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Annual Photo Competition Highlights Southern Appalachian Region and supports Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions
November 9th, 2007
Boone, NC (November 9, 2007) – Appalachian State University Outdoor Programs and Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in partnership with the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation announce the 5th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition. “This event celebrates the unique people, places, and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians and we welcome submissions from anyone, amateur to professional” said Andrew Miller of Outdoor Programs at Appalachian State University. “AMPC has grown to be one of the region’s premier photography competitions with a growing number of submissions each year and our partnership with the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation highlights the historical, cultural, and environmental significance of the Southern Appalachians.”
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation has partnered with Appalachian State University to offer AMPC since 2005 through its sponsorship of the Blue Ridge Parkway Category. “I am excited to announce a new first time category ‘Share the Journey,’ a registered trademark of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation,” said Houck Medford, Executive Director of the Foundation. “Share the Journey encompasses themes of the collective Parkway experience of individuals, families, friends, pets, and special events.”
Other categories for submission include Adventure, Blue Ridge Parkway Vista, Culture, Environment, Flora/Fauna and Landscape. All selected photographs will be displayed in the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University March 7 through June 7, 2008, and will also be available online at www.VirtualBlueRidge.com. Selected images will tour North Carolina and Virginia in the year following. A number of cash awards and Mast General Store Prize Packages will be presented in addition to the Footsloggers People’s Choice Award. “Once we select the 40 or so images for the competition,” said Miller “anyone interested can go online, view the images and vote for their favorite one. Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters here in Boone provides a $350 cash prize to the lucky winner of the People’s Choice.”
Other competition supporters include Bistro Roca and Antlers Bar of Blowing Rock, NC and Peabody’s Beer and Wine Merchants of Boone, NC. New to this year’s competition is the support of Virtual Blue Ridge – the premiere online source for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Virtual Blue Ridge will be sponsoring the competition by offering online registration and submission forms for entrants, as well as hosting a gallery for this year’s finalists and previous year’s winners. Giving entrants the option to submit their images electronically in addition to prints and slides is a first for AMPC. Entrants will also have the option to donate additional money to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the primary fundraising arm of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Joe Veler, president of Virtual Blue Ridge, said, “Our web site is the perfect place to host this competition since the vast majority of our web site focuses on photography and virtual tours of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We are excited to partner with Appalachian’s Outdoor Programs and look forward to seeing this year’s submissions.”
AMPC does more than highlight the great talent of the amateur and professional photographers whose images are selected. A large portion of the proceeds subsidizes the cost of ASU students participating in Outdoor Programs Student Outdoor Learning Expeditions (SOLE). “These are amazing trips that provide powerful opportunities for learning and discovery by taking students to remote regions around the world.” said Miller. “I get on an airplane with a group of students and over 4 weeks they will be pushed mentally, physically and emotionally by navigating the challenges of wilderness through extended backcountry travel and the diversity of new cultures and customs. The students I fly home with at the end of a SOLE trip are often vastly different than those that I departed with 26 days prior.” Previous SOLE trips have taken students to New Zealand, Alaska, Fiji and Wales and award academic credit to participating students.
For more information about AMPC , its partners, and for entry details for the 5th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition visit www.op.appstate.edu, or www.VirtualBlueRidge.com. Deadline for submission is February 9, 2008. Photographers my also request a hard copy of the competition prospectus and entry forms by calling (828) 262-3017.
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