Winners of MBHS’ 1st Annual Photography Contest

Photo credit: Rachel Ashen, Jury Prize winner

On January 14, 2015, art teachers Ms. Davidson and Mr. Robinson announced that Millennium Brooklyn High School would be having its first annual photography contest.

Students submitted 1-3 photos for a $1 fee per entry. Students sent their digital entries for review by the contest judges and jury:  Mr. Robinson, Ms. Davidson, Mr. McDonough, Ms. Mottehedeh, and Mr. Curmi.

The contestants submitted entries for five categories: Nature, Family/People, NYC, Neighborhood Culture, and Creative Editing. Winners received prizes, such as having their photos framed, $10 gift cards, and having their winning work exhibited at the Konditori coffee shop across the street from the John Jay Campus.

According to Ms. Davidson, Mr. Robinson, “came up with the idea of having a photography competition, which is great because he has a background in photography.”

Robinson explained, “I was inspired by our talented students and my love for photography. Everyone is a photographer nowadays.”

The decision process took about three hours according to Mr. Robinson and Ms. Davidson, and winners were chosen through careful examination and selection of photos.  Mr. Robinson then tallied each of the judges’ rankings.

The five winners of the competition are Rachel Ashen for Nature/Jury Prize, Sam Griffith for Family/People, Julian Arellano for NYC, Anna Buskhrikidze for Neighborhood Culture, and Lenny Jacome for Creative Editing.

Freshman Anna Buskhrikidze, winner of the Neighborhood Culture category said that she “loves photography because you can take an ordinary object and capture it through a camera in so many different ways. There is no identical way to portray a picture.” Buskhrikidze explained that she was “very excited” knowing her work would hang in cafe Konditori and “will definitely join the competition next year.”