They came, they saw, and they took their very best shots. The city youths who always get snapping whenever the Musée Héritage Museum sounds the call have once again submitted their best pictures. It's called Take Your Best Shot and it's back for its annual appearance just in time for the holiday season.
And once again, many people will surely be impressed by the quality. Just take it from Catherine Page, one of the judges.
"It's amazing what the kids are doing. I was really surprised at the younger kids, especially. I didn't have any expectations except that I was told that they were surprisingly good."
This year, entrants were given the theme of 'Old Stone, New Steel'.
Joanne White, the curator at the museum, described it as anything that isn't natural.
"It's about our built environment. We've done a lot of nature; we've done a lot of St. Albert history themes and various things like that. We thought we'd switch it up and give them something different to work on."
Kids in grades 3 to 12 were invited to take any photograph that demonstrated that theme.
Page, a member of the St. Albert Photography Club, has never been a judge before but she was more than pleasantly surprised by what she saw from these young talents.
"It wasn't easy. There was a lot of really good stuff."
She added that not only was she impressed with the fresh perspectives and experiments with the technology but that she was interested to see how the participants interpreted the theme. Even their descriptions of their photographs impacted the decisions of the panel of three judges.
White was as amazed as the judges but, then again, she's used to that effect.
"It's not always a surprise. They're always fantastic and we're always just so delighted with what comes in. It's always a real treat for me to put that all together in the gallery and turn it into an exhibit too because I've got all this great material to work with."
Clearly impressed with the collection of work, she said that many featured subjects that you would probably expect from a city of such architectural sites as the grain elevators and St. Albert Place. But many were taken outside the city, leading her to remark that the kids will always show you things that you least expect.
"You never know what you're going to get," White said.
The exhibit
Old Stone, New Steel will have its opening reception today from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Musée Héritage Museum. Many young photographic artists will be in attendance. The event will also see awards being given out to those photographers whose works were judged the best in each of the age categories.
The show continues until Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017. The photos are also available for viewing on the museum's website. Call 780-459-1528 or visit www.museeheritage.ca for more information.
