OVERALL GRAND PRIZE WINNER
This contest was sponsored by YPOC.com, believers that art is all around us just waiting to be made.
What an exhilarating ride! It’s finally time to announce the winners of YPOC’s Visual Storyteller’s contest which ran for exactly one month, July 5 – August 5, 2011. The request was simple – show us a story with your art or photography. More than just a pretty painting or a beautiful picture, we asked that you submit interesting and intriguing images that made us all stop and stare.
In Week 1, we received amazing images from all the around the world. Phillip Van Nostrand showed us what life could be like when the pace slows down while Michelle Ferrera introduced us to a vulnerable woman who begged us to look away. In Week 2, we sat back and smiled at Stefano Facca’s young lovers on the grass and then became mesmerized by Vickie Li’s painting of a mysterious man surrounded by his own smoke. In Week 3, we concentrated only on photography, showing you ten of the best. Arista Rionne’s sweet and small kitten. Cdric Allier’s pacifying toting toddler. Evan L. Demianczyk’s mosh pit mayhem. Finally, in Week 4, Michael Montano made us remember what childhood feels like while Jason Jenkins’s art piece moved many of us to tears.
So, who came out the winner? The image that ultimately won the $1,000 cash prize and $500 gift certificate to YPOC.com came in the last 3 days of the contest.
Yesterday, we notified Janick Laurent, a 25-year-old from Toronto, Ontario that he was the winner. First, he had this to say.
“I’m stunned. This is the first photo competition I’ve ever entered! Thank you.”
Then, when we asked for the story behind that winning image, Laurent said this.
“The most personal photographs I create are rarely planned. Although I’m constantly writing ideas down, I end up shooting what feels right in the moment. The LIFE concept is special because it sort of portrays the way I often felt growing up, a little isolated and always the dreamer.”
IIn the Art category, Christina Tsevis will also take home a $500 gift certificate to YPOC.com. Congrats, Christina!
Now, please enjoy those winning images as well as the first and second-runner ups. Amazing work!
PHOTOGRAPHY
First Place Winner and Overall Grand Prize Winner: Janick Laurent
First Runner Up: Paul Marquez
Second Runner Up: Hajaribrohim Mahmod
ART
First Place Winner: Christina Tsevis
First Runner Up: Michelle Ferrera
Second Runner Up: Valery Koroshilov
Thanks to everyone for making our second major photography/art contest a raging success. Hope you enjoyed this contest as much as we did. Finally, to YPOC.com, thank you for being a wonderful partner and for making a creative contest like this possible. Makes us truly believe that there’s art is all around us just waiting to be made!