Winners named in Best of COVID-19 Photo Exhibit

(CMR) The top three photos in a COVID-19 photo exhibit competition hosted by the National Gallery in collaboration with the Cayman Islands Government have been chosen.

The online photo exhibition that explored the COVID-19 lockdown’s impact on the community had photos displayed in three main categories. The top three photos in the three main categories: Family/Time Indoors, Nature and Outdoor Time, and Community, were selected from 72 entrants.

Lisa Reid with Our Street, Our Bubble; Claire Birchall/Graziela Portela with#stayhomeCayman; and Maggie Jackson with Feeling a Little Upside Down emerged winners.

Organizers said only a few points separated the top three in each category of the competition.

Feeling a Little Upside Down by Maggie Jackson won the Family Time/ Indoors category.

Deputy Governor and Head of the Civil Service, Hon. Franz Manderson congratulated those who participated in the “creative and meaningful look at how we as a community fared in 2020 to the rigors of life dictated by a pandemic.”

Together we faced many challenges which called for many sacrifices. Yet the year has proved we are a strong, resilient community. My kudos to the winners and also all who participated,” Manderson said.

The Deputy Governor continued, “My congrats also go the National Gallery for providing a conduit for our community members to place their individual experiences into perspective and share these with the wider community. Plaudits all round!”

“A year on, some of the changes we had to make have become our new normal. And, while we are still working through challenges, we are in a far better position than many other places. A growing portion of our population is being vaccinated, and we can look forward to the reopening of our borders.”

The Deputy Governor encouraged all to “take a few moments to look back at our time during and immediately after our COVID lockdown.” He added, “I hope the images in this collection will remind us of the reasons we have to be grateful and to celebrate.”

Cabinet Secretary Samuel Rose said: “The caliber of the entries was simultaneously a testament to the strength and the ability of our community members to rise to the occasion. We are pleased to support this special exhibit which transcends policy and regulations and connects our community to the personal stories of the COVID lockdown.”

Gallery Director Natalie Urquhart commented, “The personal photographs submitted by individuals in our community form an invaluable record of how deeply the COVID-19 pandemic affected our people as they met the new challenges that threw lives into disarray. We in the National Gallery thank all the participating photographers for sharing vignettes of their experiences dealing with this relentless global pandemic.”

She added, “Thanks are extended to the exhibition jurors: Alanis Linwood, Suzette Hislop, Jennifer Ahearn, Wil Bignal, and Justin Uzzell.”

The top three participants in each category are listed below.

In the Family/Time Indoors category, which attracted 22 entries, top scorers were:

1. Maggie Jackson with Feeling a Little Upside Down;

2. Jim Gates with Kai; and

3. Ayanna Dacres with New Perspective.

In the Nature and Outdoor Time category, which received a total of 26 entries, the top scorers were:

1. Lisa Reid with Our Street, Our Bubble;

2. Heather Holt with Beyond Blue; and

3. Shane Nobee Edwards with Evening Fishingon Coxin Bank.

In the last category Community, which had 24 entries, the top three were:

1. Claire Birchall/Graziela Portela with#stayhomeCayman;