12th Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest
First Place, Peninsula People
"Red Purse"
By Brad Evans
About Brad Evans
Brad Evans didn't really expect to do well in this year's photo
contest.
"I was shocked," he said. "I haven't been doing this for long."
;) Click on photo for larger image. |
A resident of Woodside, he only started taking photography seriously in 2001.
Nonetheless, he managed to come away with a first place win in the Peninsula
People category. He also had an honorable mention in last year's contest.
A wireless systems engineer for Texas Instruments by day, he spends most of his
weekends shooting photographs in San Francisco, which he likes for its wide variety
of people and architecture.
He counts the photographer Garry Winogrand as a major influence. Winogrand, a
prolific photographer in the 1960s and 1970s, was well known for his street-photography
images.
"I love capturing people in their own environment," Evans said, explaining
his interest in street photography. "I want to capture pictures that
tell a story."
He took this photo while at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He was upstairs
setting up his Sony digital camera to take photos of architecture, he said.
"But as I was looking through a porthole, a woman walked by," he said. "And
from where I stood, that looked like the more interesting shot."
Evans is also a wood worker. He makes frames, which he sometimes uses to display
not only his own photographs, but the paintings that his wife does.
"Talk about a vertically integrated skill set," he said with a laugh.
He has no theory or hypothesis on why this particular photograph may have won.
"Photo contests are a real challenge," he said. "It's a gamble. You're never really sure that what's appealing to you is pleasing to other people."
-- Martin Nobida
Registration now open
Sign up for the 33rd annual Palo Alto Weekly Moonlight Run and Walk. This family-friendly event which benefits local nonprofits serving kids and families will take place on Friday, Oct. 6 at the Palo Alto Baylands.
