City announces photo contest winners
The art gallery in the new city hall will soon be decorated with some of the best photographs the residents of Vestavia Hills have to offer.
The city announced the winners of its "A Life Above" photo contest yesterday. Out of over 70 eligible submissions, the following photographers took the top prizes:
- Professional category: 1st Place - David Leong, "Pizitz Cheerleaders on Golf Course;" 2nd Place - Ken Gables, "Reese Field."
- Adult category: 1st Place - Larry Durham, "Sibyl Temple in a Cloud of Hydrangeas;" 2nd Place - Alan Bates, "View from the Sky."
- Student category: 1st Place - Arjun Lakhanpal, "Future of Vestavia Hills;" 2nd Place - Elizabeth Nance, "Color Me Relay."
The winners were chosen by a team of judges including two professional photographers, Mayor Butch Zaragoza, City Manager Jeff Downes, Cindy Bartlett of the Beautification Board and Ashley Handley, who represented the Williams Blackstock interior design team at work in the new city hall.
The first place winners each took home cash prizes funded by an Alabama Tourism Department grant: $300 for Leong, $150 for Durham and $50 for Lakhanpal. Gables received a $100 gift certificate to Kwik Kopy for his second place finish, and Bates' photograph will be featured at Artists Incorporated in the month of October.
The winners will be recognized at the Oct. 12 city council meeting, and afterward a photo gallery of the winners and honorable mentions will be posted to the city website. Selected photographs will be displayed in the new city hall's gallery until the next photo contest.