COMIC RELIEF curated by Mara Zaslove
www.marazaslove.com

Note from Mara Zaslove: "The theme of this competition highlighted how personal and varied the interpretation of “humor” could be, both for the artist, and for the judge, and invited a real diversity of entries.  While going through the images, I found that my own ideas of “comic relief” had a lot to do with my likes and dislikes, which should remind artists of how subjective jurying any competition truly is.   This should encourage artists to try to enter every opportunity; often, one is pleasantly surprised at the outcome due to a synchronicity between photographer and judge."

The first place image by Larry Horowitz jumped out at me when I was first looked through the entries. It really mirrored my sensibility of capturing a spontaneous moment that tweaks one’s sense of humor.  It took a second look to put all of the pieces in the image together and then have a good chuckle.  I was first drawn to the figure on the sand, but when my eye roamed, the next thing I saw was the sign on the fence, a double entendre, and then I also noticed the photo of the apartments.  It seemed like the man on the sand had the best of both worlds!

The second place image by Betzi Stein differed from that of Larry Horowitz’s in that it seemed to have been choreographed with intent.  Yet, the outcome had a similar effect. Betzi’s images mirror each other, human to animal, and I wasn’t sure which one is anthropomorphized.  Do I reflect a dog’s character, or does it copy mine?  Again, it invited me to take a second look and then have a good laugh.

Carol Sahley “Rocket Man,” which earned the honorable mention, appeared to be the most technically adept image of the group.  It used digital enhancement/Photoshopping to enhance the viewer’s experience by injecting the artist’s creative narrative.  As a result, Carol’s goat took me to a childlike place, capturing the joy of envisioning the antics of this playful animal.
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Thanks to all that entered our competition and because part of our mission is to help charities, know that though you may not have placed, you HAVE helped others.

1- A percentage of your artist fees went to Zaslove's charity, the JOY Foundation/Jewels of Youth – www.jewelsofyouth.blogspot.com
2- A percentage of your artist fees also went to the first place winner's charity- The American Cancer Society - www.cancer.org

Click on links below to see results of competition.