Thoughts on the Process – The Hal Grutzmacher’s Writers’ Expose

The 2011 photography judges study photo submissions.

The Hal Grutzmacher’s Writers’ Exposé and Photography Jubilee celebrates the creative process – each photograph, each poem, and each story represents time, patience, and skill from a budding or seasoned artist. This issue called for the same care and energy, the same attention to detail, along with some extreme organization skills.

This year’s contest received a record number of submissions, from all over the county, the country, and even France. There are no credentials to submit, except the willingness to experiment with creativity and bravely put it out there.

I organized each submission with an identification number and distributed the prose and poetry to a pre-screening committee consisting of Nik Garvoille, Jen Zettel, Steve Grutzmacher and Marge Grutzmacher. Over Cornerstone pizza and Pepsi, the screeners pared down the entries to send to our judges, who took the process on from there, choosing the featured pieces and offering comments and encouragement.

The five photography judges volunteered a summer morning to meet in the conference room and examine over 200 photos one by one. After a series of elimination rounds, they scrutinized and discussed before choosing the photos that grace the pages of the issue.

This final product has required a number of talented individuals’ time and expertise in writing, in photography, in graphic design, in public relations, in critiquing, and…meeting deadlines.

Thank you to everyone who contributed!