In the Upper School Commons and the Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center, black and white photographs from various schools line the walls. These displayed photos are the 45 images that were chosen by this year’s esteemed judge, Ben Breard, to be featured and critiqued in Fort Worth Country Day’s 30th annual Black and White Photo Exhibition.

Black and White Images is an annual judged exhibition for photography students in private and public schools in the Denton, Dallas, and Tarrant counties.

“The purpose of the exhibit is to facilitate a visual dialogue between the schools in the area and to celebrate the art of photography,” Sil Azevedo, Upper School photography teacher, said.

There are eight categories for photo submissions: architecture, still life, portrait, nature/animals, experimental, photojournalism, landscape/cityscape, and photo essay. The top three winners in each category will receive rewards. Additionally, the photographer whose image is given the title “Best in Show” will receive a purchase award and a book. All the winners are chosen by Breard.

“Ben has over 45 years of experience as the founder and owner of Afterimage Gallery, in Dallas. Afterimage is possibly the longest running dedicated photography gallery in the world. Ben represents some of the greatest contemporary photographers,” Azevedo said. “His gallery collection includes originals from a large number of the legends of photography history. Having the feedback from someone with his depth will be a great boost for our students.”

Breard’s 45 years of experience and expertise on the subject of photography is one of the reasons why this year’s exhibition was very selective with only 45 entries being accepted out of the 600 that were submitted from 16 schools throughout the metroplex.

“[The number of accepted pieces varies] depending on the judge each year and the works submitted. This year’s judge was very selective so there were fewer accepted pieces than in previous years,” Azevedo said.

Among the 45 entries, two FWCD photography students had their work accepted into the exhibition. Riley Davenport ‘21, had one of her pieces accepted in the Nature/Animals category, and Sophie Moten ‘19, had three different photographs accepted in three different categories: photojournalism, photo essay and landscape/cityscape. In fact, she is one of only two people in the entire exhibition that has had three separate pieces accepted.

Moten has been photographing for about six years and has participated in different photography competitions in the past, namely the Association of Texas Photography Instructors.

“[While this is my first year having images accepted into the Black and White Photo Exhibition], I have had photos accepted in ATPI’s fall competition. I had 2 portfolios accepted last year and one photo essay piece this year,” Moten said.

Moten’s photos that have been accepted in the Black and White Photo Exhibition are titled “I’m With Her,” “End of Show,” and “Pride for All.” “I’m With Her” is the photojournalism piece, which features a woman at the Women’s March holding a sign that says “I’m With Her” below a photo of the Statue of Liberty. “End of Show” was submitted under the the landscape/cityscape category and features NY city after Fourth of July fireworks die out, resulting in streaks of light speckling the sky. Lastly, “Pride for All” is Moten’s photo essay piece that contains four different pictures from the Dallas Pride Parade.

She also continues to prove her passion for photography outside of school by being a photographer at weddings and taking photos for senior portraits and Christmas cards.

“It’s always nice to enter contests like [the Black and White Photo Exhibition] because it forces me to differentiate between which images I like versus which are actually good. I learned to look objectively at my pictures, get other people’s opinions, and figure out which photos to enter into the competition,” Moten said.

The exhibition is also beneficial in increasing the appreciation of photography within the metroplex and giving students a unique opportunity to showcase their skills.

“[The exhibition provides a chance for] dialogue between instructors, inspiration for students and visitors, and collaboration among local schools,” Azevedo said.

The exhibition lasts from January 8 – February 3 in the US commons. On Saturday, February 3, the awards ceremony and reception will be held in the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center, beginning at 3:00 p.m.

If you cannot attend the awards ceremony and reception on February 3 then a web page will be published after the show that showcases all the images from the event. The images will be posted at https://www.fwcd.org/page/arts/visual-arts/black–white-images-contest.