The Harlin Museum would like to announce the winners of their Photography Show Competition for 2022, which is currently on display in the museum’s Hathcock Gallery through Sunday, May 29th. The generous sponsor of the prizes awarded to this year’s competition winners is West Plains Savings & Loan, one of the museum’s most ardent local supporters of the arts in the Ozarks, which is located at 417 Broadway in West Plains.
The photography show includes forty-four combined competition entries from both youth and adult divisions, divided into five categories: Color Photography, Monochrome (black & white, sepia and other neutral-toned, etc.) Photography, Altered (photos that have been altered in a significant way using computer software or editing programs) Photography, Photo Collage (entries comprised of multiple photos), and something new for this year’s competition—a theme category—of Pet Photography.
The top prize of the competition, the Best of Show award, has gone to a color photo entry titled The Station, an image of a transit portal’s linear ceiling architecture overlooking a station busy with the bustle of people below and a distant focal point at the other end of the structure, making for a striking photographic image, taken by John Fenske of West Plains, MO.
In the color category, which was the largest category of the competition with a total of twenty-five entries, first place has been awarded to Back Porch Tulips, a still-life image of barely open red tulips in a clear glass vase by Kelli Albin of West Plains, MO. The second and third place color category ribbons were both taken by Marc Brannan of West Plains, MO for his entry Like A Rainbow Tonight, a nighttime image of an arched bridge overhead that is alight against a midnight blue sky, and for his entry No Title, Just Peaceful, which is an image of a low-water crossing looking down a deserted country road completely overgrown with swaths of unknown greenery in the distance. The Honorable Mentions of the color category have been awarded to the color entry titled Sector 7, an urban nightlife image also by John Fenske of West Plains, MO, and Ruby’s Sheep, an image of pastoral bliss featuring fluffy sheep set against a multicolor sky by Kelli Albin of West Plains, MO.
For the Monochrome Photography category, first place has been awarded to the entry titled Sleeping Oaks, a view of towering bare-limbed trees shot from below in a striking black & white image, entered by Allen Hampton of West Plains, MO. Second place is awarded to Randy Connell of West Plains, MO for his entry titled Alien Scream, a 30-second exposure that created a wispy, smoke-like image with black, white, grey, and gold hues. The third-place ribbon is awarded to Kelli Albin of West Plains, MO for her entry Free Time, another serene but striking black & white pastoral image combining a flock of well-wooled sheep against the wooden grains of a cluster of old felled trees. Honorable Mentions go to Terry Hampton of West Plains’ entry titled Crossings, a neutral-toned image of a rustic walking bridge amidst a forest, and Down On The Farm, the black and white photo of a farm dog with a jaunty hat by Hallie Horne of West Plains, MO.
In the Altered Photography category, first place has been awarded to Marc Brannan of West Plains, MO for his high-contrast image of a colored American flag set against a black & white fence post and field, titled Focused On Reverence. The second-place altered category award goes to Allen Hampton of West Plains, MO for his vividly colored image of the fuchsia pink bloom known as the Bleeding Heart, or Dicentra – Queen of Hearts. The third-place ribbon for the altered category goes to T. Fenske of West Plains, MO for her macro photography entry, It’s Not Bubble Wrap, a crosshatch image of identical rows and columns of circles in hues of blue and white that beg the question, “what is that?”. And, the Honorable Mention winners of this category are Into The Light, an image of a greenery-lined indoor path entered by Terry Hampton of West Plains, MO, and Cold, an icy closeup image of corrugated metal entered by T. Fenske, also of West Plains, MO.
The Collage Category only received a single entry, Emerging, which featured four identical floral images in varying colors entered by Terry Hampton of West Plains. Categories with only one entry do not declare a winner due to the lack of a competing image.
In the Youth Division, which had two entries, first place has gone to Anna Temple’s entry, Sweet Dreams, a lovely black & white image of a roly-poly English bulldog’s sweet sleeping face, and second place has been awarded to the entry titled Into TheThick Of It, a color image of a Lego-sized toy man set to embark upon an adventure into a thicket of green growth entered by L. J. Temple. Both youth entrants are from West Plains.
Finally, for the new-this-year theme category of Pet Photography, first place has been awarded to Anna Temple’s entry, Sweet Dreams, with second place going to Kelli Albin’s color entry, Gracie Mae, an intriguing facial close-up of a grey-haired feline with amber-colored eyes, and third place has been awarded to Down On The Farm, the black & white photo entry of a farm dog in a jaunty cap entered by Hallie Horne of West Plains, MO. Honorable Mentions for the pet category go to the colorful image of a playful Jack Russell titled Trooper taken by Randy Connell of West Plains, MO, and Best Buds, an image of a couple of cuddling felines taken by Kelli Albin, also of West Plains, MO.
The winners of the final award of the show, the People’s Choice Award, will be decided by the public through votes placed at the museum gallery and through online voting on Facebook, which begins on Friday, May 13th on the Harlin Museum’s Facebook page (@HarlinMuseumWP). Voting ends at 2 pm on Sunday, May 29th and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.
The Harlin Museum is located at 405 Worcester, West Plains, MO 65775, about a block southwest of the downtown Court Square. The museum’s hours of operation are now Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (12 pm – 4 pm). Questions may be directed via email to or by phoning the museum at (417) 256-7801.
