November 21, 2023 451 PM
ALPINE — The City of Alpine has announced the winners of the 2023 #AlpineTXPhoto Contest. The 13th annual photo contest saw 344 photographs entered by 120 photographers.
Photographers were asked to capture the city of Alpine in a personal, reflective way to reveal the personality of the area. The contest judge for 2023 was renowned designer/art director DJ Stout. All entered photographs are submitted anonymously to the judge, who is given only their title and a random ID number.
Stout served as art director of Texas Monthly from 1987 until 2000 when he joined the international design consultancy Pentagram Design as a partner. He has been the principal of the Austin office ever since. He was named one of the “100 Most Important People in Photography” in 1998 by American Photography Magazine and was selected by I.D. (International Design) magazine in 2004 as one of its “Fifty American Designers.” He is the author of three books including his 2010 history of the Alpine Cowboys, The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Alpine Cowboys Baseball Club. Stout’s design retrospective, Variations on a Rectangle, was published by the University of Texas Press in 2015.
Many of Stout’s winning picks highlighted ranch life in the Big Bend. The 2023 H.L. Kokernot Jr. Memorial Award, which includes a $500 cash prize, was won by Vicki LeBlanc’s “Refresh.” Stout said about the image, “I love the action and how the thirsty dog and cattle make it clear how damn hot it is!”
The Charles Henry Trost Memorial Award (with a $100 cash award), was taken by Martin Theophilus’ “AHS Homecoming Game.” Stout commented, “This photographer captured the unique atmosphere of Friday Night Lights in Alpine.”
The remaining contest winners were “Favorite Place to be is with My Horse!” by Lindsey Arnold, “Oasis in the Desert” by Elizabeth Bigouette, and “Tug of War” by Shannon King, all receiving $50 cash prizes.
All of the winners and entrants as well as judge’s notes on all of the finalists for the #AlpineTXPhoto Contest are available for viewing on the City of Alpine’s visitor information web site: visitalpinetx.com
