As participants browsed the rows of photos on display at the annual Travel Café on Feb. 16, the smell of coffee hung heavy in the air. This year the photos had the common theme of travel and “bliss.”
According to the Office of Student Involvement, Travel Café is an “annual WSU Vancouver photography contest for students, faculty and staff, co-sponsored by The Salmon Creek Journal and the Office of Student Involvement.”
Alex Duffield, editor-in-chief of the Salmon Creek Journal, said they received 86 photos from 37 people, which included students, alumni and staff. He and his team selected 44 of those photos to be included in the event. All photo submissions will be included in the 2018 edition of the Salmon Creek Journal.
Taylor Riordan, a WSUV senior majoring in DTC, described the photo he submitted from a trip to New Zealand. “One of the things that left the greatest impression on me was the mountains I would see. This one was one of my favorite mountains on one of my favorite mornings.” Riordan placed first in the competition and received a 20×30 inch metal print of his piece titled “Above the Clouds.”
Another notable artist who proved to have a keen eye for black and white photography was Dale T. Strouse, a community member and former Travel Café judge. His piece titled, “Icy Beach” was taken during a 15-day trip traveling through Iceland along a place called Ring Road. “Icy Road” won second place in the main competition and Strouse received a 20×30 inch canvas print of his art. The three best of the top ten were featured later in the event and given awards.
Three people judged the contest: Harrison Higgs, a fine arts professor at WSU Vancouver, Valerie Parrish, a DTC and fine arts student and Maggie Handran, a psychology and fine art student.
In addition to the awards determined by the judges, contributors vied for the audience choice award and the social media award. Observers at the showcase cast ballots indicating their favorite with the the most popular photo receiving the audience choice award. The next seven most popular photos received the social media award and were featured on the Salmon Creek Journal’s social media pages.
Joseph Colombo with his photo titled “Ephemeral Light” won the audience choice award.
Photo themes seemed to revolve around landscapes with a few scattered profile shots. The photos mostly represented different views of what traveling meant to the various artists. One photo by Nicholas Benko was taken upside down and through a glass ball, making the photo come out strikingly clear and right side up. Benko’s piece is titled “Upside Down” and was amongst the top ten best photos in the gallery. Benko also won the social media award.
The Travel Café showcased everyone’s diverse ideas of what adventure and happiness looks like to them. Don’t miss out on next year’s Travel Café, and don’t forget to submit your own artwork too.
I’m going to travel the whole world, learn everything about it, and then write about it.