The other day, my nephew Grant, currently on school assignment in North Africa, sent me some photos he took while quad biking in Namibia. He and his family were on their World Cup vacation to South Africa back in 2010, when he was a mere lad of 14, stationed in Lusaka.
Normally, I would expect a photo taken under these circumstances (quad biking? really?) to be like a snapshot. Yawn. Ho-hum. Way to go, nephew, and all that.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The photo (photos, actually; after I saw the first one I asked for more!) turned out to be inspiring.
He (or someone) submitted one of them to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, where it won a Gold Key. (Past winners of the award include Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath—you know, moderately talented dudes and dudettes.)
Check out how the light catches the drifting sands in the middle ground here, in the photo that DIDN’T win an award:
The award-winning photo is below. The gradation of tone from background to foreground and the ridge line running from the middle to the foreground promise great things to come from this young man:
Fantastic photos! Congratulations, Grant!