Turning Back the Clock to WPPI Print Competition in 2007

Image by Catherine Hall

Looking at old photographs brings back memories and makes us feel nostalgic;
it is like a time machine bringing us to the time
​and places where we can see and feel everything in details. 
Chermed

I know I shared the photo above as a Throwback Thursday image a couple of years ago, but having just come back from WPPI recently, it's appropriate to share again and here's why.

If you were at the 2019 WPPI awards program, it was one of the longest in their history. Too many awards, too many speakers and too much fluff. Sheila and I had an early flight the next morning and left after 2 1/2 hours, and they still had albums, videos and Arlene Evans presenting the Bill Hurter Memorial Award to go, which was the reason we attended in the first place.

As negative as all of that sounds, it's a good thing, because Arlene is back as WPPI Director and one of her strongest qualities is listening. Every organization goes through transitions, and you can count on next year's event being more concise, short and with greater impact.

Plus, the number of categories, and in turn awards presented this year, were considerably more than we had twelve years ago. 

I know it's not the greatest scan in the world, but the album is too big for my flatbed. The image was a spread, and the gutter runs right through J.B. Sallee. Regardless, nothing takes away from the fun of the photograph.

Late in 2004, Maureen Neises from Graphi Studio had an idea - to do a day-in-the-life album of WPPI each year. This was the third in the series. Each book featured the work of four different photographers who were given the assignment to capture the WPPI story. Catherine Hall captured the images in this post. That's twelve years ago, and most of you should recognize a lot of the award winners from that year. Many of them are still competing, shooting and continuing on their quest to be the very best!

The other two images are about Arlene and her love for photography.  Few people in this industry can match her enthusiasm and passion for the craft as well as support for professional photographers. The fact that she's back "driving the WPPI bus," is one of the best things to happen to the organization for a long time!

I was with WPPI/Rangefinder Magazine for seven years and these photographs, along with others in the Graphi album, take me right back to that convention. It was the awards program where Tony Corbell and I were the MCs, and Ron Dawson launched one of the industry's funniest spoof videos, "Disgruntled Joe," first shown that night.

In the photograph at the bottom Tony Corbell is presenting an award with Arlene to Christian LaLonde.

There are several great reasons to take the time once a week and look at old images. First, they take us back to moments and memories in our lives. Second, they remind us of the importance of what we do for a living - we help people magically stop time. And last but not least, it's the perfect marketing tool for your blog, and reminding "Mom" it's time for a new family portrait!

So, were you there and how many of the 2007 top award winners do you recognize?

Happy Throwback Thursday!

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