Northwest College boasts a top-notch photography program, complete with a studio, equipment and chances for students to travel to many locations around the world to take pictures.

That has led to many exhibits being held of works done by NWC students and professors, in addition to area high school students as part of the annual high school photo contest.

Recently, the college decided to expand the high school contest and welcomed people outside of the college to share their works as part of the inaugural NWC Photography Competition and Exhibition. The contest concluded last weekend as winners were announced in three categories covering high school, amateur and professional entries.

A total of 159 individuals from those separate divisions submitted entries, with first, second and third-place awards given in each, along with several honorable mention selections as well.

Powell photographers received honorable mentions in the amateur and professional categories, which were won respectively by Cody and Meeteetse photographers. High school award winners hailed from Montana, Michigan and Oregon.

“The idea for the event arose organically as the program worked to facilitate the recent stewardship of the SinClair Gallery alongside the annual High School Photography Contest, which the program has sponsored for the last seven years,” said NWC associate professor of photography Christine Garceau in a press release.

“We were very excited with the number of entries, both in amateur and professional,” Garceau said in an interview. “I’m really excited for all the people that got to show their awards. We definitely plan on doing it again. We wanted to have an event to celebrate all the photography in the area. We have a top notch photo program at Northwest.”

She added that the department took over the gallery last year and plans to have exhibits up year-round. For instance, following the current exhibit will be works of NWC students, and in the fall will be a selection of photos from a trip Garceau will make with students to Greece.

Entries for the high school section of the contest included 144 students from 23 schools spanning 14 states. Students entered up to three images in five categories that included people, nature, sports, human interest and commercial food and product photography. From these categories, the top five images were selected by the Photographic Communications faculty and staff to advance to the semifinal judging.

The top ten were then selected for printing, matting and framing for final judging in the SinClair Gallery, of which three were given awards by international renowned wildlife photographer Meg Sommers during the exhibition opening. Photo prizes were provided by Roberts Camera of Indianapolis, Indiana.

The amateur and professional categories represented 37 images submitted by 15 photographers from Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. To create continuity for the judging process, entrants were required to use common museum framing practices by utilizing black metal or black wood frames with white mats in two specific sizes. As with the high school photographs, the top three images in each category were selected for awards by Sommers.

“This photographic exhibition celebrates the coming together of both young and mature photography enthusiasts and professionals,” Garceau said. “It goes without saying that the Mountain West provides a multitude of photographic opportunities to engage with. This exhibition testifies to the creative voice photography provides for those who have the courage and passion to share their experiences with audiences eager to celebrate their efforts.”

She said Sommers was thorough in her judging and took a long time to do so due to the quality of the works submitted. And already she’s had other photographers say they can’t wait to submit entries into the contest next year.

Garceau also thanked her colleagues who helped physically set up the gallery, including Anthony Polvere, associate professor of photography; Jennifer Litterer-Trevino, assistant professor of photography; and Jayne Johnson, digital studio specialist and gallery supervisor.

For inquiries about purchasing any of the photographs exhibited, contact the Photographic Communications program, which is located in the Fagerberg building on the NWC campus, at 307-754-6497 or Christine.Garceau@nwc.edu. The photographs will remain on display in the SinClair Gallery through March 27. The gallery is located inside the Orendorff Building at Northwest College, and is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Contest winners

High School

First: Olivia Dewey (Capital High School, Helena, Montana)

Second: Raelynn Staley (Capital High School, Helena, Montana)

Third: Bailey Ready (Adrian High School, Nyssa, Oregon)

Honorable Mention: Daniel Shi (Cranbrook Kingswood School, Bloomfield Hill, Michigan)

Amateur

First: Lora Ginnetti (Cody)

Second: Dawn Garrison (Cody)

Third: Karla Gitlitz (Meeteetse)

Honorable Mention: Lora Ginnetti (Cody), Ashley Howe (Powell) and Jessica Case (Cody)

Professional

First: McKenzy Ellisen (Meeteetse)

Second: John Harris (Cody)

Third: McKenzy Ellisen (Meeteetse)

Honorable Mention: Robert Koelling (Powell), Jeff Codevilla, two entries (Dubois)