 |
| Scholastic Art Gold Key Award photo by Gary Walts, 1971-72, a student at Indian River High School Philadelphia, NY. "This was the first recognition I received for my photography," Gary Walts. |
I won a Scholastic Gold Key Award for this photo in the Scholastic Art Awards competition when I was a senior at Indian River Central School, Philadelphia, NY. My photography teacher was Bill Geller. This was the first recognition I received for my photography. The photo was in a group exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY. The photo was a slide sandwich. That is, 2 slides, one placed atop the other, similar to a multiple exposure. One was the silhouetted figure and page wire fence. The other was a piece of black slide film that I burned with a cigarette lighter on the emulsion side. The burning created the abstract pattern & colors that you see. A few years ago I came upon the "sandwich" and the burnt piece of film had become very brittle and it partially crumbled. Bummer, I thought, but I know somewhere I have the original exhibition print. Well, low & behold, as I am pawing around in my archives I found an internegative I had made of the sandwich! I couldn't believe it! I had forgotten all about it. So I scanned that negative, restored the color & sharpness with Photoshop & here it is.
