The top photos in the 2007 awards program are on display at California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento. Photo by Mel Patrick.

2008 Awards Program

A panel is reviewing the 33 entries in the Center's 2008 awards program. Awards, previously announced at the "Conversations about Photograhy" conference, will be announced by June 1. For information, details about the theme are below.

The theme for the 2008 program is "sense of place" as related to the railroad environment. "Sense of place" is an idea developed by cultural geographers like John Stilgoe and Yi-Fu Tuan. They have redefined and extended the traditional definitions of landscape. According to these scholars landscapes are not merely places we travel through or see; landscapes are multi-layered places shaped by geography, history and architecture, or by economic, societal, and political forces. On a more personal level these landscapes can also resonate with us emotionally; a sense of place can be created from the meaning we confer upon it.

For most railfans the train traveling down the track has been the goal for photographs. This year's competition expands that goal. Stilgoe's book Metropolitan Corridor gives us an overview of the rich cultural heritage of the railroad environs and hints at other aspects along the rails that deserve our visual attention--the railroad's imprint upon the land has dramatically shaped many places adjacent to it. What does the railroad's relationship to the environments it traverses look like? With this years' theme we're encouraging railfan photographers to see beyond the locomotives and explore their favorite railroad environments with an eye toward revealing their essences: landscapes, cityscapes, neighborhoods, railyards, rail and and factory complexes. The panoramic features on today's digital cameras offer also more visual opportunities (and formats) helping to capture wider environments and juxtapose multiple elements that can create a sense of place in your photographs. Regardless of camera equipment chosen we hope this years' contest theme inspires some great photography.

Burgess Wins 2007 Award

Go to the Galleries and Comments

Keith Burgess' photos, tightly focused on the theme "fascination with railroad machines," received top honors and a Canon Powershot G7 digital camera in the 2007 awards program. Burgess lives in Troy, Michigan. "I picked up photography as a hobby in 2001. My initial interest was in capturing nature, but I soon found that my true passion was industrial photography. Combining this with my childhood fascination of trains, I gravitated towards railroad photography. Being self-taught, it took me some time to be able to capture the images the way I envisioned them. With the advances that Canon has made in digital photography, I had no hesitations switching from film to digital. I feel that with digital photography I was able to refine my skills and capture my dramatic and moody outlook," Burgess says about his photography.

Second place went to Lorenzo Kristov, Davis, California, and third to Alex Ramos, Berkeley, California. Kristov says: "If I had to sum up the primary goal of my photography in a single sentence, I'd say I want to lead viewers to find exceptional beauty and fascination in places and materials they would normally tend to overlook." Ramos, who is finishing his last year of high school, has been taking photographs for the last four years. "I mainly focus on photographing trains or anything related to the subject of railroads. I really enjoy photographing the human aspect of railroading," he says.

Runner-ups were Steve Crise, Pomona, California; John W. Coniglio, Hixson, Tennessee; and Kevin Scanlon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Forty-eight photographers submitted entries. The Center announced the winners at the conclusion of its fifth "Conversations about Photography" conference March 24.

The 2007 theme, fascination with railroad machines, was wide ranging. It could include machines in the environment, machines at work, railroaders working with machines, or anything as simple as a tie or switch stand or as complex a high horse-power locomotive. Photographers were judged on their ability to demonstrate creative, technical, and interpretative excellence in new and unusual ways. We want to encourage the caliber of work that is suitable for gallery and museum display. Railfan & Railroad magazine published the top winners in its July issue. Photos are on display at the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento.

2007 Galleries and Comments

2006 Awards Program

2002-2005 Awards Programs

Keith Burgess, the 2007 winner, with the Canon camera. Photo by Steve Crise.