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Jurors Announced for Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition Open for Submission Until Nov. 16

Nov. 5, 2012. Local professional photographers Chip Williams, Jamey Fletcher and Marie Freeman will serve as jurors for the 10th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, which is open for registration and submissions until 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16. Visit www.appmtnphotocomp.org for more information and to submit images online.

The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition offers numerous categories that will be chosen as winners with more than $4,000 in cash and prizes. A partnership between Appalachian State University Outdoor Programs, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, AMPC celebrates the unique people, places, and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians and attracts entries from across the United States.

The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition will culminate in a professionally curated exhibition open to the public March 1 to Aug. 16, 2013, in the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.

This year’s images will be selected by a panel of jurors with a professional background in photography and love for the natural environment.

“We are thrilled to announce our jurors this year. Our jurors range from veterans in the photography world to up-and-coming professionals. It is a diverse group of jurors, and will provide a strong and varied perspective from which to view the images,” said AMPC Competition Director, Rich Campbell. “We are excited to have these individuals be a part of the AMPC who will dedicate their time, talent and expertise to the competition this year.”

Chip Williams, assistant professor of technical photography at Appalachian, has worked as a corporate and editorial freelance photographer for more than 18 years in Chicago. He shot for national magazines such as Smithsonian, US News & World Report, ESPN the Magazine, Kiplinger’s, Money and Parade. Prior to his move to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Williams was active with prairie restoration in Lake County, Ill., and worked extensively with the Lake County Forest Preserve District as a client to help them document their work in this area, as well as wildlife monitoring and naturalist education.

Jamey Fletcher is a professional photographer based in the High Country specializing in event, wedding and portrait photography in the southeastern United States. Jamey is the son of recently retired Appalachian professor Jeff Fletcher who introduced his son to the world of photography at a very early age. From the time the younger Fletcher was old enough stand on a stool and reach an enlarger, he was in the darkroom learning the art of making images. His photography career began at the age of 14 as he worked as a stringer and a staff photographer for the Watauga Democrat newspaper. Jamey’s love of the outdoors and photography create his intrinsic passion of nature photography.

Marie Freeman is a seasoned photojournalist who has worked for both the Watauga Democrat and Mountain Times newspapers for nearly 14 years. In 2008, she joined the Appalachian’s University Communications team as university photographer. Her professional accomplishments include: 15 North Carolina Press Association photography awards; first place award in the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for her snowflake microphotography; and being published in numerous state and national newspapers and magazines including the Washington Post, USA Today, the New York Times, Detroit Free Press and Our State magazine.

The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition offers numerous categories. Jurors Williams, Fletcher and Freeman will review all entries and narrow them down to approximately 46 images that will be displayed in exhibition at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, March 1 to Aug. 16, 2013. From those images, the judges will select the final winners that will be showcased during the exhibition and at the 17th annual Banff Film Festival Sept. 20 and 21, 2013. Deadline for all AMPC submissions is Nov. 16, 2012.

The AMPC is made possible through the sponsorship of Virtual Blue Ridge, the premier online resource for the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Mast General Store. Supporters of the AMPC include: Appalachian Voices, Bistro Roca, Footsloggers, Peabody’s and Stick Boy Bread Company.

For more information about this photography competition, visit www.appmtnphotocomp.org, or call Outdoor Programs at 828-262-2475.