SCC Fruit of the Lens Photography Club sponsoring spring photography contest and exhibit

Published on Mar 15, 2024

Composer Gustav Mahler once wrote, "Spring won't let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again." With the March weather warming, you are undoubtedly beginning to feel that same pull.

All Somerset Community College's Fruit of the Lens Photography Club asks that you capture the beauty around you on film when you go out.

To encourage spring shutterbugs, the club sponsors two upcoming events—a photo contest and a photo exhibit – and invites the public to participate in both.

The club's annual photography contest is an opportunity for amateur photographers (no professionals, please) to compete for the esteemed Nash Black Photography Awards. Entries should reflect this year's theme: "Spring Has Sprung."

Photos for submission should be taken within the south-central Kentucky region and may include animals and/or people. The deadline for entries is midnight on Saturday, April 6.

Winners will be announced during SCC's Pride Club's Earth Day Celebration, which will be held on Sunday, April 14, on the Somerset Campus from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The winning photo will receive the grand prize of $100. Additional cash awards of $50, $25, and $15 will also be presented. Fruit of the Lens club members are encouraged to submit entries, but those who do will not be allowed to serve as contest judges.

Entries should be submitted as digital images of at least one megabyte (1 MB) in size but no more than 5 MB. The images should contain no watermarks, names, or time stamps. While minor image adjustments are acceptable, photos manipulated in programs such as Photoshop will be disqualified.

Entries should be submitted to sccearthdayphotos@gmail.com by the deadline.

The annual photography awards honor Irene Black and the late Ford Nashett. The Russell County couple, who wrote under the pen name "Nash Black," are founding members of the Fruit of the Lens Photography Club.

In addition to its spring photo contest, the Fruit of the Lens Photography Club will hold its 24th photo exhibit this month. Club members will be focusing their cameras on "Appalachian Architecture."

The exhibit will be held on Thursday, March 28, in the Rogers Student Commons Community Room on the Somerset Campus. It will be posted to YouTube later, and a link will be made available on the Fruit of the Lens Photography Club Facebook page. 

Photo club members may submit up to eight photos to be included in the exhibit. Submissions should be sent to fruitofthelens@gmail.com by the deadline of Wednesday, March 20, at midnight.

Only Fruit of the Lens club members may submit photos for the exhibit, but becoming a club member is simply a matter of sending an email to Cindy Burton, SCC faculty club advisor, and asking to join.

The spring exhibit is being conducted in conjunction with SCC's Arnow Conference for the Humanities, an annual event that pays tribute to the literary contributions of the late Harriette Simpson Arnow, born in Wayne County and grew up in Pulaski County. Her award-winning fiction and nonfiction work focuses on the rural Kentuckians she knew best.