The Beaches International Jazz Festival’s Annual Juried Photography Exhibition.

---

2011 Winners List - Contacts and Biography

First Place Winner: Robert M. Saxe -- Photo Hobbyist

Having started taking photos using analogue slides of nature moving to the world of digital imagery of people is a learning curve in its infancy.

NO darkroom but a PC , no waiting for the salmon to jump or the sun to rise but deal with the lighting you got and hurry because the performer moves – and moves.  I still enjoy looking at nature but realize that there is a great photo in every nook and cranny if you frame it right but the challenges of the people and performance offer a whole new world to capture.

SO – a biography – I like to take pictures, my son (JP Saxe) introduced me to jazz clubs.  I operated the Saxe gallery from 1978 to 1983.  Enjoy the photos.

Second Place Winner: Joanna Glezakos

My name is Joanna Glezakos and I am a photography student at OCAD University.  My interest in photography began in 2005 when a few of my friends were taking a photography course in high school.  I was more interested in performing arts like music and drama but I ended up being a part of their photo projects and doing a lot of them myself.  I finally took the course and excelled, receiving the Loraine Monk Arts Award and Michael Kirkley Memorial Award for exceeling in the arts.  I stayed back an extra year to create a portfolio for OCAD University which consisted solely of photographs and even though the first year is general arts they accepted me.  The courses however weren’t enough for me, I labeled myself as a freelance photographer at the tender age of 16 and started shooting concerts, a way for me to combine my love of music with my love of photography.  A friend of mine is a jazz / funk musician who is a very talented individual.  I’ve had the honour of photographing him and his band live and in the studio, which is where my shots for this application come from.  My style would be best described as documentary, I like to work discretely, giving space to the musicians that I’m photographing so that I can capture the moment where they lose themselves and the music comes alive.  I think photography should be fun and easy and I think that comes out in my work.

Third Place Winner: Robert Magee

After recently retiring from a career in health care, I have been able to spend more time pursuing photography, a hobby in which I have dabbled for over 50 years.  The recent purchase of a quality digital camera has allowed me to jump, feet first into the complex and fascinating world of digital photography, editing and printing.  I was hooked.  At first it was all about equipment and software, but then, slowly, I began to concentrate on the subject and the light and put some of the many features of my camera to good use.

I joined a local camera club and met some very interesting and knowledgeable photographers who gave me many tips and much appreciated advice.  The club had many speakers and workshops and all of this was of great help in improving my knowledge and skill level.

Combining my love of photography and music was a natural and now, many of the pictures that I take are of music groups and individual musicians, both in Canada and the Caribbean.  In addition to photographing musicians, I also like architecture and landscape and this gives me such a choice of images, it is hard to put the camera down.

2011 People’s Choice Award: Don Westgate

Photography - like music - seems to have always been a part of my life.  But though I have no musical talent whatsoever, photography has always been the primary expression of my creativity.  I began in earnest in the 1970’s by shooting and processing black & white film, before moving on to colour slides.  Never quite making a living at it, photography remained a passion during the years I spent doing non-creative office work to pay the bills.  My favourite subjects have always been nature and fast cars, but a variety of other things - including singers and bands - have also caught my eye.  Now, I am devoting more time to my photography, seeking to become more skilled.  Music seems to be becoming a bigger part of my photography.  It’s not possible, of course, to capture the actual music itself in still photos.  (The sound is the bands’ department anyways.)  But I find it is an interesting challenge to capture some visual quality that makes a singer or band compelling.

Honourable Mention

Bertram-Clarke		R. Bender