by Kathy Gottberg  (12/3/09)

             To celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of Earth Day next April, the Sustainability Commission of Palm Springs is sponsoring a juried photography contest entitled, “Earth Through a Lens.”  The purpose of the show is to highlight and encourage the need to improve stewardship of the Earth in order to create a sustainable environment.  Entries may be submitted on line from now until January 15^th.  Monetary awards of $1500, $1000 and $500 will be awarded to the top three winners.  In addition, the winning photographs will appear in a future edition of Palm Springs Life Magazine.

         The three categories for submission are:

#1 The Natural Environment--Water, Desert or Mountains

#2 The adverse effect of human activity on the environment

#3 Remediation of environmental damage

Note: the photos must be relevant to at least one of the categories to qualify.

            According to Sustainability Commissioner and Project Chairperson Larry Fechter, “Art can be a very powerful medium for communicating  both ideas and emotions. Rather than lecturing to the public about conservation, I envision people discovering this photo exhibit perhaps by chance or on purpose and  developing their own reaction.  I hope that the reaction is that the fate of our planet’s natural beauty rests with us and that we need to change our attitudes and our behaviors to become better stewards of the environment.  Beyond that, merely engaging photographers in the task of depicting,  both the earth’s beauty and, beyond that, the impact of human activity on the planet may serve to recruit a large group of individuals who can go on to document both the successes and failures of our efforts at sustainability.”

            Once all submissions have been received after January 15, 2010, the judges will select 30 finalists.  These finalists will have their work displayed for the entire month of April 2010 on Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs.   Out of the finalists, three winners will be selected to receive the cash prizes along with a travel stipend to attend the award ceremony on April 22, 2010.