The 30th Annual Juried Photography Exhibit reception was held on Saturday, March 29 at the Fremont Main Library. The photographs will be on display at the library through Saturday, May 3.
Connie Chew, president of Fremont Cultural Arts Council, selected the President’s Choice award. “It is an excellent exhibit,” she said. “I selected the photo by Jason Cheng called Kiskadee Sip, as I connected to it emotionally. It made me feel that we as people can step back and reflect upon ourselves at this point of time. I kept going back to see the photograph.”
Rajeev Shankar, exhibit chairman, said, “The quality and range of photographs in the FCAC photo contest was high and the judges found it a challenge to select the winning photographs. It was great to connect with all the photographers and hear their stories.”
In the student category, first prize went to Dhanush Balusa for “The Great North Eclipse of 2024,” second prize went to Radhika Shah for “Turtles all the way down” and third went to Veda Jadaprolu for “Light Sleeper.” The honorable mentions were awarded to Dhanush Balusa for “Leap of Freedom” and Arya Sharma for “Golden Hour in Gothenburg.”
In the open category, the first prize went to Jose Albano for “Foggy Mission Peak,” the second prize to Jason Cheng for “Who’s Boss” and third to Paul Kessinger for “Desert Dust.” Honorable mentions given went to Michelle Liu for “No Place like home,” Michelle Liu for “Too Early O’clock,” Zefram Marks for “Power Terminus,” Kathleen A McMullen for “Cinnamon Chested Bee Eaters,” Bruce L. Roberts for “Underworld” and Kevin Wheeler for “Early Morning in Venice.”
The Alvin Docktor Nature Award was given to May Chen for “The Water World Takes Leave. Great Blue Heron and Trout.” The President’s Choice award went to Jason Cheng for “Kiskadee Sip,” and the People’s Choice award went to Bruce L. Roberts for “Underworld.”
Contestants shared the inspiration behind their photographs. Renee Wei was inspired to join Fremont Photographic Society by last year’s show and particularly by the photographs of the winners Jason Cheng and May Chen.
“In this one year, I learned a lot from the club members,” Wei said. “Jason Cheng helped me to set up my camera and May Chen invited me to shoot together and showed me many photography locations for wildlife which I never knew before.”
Nidhi Swamy was another contestant who was impressed by last year’s show and was inspired to join the photography classes taught by Len Cook in Fremont. “Photography has become a passion and has made me view the world in a totally different way,” Swamy said. “Whenever I travel now, my eyes search for the unusual and unique.”
“Artistry in local flavors seems somehow sweeter than remote museum versions,” said Len Cook, a judge. “Many of the images showed delightful scenes of local landscapes, wildlife, architecture or landmarks. There was a low turnout of ‘people’ pictures: people in action, portraits and the like. Making up for it though was accomplished nicely with numerous action photos and portraits of animals.”
Juried Photography Exhibit 2025
Ongoing through Saturday, May 3
During library hours
Fremont Main Library
2400 Stevenson Boulevard, Fremont
510.745.1400
