at Gella’s Diner.
A complete schedule of events is below.