Gib Mathers

Two regional photographers dominated the 2022 Gib Mathers Photography Contest. Don Getty of Wapiti, and Kinley Bollinger of Powell, were awarded five of the possible nine awards in landscape, wildlife and portrait categories of the competition; which received the most entries in the contest’s five-year history.

Getty dominated the wildlife portion of the contest, sweeping all three awards in the category. His image of a great gray owl in flight captured first place, a grizzly sow and her cub playing won second, and northern flickers at their home in the forest won the third place prize.

“I think it just works really nice. It’s a really nice moment,” one of the judges said of Getty’s first place entry titled “Fly By.” 

The judges had a difficult time selecting a winner due to the high quality of all the images in the category. Getty’s second and third place entries could have easily been the winners, judges agreed after debating their merits, but they felt craftsmanship and quick thinking to catch the bird in flight, plus the overall tone and mood of the photograph separated it from the other entries.

Powell’s Eric Janzer won first place for his black and white photo “Clark’s Fork Canyon Storm.” Judges loved the powerful moment of Janzer’s photograph, saying it had “a classic Ansel Adams feel” in the dramatic tones of the light pouring through the clouds and into the canyon.

Bollinger took second and third in the category, with judges particularly taken by her photograph, “Tale as Old as Time.”

“It took my breath away. The whole idea of how it draws you out into a landscape so unfathomable with the tree in the center,” one judge remarked.

Other judges liked the angle the photographer used and the “dreaminess” of the image. Bollinger also won third place for a photograph titled “Framing the Skies.”

The first place portrait by Powell’s JJ Gardner was unique in the category, with family members implied in the untitled photograph of boots at the family home. “It’s a little different approach to portraiture, in that the people aren’t present. They’re implied by the boots. And you see multiple pairs, so it implies multiple people,” said one judge. 

Despite the unique take on the category, the choice was unanimous. Emmalee Nordland’s, “Dog eye scan” won second place in the category and Kerry Nordland won third place for “Close Up Rose.”

Images were judged without knowing the photographers and the judges remain anonymous to guard against the appearance of voting for friends or photographers approaching the judges for favoritism. For each category, first place winners will receive $100, while $75 will be awarded for second place and $50 for third. The Friends of the Powell Library is providing the cash prizes.

“Gib was an important member of our library group and we wanted to honor him with this contest,” said Bonnie Fauskee, Friends of the Library president.

Mathers was the outdoors reporter for the Powell Tribune prior to his untimely death while hiking in the Absaroka Mountain Range in 2017.

2022 Gib Mathers Photography Contest results:

Landscape

First place: Eric Janzer, “Clark’s Fork Canyon Storm”

Second place: Kinley Bollinger, “Tale as Old as Time”

Third place: Kinley Bollinger, “Framing the Skies”

Wildlife

First place: Don Getty, Great Gray Owl “Fly By”

Second place: Don Getty, Grizzly Sow and Cub “Play Fighting”

Third place: Don Getty, Northern Flickers “At Home In The Forest”

Portrait

First place: JJ Gardner, Picture of boots taken at the family home

Second place: Emmalee Nordland, “Dog eye scan” 

Third place: Kerry Nordland, “Close Up Rose”