honorable mention
Jonathan Speyers united states
title
Staking On
While the tradition runs deep, this year’s freeze was anything but. And as the competition’s date approached, the fabled Huron rink sat in open water. Organizers considered the cost of cancelling altogether. Instead, they opted to adapt, relocating the large affair to a small inland lake still holding a solid surface.
This move is indicative of the record low ice levels witnessed across the Great Lakes in February.
Hemmed in by dense walls of northern pine, pock-marked and lacking the sheen of a Great - this was the little lake that could. Exhales left jet trails across the air. Then, boomboxes broke it. Sticks hit. Pucks flew. Cans cracked. Calves and quads cramped and cheered. The scenery had changed, the heart had not. And all that continued serves to remind, it is one’s commitment to persevere that brings triumphs worth celebrating.
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entry description
St. Ignace, Michigan, a tranquil port town nestled on the north coast of Lake Huron, is one of the oldest European settlements in the state. Each February, the town is also home to a long-standing pond hockey tournament, drawing in some 200 teams who brave the biting winds and take to the ice.While the tradition runs deep, this year’s freeze was anything but. And as the competition’s date approached, the fabled Huron rink sat in open water. Organizers considered the cost of cancelling altogether. Instead, they opted to adapt, relocating the large affair to a small inland lake still holding a solid surface.
This move is indicative of the record low ice levels witnessed across the Great Lakes in February.
Hemmed in by dense walls of northern pine, pock-marked and lacking the sheen of a Great - this was the little lake that could. Exhales left jet trails across the air. Then, boomboxes broke it. Sticks hit. Pucks flew. Cans cracked. Calves and quads cramped and cheered. The scenery had changed, the heart had not. And all that continued serves to remind, it is one’s commitment to persevere that brings triumphs worth celebrating.
about the photographer
Jonathan Speyers is a photographer based in Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of a Dutch immigrant and artist, his story sensibilities taking root while shadowing in the family studio. His work focuses on relationships - with self, between others - and the human experience in a rapidly changing world. Having covered stories in 30+ countries, his work bears a consistently expressive aesthetic, classically informed and steeped in empathy.back to gallery