The Winning Photo
How does one stumble into photography?
My route was quite obscure. I won a photography contest.
YEP.
So in 2013, I was working as a designer and one of the big commercial furniture companies - Herman Miller and its associated dealership, Goodman's, sponsored a contest. Herman Miller is well known for representing the design classics including Ray & Charles Eames. The grand prize for the contest was an Eames Lounger and Ottoman. They are crazy expensive and while designers love and covet the classics most of us don’t get paid enough to be able to actually afford any of the classic furniture pieces. So, of course, we were all desperate to win.
The rules of the contest were simple; we had to take an Eames molded plastic chair and take pictures of it in the wild of Phoenix and its surrounding areas. Fun, huh? Ask my sister. She helped me and got nothing in return except my undying love and devotion.
The first thing we had to do was find a camera and luckily our parents were living in Arizona at the time so we drove an hour plus to Gilbert to grab my mom’s Cannon. She gave me a quick 5 minute lesson on how to use it (automatic modes, of course, because I knew less than nothing) and we were on our way.
It should also be noted we drove around with the chair shoved in my Jetta back seat. Also, fun.
We went to Tempe Center for the Arts, Tom’s Thumb Hiking trail, and a graffiti wall in downtown phoenix. We went all over town that day and probably drove a couple hundred miles. Each time, wrestling the chair out of the car and setting it up in all the random locations. People probably thought we were crazy. Anyway, we felt good about what we had done and decided to drive back to Gilbert and drop off the camera.
On the way back, I just happened to see the cool green structure with some desert plants growing out of it. It happened to be a cattle shoot that had been left abandoned but it was just a super cool backdrop for this white chair. We pulled over on the side of the road, pulled the chair out and hiked to the cattle shoot. And Voila!
I entered two photos - one from the cattle shoot and one with the chair in a fountain. And then we waited.
There was a big event to announce the winners. Most of the photos submitted were all taken in very similar locations and the chair was posed in the same orientation. We were told that the Herman Miller Judge had put the three winning photos in his office and just lived with them for a few weeks before he made his decision. I was told that the winning photo was selected for its unique optimism and the chair had a story to tell.
So, I won an Eames Lounge chair and ottoman. It was the most amazing feeling to be validated doing something creative that wasn’t design. I will say there was a downside - taxes. I did end up having to pay quite a bit in taxes since I won the chair and because it had a high value.
It was all worth it in the end and was the true start of my photography journey. I truly believe the universe was preparing me for this journey back in 2013.
P.S. I still have the chair although it has been hidden away until my daughter can keep from destroying it because I ordered it in white leather pre-kiddo.
