Walking down the streets of the City of “Subdued Excitement” you realize that you are not walking down just the same old streets in a regular town. There are hidden art murals down alleyways; sculptured benches allowing the sitter to become part of the art.

It is a college town where you can run into half your English class walking down State Street, but it is also a family community where kids and their parents ride their bikes down by the waterfront.

Does this describe the essence of Bellingham? Is it the sunsets, the sense of community, the art? Is it even a question that has an answer?

The City of Bellingham and the Whatcom Museum of History and Art sponsor a photography competition every year for the Bellingham community to answer this question and to capture what they believe to be the true essence of Bellingham.

This is the fourth year of the competition which was started under former Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson. Communications manager for the Mayor’s Office Janice Keller, City of Bellingham webmaster Steven Niedermeyer, and Mayor Dan Pike have kept this photography competition alive and well in the city.

“It is a treat for us all to view the results each year, and see how many different ways our beautiful, lively community is described via photography,” Keller said.

This competition provides an inexpensive solution to help the community collect photographs for historic records, Keller said.

“We look back 100 years from now; we’ll have a large, rich collection of photos depicting daily life and scenery in Bellingham,” Keller said.

The photographs chosen in the competition become a part of the archival photos at the Whatcom Museum. Garth Amundson, Western associate professor of photography and one of the judges for the competition, said he believes having this competition is important in establishing an ongoing history in Bellingham.

“It is an admiral thing for the city to have this archive,” Amundson said. “To have something that is significant, that represents the city and for the city to establish its own credibility is to document itself in its own existence.”

The essence of Bellingham for Amundson is the connection to the environment.

“I think that [it is the] link to nature, which seems really obvious but people come here for that,” Amundson said. “That is what makes Bellingham truly unique. To have the access to the mountains and to the water, I mean it sounds like a bad travel brochure, but it is amazing.”

This year’s Best in Show—first-place winner, Sandi Heinrich has entered the competition for the past four years and has won one of the top honors each year. Heinrich is a professional photographer who said she uses the competition to keep her eyes moving throughout the community for pictures of real life.

“I see Bellingham as a very health and outdoor-oriented, active, tolerant of the arts and alternative lifestyles kind of place,” Heinrich said. “This is what I look for to capture in my pictures. I look around my community and it’s vibrant with life and positive energy, and I try to be a part of that.”

The jury statement released by the Mayor’s office said Heinrich’s winning photo, “Blissfully Unaware” was a picture that represented the year.

The official jury statement described the winning photo as rich with imagery and anything but ‘unaware.’

"The baby’s dynamic face, uplifted eyebrows and other vivid expressions speak volumes about hope. This child has expectations! The photographer captured an amazing moment of expression on the faces of both the baby and our President... This is Bellingham, in celebration, in our cherished Mount Baker Theatre on Inaugural Day 2009.”

Amundson said  they chose Heinrich’s picture because not only is it important to capture what you believe the spirit of Bellingham is, but it is also important, especially for archival purposes, that it capture a moment in time that could be a symbol of what had happened in Bellingham last year.

“The appetence for the primary theme for Essence of Bellingham was to find images that represent the year,” Amundson said. “So the Obama image did embody the year at the Inaugural speech at the Mount Baker Theatre. The great juxtaposition of the baby in the foreground and Obama in the background is wonderful. It capitulates the year in Bellingham.”

Western graduate Paul Israel, who won Best in Show’s third place for his picture, “Marine Park at Sunset,” said this competition allows members of the Bellingham community to use their cameras so that everyone could get a glimpse of a new perspective on what the essence of Bellingham is.

 “We’re all living our own lives; part of different sub-cultures and niches,” Israel said. "It’s valuable to see Bellingham through someone else’s eyes.”

No one person can capture all of what Bellingham represents, Israel said. It is important to share experiences through visual artifacts such as photographs so that there is a wide variety of what the essence of Bellingham means to different people.

The winners from the 2009 competition were celebrated and introduced officially by Mayor Dan Pike at the City Council meeting yesterday. The photographs will also be shown during the summer’s Downtown art walk; in addition to becoming part of Bellingham’s history in the archives of the Whatcom County Museum.

Comments (1)

Posted by justplainjen, on Jun. 30, 2009 05:35PM Hey Cejay,    I love that you did an article on this wonderful contest and Im so glad you showcased Sandi\'s amazing photo (which I still insist she enters in another contest - its got \"Time magazine cover of the year\" written all over it!    I just wish that you would have at least mentioned the fact that a 9 year old has won a place in the contest for the past 3 years and this year beat out 700 other photos - by professionals and amatuers alike.    Elijah Forslof - a 9 year old (going into 4th grade) elementary school kid - has won Best of Class for the past two years in his age group and this year, won second place in the entire competition. I think its a shame you didnt mention it at all - and I think the article would have been even better had you mentioned that a kid - any kid - has the ability to carry the same passion for photography that a seasoned professional or a WWU alumi has.     In a generation where they are struggling to keep arts in schools - it would be nice to show that some kids are passionate eough about it that they do it outside of school.    There really arent that many young ones entering - and with point and shoot cameras - its so easy to let them get out and shoot some photos - its way more interesting to see their perspectives sometimes. The future (and the real Essence of Bham) is the children we are raising now. :)    Thanks for your time. - Jen (Eli\'s Mom) Report

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