1st place
gold star award
Stephen Majsak
united states
title
Looking Up/Looking Down
- A view looking up into the Buckminster Fuller Dome in the Miami Design District from the floor of the parking garage below with its unusual spiral staircase entrance into the building;
- A view of the stairway at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago from below – an angle missed by most visitors;
- The heavenly look down from the top balcony at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre with its grand murals to the left and right, Louis Sullivan designed lighting and soaring ceilings above the Dankmar Adler designed proscenium;
- A view down into the Vessel, Thomas Heatherwick’s 16 story honeycomb structure in New York’s Hudson Yards; and
- A view directly up from the center of the Vessel, wrapping the honeycomb walls with a hole in the center perfect for creating an abstract view of the surrounding skyscrapers.
All of these photographs were taken with a technique of taking a series of overlapping individual images and them merging them into a single image. By doing this, I was able to retain the clarity of individual 35 mm images while capturing the overall subject.
Ten of Mr. Majsak’s photographs were selected from 6,573 submissions from 72 countries by an international jury for the International Color Awards, the leading color photography competition & photography awards, judged by industry experts. His photo “Looking Up” received an Honorable Mention. “Looking Up” also received the Silver prize in the Architecture competition in the 2023 refocus awards. His photography has also been selected by the Black and White Spider Awards. In 2023, his photograph won the Edgewater Historical Society’s photo contest. He has also written & illustrated ABC Animals! named one of 38 top children’s book by Imagination Soup, and selected as one six books in the birth to 4 category by Illinois Reads, promoting reading statewide. His photography can be viewed on his website at www.studiostevephotography.com
In 2022, his children’s book, ABC Animals!, featuring his wildlife photos, was published by Silver Dolphin/Printers Row Publishing Group. ABC Animals! was named one of “18 Stunning New Animal and Nature Fiction Books” by Imagination Soup. In 2023, ABC Animals! was selected by the Illinois Reading Council as one of 36 titles and one of six books in the Birth to Four age category for the 2023 Illinois Reads program. In March of 2023, Mr. Majsak presented A New Twist on Learning the ABCs at IRC’s 2023 conference in Springfield, Illinois.
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entry description
Looking Up/Looking Down is a series of my photos playing with the perspectives of looking at objects from above and below:- A view looking up into the Buckminster Fuller Dome in the Miami Design District from the floor of the parking garage below with its unusual spiral staircase entrance into the building;
- A view of the stairway at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago from below – an angle missed by most visitors;
- The heavenly look down from the top balcony at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre with its grand murals to the left and right, Louis Sullivan designed lighting and soaring ceilings above the Dankmar Adler designed proscenium;
- A view down into the Vessel, Thomas Heatherwick’s 16 story honeycomb structure in New York’s Hudson Yards; and
- A view directly up from the center of the Vessel, wrapping the honeycomb walls with a hole in the center perfect for creating an abstract view of the surrounding skyscrapers.
All of these photographs were taken with a technique of taking a series of overlapping individual images and them merging them into a single image. By doing this, I was able to retain the clarity of individual 35 mm images while capturing the overall subject.
about the photographer
Mr. Majsak received his MBA in nonprofit management from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Prior to pursuing photography, he was a non-profit executive with social service and arts organizations.Ten of Mr. Majsak’s photographs were selected from 6,573 submissions from 72 countries by an international jury for the International Color Awards, the leading color photography competition & photography awards, judged by industry experts. His photo “Looking Up” received an Honorable Mention. “Looking Up” also received the Silver prize in the Architecture competition in the 2023 refocus awards. His photography has also been selected by the Black and White Spider Awards. In 2023, his photograph won the Edgewater Historical Society’s photo contest. He has also written & illustrated ABC Animals! named one of 38 top children’s book by Imagination Soup, and selected as one six books in the birth to 4 category by Illinois Reads, promoting reading statewide. His photography can be viewed on his website at www.studiostevephotography.com
In 2022, his children’s book, ABC Animals!, featuring his wildlife photos, was published by Silver Dolphin/Printers Row Publishing Group. ABC Animals! was named one of “18 Stunning New Animal and Nature Fiction Books” by Imagination Soup. In 2023, ABC Animals! was selected by the Illinois Reading Council as one of 36 titles and one of six books in the Birth to Four age category for the 2023 Illinois Reads program. In March of 2023, Mr. Majsak presented A New Twist on Learning the ABCs at IRC’s 2023 conference in Springfield, Illinois.
back to gallery