Today we feature three images that were singled out by the judges of the American Photo Open 2023 contest in May—two of them portraits. The first, from San Diego-based photographer Pamela Case, features a Mongolian eagle hunter whom she encountered after a long journey. The second, from Oakland, California-based professional photographer Nicolo Sertorio, comes from a series featuring spiritual leaders in his hometown. There is also a stirring still life that reimagines what paper can be.

Now is the time for you to enter the contest: It’s open to photographers at any level using any device, from DSLRs and mirrorless cameras to smartphones. All Open winners will receive prizes including selected products and services from our partners Tamron Americas, SanDisk, PhotoShelter, The Photo Closer and  Vital Impacts, whose mission is supporting organizations who are protecting people, wildlife and habitats. (Go here to see more).

The Open Grand Prize winner will receive $5,000, a Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 (model A063) for Sony mirrorless cameras ($899 value), a SanDisk 1 TB Extreme Pro Portable SSD, the choice of an 8x10 open edition print with a certificate from Vital Impacts, a 2-year Pro account from our sponsor PhotoShelter, and a 2-hour business consultation with The Photo Closer.

In addition, Tamron Americas is once again sponsoring our Landscape and Travel category Grand Prize and runners-up winners. (Please note this is open to residents of USA and Canada only.) The Tamron Grand Prize winner will receive a Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD (model A058) for Sony mirrorless cameras ($1,899 value). All Tamron entries will also be eligible for the Open prizes, so there is no need to enter twice. You can enter both competitions as many times as you wish. The deadline is August 31.
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Nicolo Sertorio: “Imam Sundiata Rashid”

Nicolo Sertorio has been working as a full-time commercial and fine-art photographer for some 20 years now. “Photography has been a big part of my life since I was 8 and my mum gave me a Nikon F. I switched from a soul-less corporate job in 2004 to full time photography, first assisting, then shooting weddings, then taking on editorial and advertising work and having my first gallery shows,” he says. Among his most recent personal projects was one exploring faith in contemporary urban communities, with a focus on his hometown, Oakland, California, a city known for its diversity. The work comprises environmental portraits of spiritual leaders, along with audio interviews. The photograph above features Imam Sundiata Rashid of Oakland’s Lighthouse Mosque.

The work, writes Sertorio in an artist’s statement, was born of questions he had regarding faith: “Why are there so many places of worship in the city of Oakland, and yet there is more violence than ever? Why is attendance lower than ever? Can the current spiritual leaders provide answers, offer solutions, guide us forward? And so, who are they, as people, spiritually, and as members of the community?”

Sertorio shot the portrait with a Nikon D850 and 50mm f/1.4 lens. “The biggest challenge was security,” he notes. “Oakland gets a lot of gun robberies.”

See more of Nicolo Sertorio’s work at his website.
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Pamela Case: “Pride in Tradition”

“As I got close to retirement I began to travel with a photography group, and their tours gave me the opportunity for more exotic photography adventures,” says Pamela Case. A self-described serious amateur photographer from San Diego, Case traveled to Mongolia in the summer of 2022 to visit and photograph the region’s famed eagle hunters. It turned out to be a memorable sojourn.

“I flew from San Diego to Amsterdam then on to Istanbul and finally to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia,” she says. “We spent a few days in the city and surrounding area before another three-hour flight to Uglii, a city in the far west of Mongolia, and had a two-hour drive on unpaved roads to the valley where the nomadic hunters were. The people were all thrilled to see us and share their homes (gers) and even meals with our group."

The man in Case’s portrait above was among a group of hunters who gathered to display their skills on horseback and with their eagles. Case shot with a Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera and a Nikkor Z 70-200mm f2/.8 lens at 70mm.
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Walter Colley: “Just Paper”

“This image was part of a series that I started as one of my thesis projects,” says Walter Colley, a commercial photographer based in Rochester, New York, and a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology. “I based the series on an assignment from a former RIT photo professor who asked students to take a plain piece of office paper and produce still life imagery of it.”

Colley notes at his website that his passion for photography started when his grandfather put a Kodak camera in his hand at age two. It continued through his teens, when he shot for the high school newspaper and yearbook and worked as a stringer covering high school sporting events for the local newspaper, he adds.  

Though he’s photographed a variety of subjects, Colley says still life is his favorite genre. “So when I find myself in the studio, I am at peace. And I tend to thrive creatively,” he says.

See more of Walter Colley’s work at his website.