Aperture, Pratt, and the Strand Book Store are pleased to announce the winners of the Eye on the Strand photography contest, which kicked off last fall and concluded March 31, 2009. The winners were chosen by a prestigious panel of judges from over 500 submissions featuring unique and creative photo representations of the Strand Book Store. The Grand Prize Winner will get to have lunch at New York City’s famous Balthazar Restaurant with world-renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark, and receive a collection of Aperture books, among other prizes.

The work of the grand prize, second and third place winners and twenty finalists will be featured in a special exhibition to open at the Pratt Institute CCPS Gallery on July 16, 2009. An opening reception will take place Wednesday, July 15 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. To read about contest details, including prizes awarded, and to view the winning images, click here to visit The Strand’s online photography gallery.

Grand Prize Photo Winner: Josh Robinson/“Strand Shadows”
Second Place Photo: Cary Conover/“Upside Down”
Third Place Photo and Viewers’ Choice Winner: Manjari Sharma/“Strand, The dreamer’s land”

Opening Receptions with the Winners and Finalists
Wednesday, July 15, 2009  6:00–8:00 pm
Pratt Institute CCPS Gallery
144 West 14th Street, 2nd floor, New York
(212) 647-7199

As part of the Eye on the Strand series, photographer Michal Chelbin will be at Strand Bookstore discussing her first monograph Strangely Familiar: Acrobats, Athletes and other Traveling Troupes, published by Aperture. Her images feature richly detailed, internally charged portraits of small town performers in circuses and other traveling troupes taken over a period of six years in the Ukraine, Russia, Israel and England. Chelbin’s most frequent subjects are children and adolescents, yet her work encompasses a mix of generations. Often captured in performance costumes, Chelbin’s palette is intense, with a distinctive use of saturated pinks, blues, and greens. Her black-and-white images, which are intermingled throughout the book, have an almost pictorialist richness.

Click here to buy a limited edition print from Michal Chelbin’s Strangely Familiar through Aperture.

Eye on the Strand Event with Michal Chelbin
Thursday, January 29, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Strand Bookstore
828 Broadway, New York
(212) 473-1452

Eye on the Strand is a photography contest co-organized by Strand Bookstore, Aperture and Pratt Institute and is open to amateur and professional photographers to submit photo representations of the famous Strand bookstore by February 27, 2009. There will be 24 winners chosen by a prestigious jury. Prizes include an afternoon with internationally renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark; 50 Aperture photography books; a group exhibit at Pratt CCPS gallery; a digital photography or computer graphics course at Pratt CCPS; a $350 B&H photo gift card.

The next Eye on the Strand event is a talk with photographer Hank Willis Thomas on Tuesday, February 10.