Published
Pamela and Uncle Mac. Wedding and Reception, The Hawk & Ivy, Barnardsville, North Carolina. A winning image from the M.I.L.K. International Photographic Competition.
In 1999, Geoff Blackwell, publisher of Hodder PQ in Auckland, New Zealand, launched an unprecedented international photographic competition known as M.I.L.K. (an acronym for Moments of Intimacy, Laughter, and Kinship). Inspired by Edward Steichen's landmark photographic exhibition of the fifties, 'The Family of Man', M.I.L.K. was an exhaustive two-year global search to find unique and geographically diverse images from every one of the world's 192 countries on the themes of friendship, family, and love. The M.I.L.K. photographic competition was the richest in photographic history, with a record prize purse of $ 750,000, and one of the most significant, with 17,000 professional and amateur photographers in 164 countries submitting entries. In total, over 40,000 images were received by M.I.L.K., including four Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. 300 images that best captured and celebrated the essence of humanity and conveyed real and spontaneous emotion were chosen by the competition’s Chief Judge, Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt. The 300 winning images were showcased in three stunning, limited-edition, hardcover coffee table books entitled ‘FAMILY’, ‘FRIENDSHIP’ and ‘LOVE’, published in 2001; a classic product line of cards and calendars was also produced and continue to be popular bestsellers today.
My photograph, 'Pamela and Uncle Mac', made at a wedding at The Hawk & Ivy in Barnardsville, North Carolina in 1998, was one of the 300 winning images and appears as a two-page spread in the ‘FAMILY’ book. An international touring exhibition of the winning entries launched in July of 2001 in New York City's Grand Central Terminal in the Vanderbilt Hall. In October and November of 2001, the exhibition traveled to The Science Museum in South Kensington, London. An outdoor exhibition opened in November of 2002 at Viaduct Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand and in February of 2003 the exhibition moved to the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
About the competition's Chief Judge, Elliott Erwitt: A leading photographer of his generation and a member of the prestigious Magnum Agency, Erwitt has been making photographs all over the world since the late 1940s. Known for spontaneous, often humorous snaps, along with poignant documentary studies, he has spent the last sixty years capturing the famous and the ordinary, the remarkable and the mundane, often using the camera to express his unique sense of humor. In the process he has produced some of this past century's most beloved and enduring images and is, without a doubt, one of the era's finest image-makers.
Born in 1928 in Paris of Russian parents, Erwitt emigrated to the United States with his family in 1939. He studied photography in Los Angeles City College (1942-1944) then film at the New School for Social Research (1948-1950). As a young man, photographer Edward Steichen helped Erwitt get his first commercial photography job. From 1950 to 1952, Erwitt was a freelance photographer for Collier's, Look, Life and Holiday. He became a Magnum Agency associate in 1953 and a full member in 1954. Today his original photographs reside in photography collections of most major museums. Please click here to view his work.
Excerpt from a www.photoshopsupport.com interview with Elliott Erwitt:
Do you use Photoshop in your workflow?
"Photoshop is useful in many ways but must NEVER be used for the altering of photographs. My assistants and my agency do whatever Photoshop work for me that may be required as it is too complicated for my brain."
How do you feel about the digital photography explosion?
"I don't like explosions. I don't mind progress. But digital photography has made every man, woman, child and chimpanzee a photographer of sorts and consequently has numbed down the general quality of photographs.
"Of course digital photography is essential for economy and for speedy results (news - fashion photography - advertising and the like) but it also is too damned easy and doubtful for archiving as technology and conservation methods always change. Silver halide is still the most reliable material but regretfully on the way out."
Elliott Erwitt is my favorite photographer and the image below is an homage to his series of dog photos and was selected as a winning entry in a Photo District News (PDN) magazine "Best of Weddings, Reception Category" photo contest.
