Beautiful photographs of botanical world win Selby Gardens awards

Selby Gardens’ forty sixth annual Juried Photographic Exhibition is now on view in a digital gallery at selby.org and can stay on-line by way of Sept. 30.

Featuring almost 250 images captured by gifted photographers throughout Selby Gardens’ two campuses, the exhibition provides a celebration of the sweetness, range, and surprise of the botanical world. Outstanding pictures have been acknowledged with awards, together with Best in Show by Alma Groome for “Bee Enveloped in a Flower.”

This 12 months additionally marks the introduction of the Richard and Ellen Sandor Photography Prize, a $5,000 award recognizing essentially the most compelling illustration of orchids at Selby Gardens.

“We are delighted to establish this annual prize, which celebrates both the artistic possibilities of botanical photography and the remarkable diversity of orchids that are at the heart of Selby Gardens’ mission,” mentioned Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Selby Gardens. “We hope this award will inspire photographers to continue seeing and capturing the natural world with creativity, curiosity, and a fresh perspective.”

The inaugural prize was awarded to Stan Jernigan for “If the Slipper Fits,” celebrating an distinctive picture that captures the distinctive magnificence and attract of those exceptional crops.

“We are thrilled to have fun the creativity and expertise represented by almost 250 images on this 12 months’s exhibition and to congratulate Best in Show winner Alma Groome for her beautiful picture in addition to Stan Jernigan on receiving the inaugural Richard and Ellen Sandor Photography Prize,” Rominiecki mentioned. “His photograph successfully demonstrates the power of photography to reveal the extraordinary beauty of orchids in unexpected and compelling ways.”

Additional first-place awards:

· Living Art – “Calder’s Nature of Movement in Vibrant Red” by Sandra Alexander

· Make a Splash – “Tranquility Scapes” by Almut Biller

· Plant Portraits – “Beautiful Bell” by Meril Salzburg

· The Birds and the Bees – “Zebra Long Butterfly” by William Mindak

· Black & White – “Fern Shadows” by Nancy Fogg-Johnson

Five extra photographs have been acknowledged with honorable mentions, together with “When the Garden Held Her Breath” by Lindy DeFord; “Reflections” by Jeannie Comparetto; “Experience” by Beth Trainum; “Fishing the Lily Pads” by James Hall; and “Transparent Grace” by KC (Katherine) Jones.

Selby Gardens acquired almost 250 submissions to this 12 months’s exhibition. Entrants might submit as much as three particular person photographs, which needed to be taken inside the previous 12 months at both the Downtown Sarasota campus or Historic Spanish Point campus.

To view the exhibition, which was current in partnership with the Observer Media Group, go to selby.org.

Submitted by Nancy Seijas-Kipnis