WINNER: FINE ART

Grace Elizabeth Phelps-Roper

washburn university, Topeka, KS

“Coast”

Chalk this winning entry up to serendipity. “A happy accident led to the final image,” says Grace Elizabeth Phelps-Roper, 19, a freshman photography student at Washburn University. “The two shots were both taken on hilton head island in south carolina. We had rented bicycles and traveled all around the city that way. The first exposure is of my uncle riding his bike down the beach. The second one was done in the same frame while I was under a pier, kayaking. The resulting composite is a double exposure made in-camera.” Still, fine art isn’t her only focus. “I love taking portraits,” Phelps-Roper says, “but above all, I want to become a photojournalist.” Indeed, portraiture may have been hard to avoid in her household. certainly she was never at a loss for subject matter growing up. “My mom is one of 13 children and I am one of 11. So i’d like to thank my siblings, parents and extended family for always being such willing subjects and helping me develop my craft.”

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