The Buddy Holly Center, here in Lubbock, sponsors a biennial photography competition called Illuminance. Brett Erickson was the juror and he selected “A Musical View” as the theme of the show. His juror’s statement said, “Music and photography have been long linked; Ansel Adams frequently equated the variation in black and white images to the keys on a piano. Yet the relationship is more complicated and nuanced than the analogy implies, and this show invites photographers to explore the intercourse of tone, color, and image in all its powerful permutations.”

That was hard to understand, and it took me a while to to find images that felt musical to me, but that weren’t photos of music or musicians. I eventually settled on my entry, choosing a wider-than-normal set of photos that I thought met the spirit of the call for entries.

The results were announced last week.

This shot, from February, was awarded an honorable mention:

All But One – Lubbock, Texas

My photo that I made during the workshop with Sam Abell in February was awarded second place:

That One Particular Orange – Santa Monica, California

That very happy news was in the first email I got. Then later, another email arrived with even more news – that four more of my images had been accepted:

Light, where once was darkness – Jordan River, British Columbia

One Tree – Lubbock County, Texas

Cowboy, framed – Denver, Colorado

In the room of sorrows – Santa Fe, New Mexico

I am astonished and humbled by these selections for the show.

Now, it’s no secret here on the blog that Brett and I are good friends. But that’s not how I got into the show: he didn’t know who any of the photographers were, and in fact, didn’t even know until I told him last night how many of my images had been selected. His exact words were, “Dude, you got SIX in?” (He was kind enough to not say out loud, “Oh, no. I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.”) Seriously, though, my meeting Brett, first through our blogs and then through classes and shows, has been a pivotal part of my evolution as a photographer. He challenges me, and teaches me, and inspires me.

The show will be up from the first of June through July 22. If you’re in Lubbock, please stop by.