Twelve photos, twelve themes,
twelve hours!! Would you be up for the challenge?? Two hundred of us keen
photographers certainly were as we eagerly took part in the 8th
annual NicePhotoMarathon held on
Saturday June 8th from 9am – 9pm organized by J.Jerrik and
his team from JJ Photo in Old Nice. The rules of the contest were simple – advance
20 Euro subscription, register by 9am on the day, collect your memory card,
Tram pass, and T shirt, check back to base at 1pm and 5pm to get your card
stamped, and then return by 9pm with your 12 final shots on the memory card
sequentially in the order that the themes were released – no cropping, no
photoshopping, no alterations of any kind……
Simple right?? Well certainly the organization
was simple – smooth and efficient, fun and friendly, but the themes themselves
were far from simple, and immediately set up a real testing challenge for the
day (especially for an Anglophone like me struggling with the subtle nuances,
double-meanings and connotations of the French language!!) Here they are in the
order they were announced (1-4 at 9am, 5-8 at 1pm, and 9-12 at 5pm)
1) Abstraction
2) Sixties
3) Pilier
de Bar (Bar Fly)
4) Degun (Nobody)
5) Double
Face
6) Grosse
Chaleur (Big Heat)
7) Rituel
8) Decadrage (Outside of the Frame)
9) Trainee(s) (Trails or prostitute)
10) Le
monde a l’envers (The World Upside Down)
11) Recreation
12) Mon
numero de participation (My participation Number)
For those of you who may be
struggling a little like me, “pilier du bar” is a barfly (who had to be found
at 11am in the morning), “degun”is Nicois slang for “personne” (nobody), decadrage
is where the main subject is outside the frame, “grosse chaleur” does have a
sexual connotation of being “hot” and “trainee” as well as meaning a trail or
track, is also slang for prostitute!! The last theme had me completely stumped
as my number of participation was 1832, and the best I could come up with at
the end of a long day was a very literal close-up of a velo bleu bike lock! But,
I do have to say that the level of challenge did really get the brain working,
and enhanced a really fun but tiring day…..
I am sure that there were some really
interesting and creative photographs produced on the day, and the best will be
displayed at the artspace MUSEEAAV from Thursday June 27th when the
winners will also be announced at 6.30pm and awarded with their prizes. So, if
you are a budding photographer, and keen to participate in NicePhotoMarathon
2014 why not go and take a look?? Remember, as a participant, you will certainly get the T shirt!
Contact
Details www.nicephotomarathon.com
PS - Can you work out which of these images goes with which theme??
