Pixiq

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I walked into Tropicolor Photo on Miami Beach on Friday and was congratulated for having received an “Honorable Mention” for a photo I took in the 4th Annual South Beach Photomarathon.

In my competitive spirit, I was hoping for a First, Second or Third place monetary award. Not to mention bragging rights.

But considering my photo was one of six photos chosen from almost 2,500 photos taken by 104 photographers, I guess I am entitled to some bragging rights anyway.

The afternoon was highlighted by the fact that I got in a shootout with a Crime Scene Investigator from the Miami Beach Police Department. But more on that later.

First, check out the photo.

My photo was one of only three Honorable Mentions. Those photos, along with the First, Second and Third place winners, were the only photos that were turned into large prints and mounted on Plexiglass, courtesy of Tropicolor.

The Plexiglass photos, along with the contact sheets of the 2,496 photos that were entered in the competition, will be on display at Tropicolor, 1442 Alton Road, for the month of May.

Then the winning photos will be displayed at various Starbucks through South Beach. And then we get to take our photos home.

The 4th South Beach Photomarathon was organized by Fotomission, a non-profit group based out of South Beach that believes in “photography for social change”. My kind of people.

Chendo Perez, pictured below in front of the winning photo, launched Fotomission with his wife, Pavlova Greber, a few years ago. The idea for the photomarathon was inspired by an annual event held in Madrid every year since 1983, in which now more than 6,000 photographers show up.

This year’s 104 entrants in the South Beach Photomarathon was twice as many as last year’s entrants. Perez believes it can one day reach the level of Madrid’s photomarathon.

The problem is, because they are a non-profit organization running on bare minimum, it’s been difficult getting the word out.

For example, I am involved with several photography groups in South Florida, but I first heard about this year’s photomarathon the night before the event by reading a small blurb in the Miami New Times. And that’s that I already have a set of images from the University of Miami janitor strike on Fotomission’s website.

But Perez and his wife are determined, and I have no doubt this will one day attract thousands of photographers. Check out Perez’s photos of the exhibition here. The fourth photo down is of the winners.

First Place winner of the photomarathon was the extremely talented Alissa Christine, pictured below in front of her photo, who also won an honorable mention for another photo.

Christine operates www.ilovemiami365.com, where she posts a single photo every day that was taken that day.

After the exhibit, I crossed the street with a couple of photographer friends to grab a bite at Lime.

That was when I came across a charming Crime Scene Investigator from the Miami Beach Police Department. She was taking photos outside of Lime, where apparently a crime had been committed, although it wasn’t clear what had happened.

I was carrying my Canon 5D. She was carrying some kind of Nikon. We had a quick discussion about the old Canon vs Nikon debate.

I told her about my Honorable Mention. She said congratulations.

And then we shot each other.

Photo by fellow photomarathon participant Henry Perez who writes and shoots for MiamiARTzine.com