Every year, Oceanographic magazine holds a competition for best ocean photographer of the year, and the finalists for 2023 are pretty incredible. Judged by a panel of some of the world’s leading ocean image makers, the competition has nine categories that encompass a wide range of styles and subjects, including Ocean Conservation, Adventure, Wildlife and Fine Art photography. Last year, the award was won by French surf photographer Ben Thouard with a photo of a surfer getting held under in Tahiti.

All category winners, as well as the overall winner, will be announced in September. They will then be featured at an exhibition in Sydney, Australia. The details of the exhibition are to be announced along with the winners.

A selection of the photos are featured above, with a full list of finalists and more information on them available in the Winners Gallery on the Oceanographic magazine website. Of particular interest is the entry from Gergo Rugli. His piece, entitled Warrior, depicts a surfer dropping in to some dramatically stylized Sydney surf.

“This afternoon was one that I am never going to forget,” writes Rugli in his description of the piece, “A big swell reached Sydney’s coastline with some waves reaching over 10 feet in height. Very few surfers had the courage to fight with these monsters. It was just before sunset, and the sky was covered with clouds. I didn’t expect any colors, but just before the sun reached the horizon, a gap opened up, and the setting sun painted the whole sky with mysterious red light. I wanted to create a dreamy feeling and started to shoot with a slow shutter speed to capture the unique scene.”
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Alice Hawkins has never photographed her idol, Dolly Parton, but she has photographed many Dollys.

One Dolly is on horseback, red heels in stirrups and blonde curls piled high on her head. In another image, two Dollys link their arms around each other’s waists, fingers fanning out with long acrylic nails. Elsewhere, another Dolly — Hawkins herself — dons a crisp white skirt suit to pose outside of the small chapel in Dollywood, the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee-amusement park owned by the Queen of Nashville herself.

Hawkins is a British photographer, born more than 4,300 miles from Memphis, where Parton broke into the music industry. But she’s spent the past decade-plus dressing up as the singer, making multiple series about her own sense of self — and that of other Dolly superfans — through the glittering facet of Parton’s image.

Emulating Parton’s flamboyant style has given Hawkins “a lot of self-belief,” she said in a phone call with CNN, teaching her to “embrace” her femininity and sexuality in a way she hadn’t always felt comfortable with.

Hawkins has long loved the extravagance of Parton’s Americana, and was already a fan of her music when she first saw the country star perform in 2002 at a small venue in London. But there, she found herself “spellbound,” she explained. “I left knowing that I’d found my idol.”

“I’m a country girl myself, from Suffolk,” Hawkins said of the kinship she feels with Parton, despite their geographical and generational distance. “I grew up in a village, didn’t have much money. And I moved to London, my own ‘cup of ambition,’” she explained, quoting the lyric from Parton’s classic 1980 song “9 to 5.” Today, she lives just outside of the city, raising her children while working as a photographer.

Earlier this year, she released “Dear Dolly,” a book that presents several Parton-inspired photo projects, from sumptuous, staged portraits of Dolly impersonators to stripped-down nude self-portraits of Hawkins’ own pregnancy, in which she channels the singer through voluminous hair.

Defiant glamour

Through Hawkins’ lens, being unapologetically feminine can be an act of defiance against gendered stereotypes.

In the intro of “Dear Dolly,” Hawkins writes on some of the moments that have undercut her self-worth: a relative describing her “like a tart in season,” when she dressed for a night out as a teenager; a headmaster questioning her intelligence before an important exam. “(There’s) lots of negative judgments and assumptions, on your intelligence on your ability,” she told CNN. Women like Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith, whom she also idolized in her younger years, “stuck two fingers up” with their platinum hair and comfort with their sexuality, she wrote.

In the blush-hued, bedazzled world of “Dear Dolly,” Hawkins and the other Dollys — Kelly O’Brien, Trixie Malicious and Claire Moore — radiate a sense of joy, freedom and self-assuredness. It’s both a love letter to the country superstar and the sisterhoods formed in her name. For Hawkins, the work has also been an outlet she could turn to in difficult times.

“I’ve made the work when I felt quite desperate or full of grief, or terrified about my future and my identity,” she said.

Hawkins first visited Dollywood in 2010 at the suggestion of her husband while traveling to the US, following the unexpected death and funeral of her closest friend. She was deeply depressed, she said, but found solace in her experience at the park, located near the small cabin where Parton was raised in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. “It was healing,” Hawkins recalled.

The following year, after one of her editors at the early 2010s British fashion magazine Ponystep unsuccessfully pitched a shoot with Parton, Hawkins instead suggested an editorial where she could “walk in her footsteps” in Dollywood, prompting the first project where she began to dress like the country star.

But Hawkins doesn’t consider herself an impersonator, and she doesn’t “go fully Dolly” on a day-to-day basis, she said. “It’s not really me, it’s my work. Sometimes I have acrylic nails, but I’m not that hyper-glamorous. That’s just my fantasy.”

One of her collaborators, O’Brien, meanwhile, is a Parton impersonator — and a convincing one, at that.

“I’ll never forget that we were in her pub in her little village in the English countryside. She was Dolly down to a tee, sitting at the bar, having a drink while I was shooting,” Hawkins recalled. “And this customer came in, and he was completely convinced she was Dolly Parton. We just could not burst his bubble.”

“She stayed in character, and she was like, ‘Well, thank you, honey,’” she continued. “I hope nobody told him otherwise.”

Photographing “Dear Dolly” has changed Hawkins life in many ways, she said. She “found a sense of belonging” through the friendships she’s made through a shared love for Parton. She has memories of things she never would have thought she’d do, like stepping on stage in Nashville to karaoke “In My Coat of Many Colors,” which “was terrifying,” she said with a laugh. “I can’t actually sing but I went for it and (the audience) were very kind to me.”

Hawkins has met Parton, too, several times at her shows, and she hopes she’s seen the book.

“She has taught me that I can be blonde, sexy, and almighty at the same time — and respected,” Hawkins said.

She knows she can always turn to Parton when needed, and step into a pair of rhinestone high heels. “I’m lucky that I’ve got that — her music will be forever.”

Desert Bloom by Marcin Zajac, 2023 First Place Winner in the Utah Dark Skies Category.

Milky Way above the Turquoise Wonderland by Petr Horálek, 2023 First Place Winner in the Creatures of the Night Category.

The sky is like a dome, covering field by Wang Tianwei, 2023 First Place Winner in the Connecting to the Dark Category.

The Capture the Dark Photography Contest celebrates photography’s important role in the dark sky movement.

TUCSON, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES, August 22, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — DarkSky International recently hosted its Fourth Annual Capture the Dark Photography Contest, presented by Visit Utah, to celebrate photography’s important role in the dark sky movement. The contest received 494 entries from participants worldwide to the ten categories:

● Connecting to the Dark – Experiencing a natural night provides perspective, inspiration, and leads us to reflect on our humanity and place in the universe.

● International Dark Sky Place – Now over 200 protected lands and municipalities worldwide have been certified by DarkSky as an International Dark Sky Place, creating havens for astrophotographers.

● The Impact of Light Pollution – Light pollution can significantly impact the environment, human health, and our access to the night sky. This category also includes images of terrible lighting, glare bombs, etc.

● The Bright Side of Lighting – Light pollution can give artificial lighting a bad reputation, but lighting that follows DarkSky’s Principles for Responsible Outdoor Light can be beautiful, healthy, and functional.

● Creatures of the Night – Light pollution doesn’t only erase our view of the stars; scientific evidence suggests that artificial light at night has adverse and deadly effects on wildlife, including amphibians, birds, insects, and mammals.

● Deep Sky – For thousands of years, humans have looked to the night sky and wondered what is out there. Today, we can take photos of deep space objects from our own backyards.

● The Mobile Photographer – No big camera? No problem! A photo from any of the above categories that was taken with a cell phone, tablet, or GoPro. No DSLR, mirrorless camera, or drone shots.

● Youth – A shot for any of the above categories taken by someone 17 years old or younger.

● Utah Dark Skies – A photo taken in one of the most popular destinations to capture dark skies — Utah, U.S.

● People’s Choice – Voted on by the public.

“This year we saw some of the most beautiful photos from around the world that we have ever seen,” said DarkSky International Program Associate Michael Rymer. “These brilliant views of the night sky show how our place in nature does not stop at the horizon, and that the sky above is as much a delicate and beautiful resource that we must protect and reclaim.”

“Congratulations to this year’s Capture the Dark Photography Contest winners and the awe-inspiring photos,” said Vicki Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism. “Astrotourism and dark sky messaging complement our Red Emerald Strategic Plan, which aims to elevate life in Utah through responsible tourism stewardship. Preserving dark skies helps communities establish long-lasting tourism economies and keeps our places Forever Mighty^®.”
– Vicki Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism

A global panel of esteemed judges composed of Imma Barrera, Ian Lauer, Jeff Dai, Parisa Bajelan, Ben Coley, Dr. Lin Qing, reviewed the photos using criteria that included technical skill, composition, connection to the category theme, and ‘wow’ factor and we have the results!

Winners of each category will receive a prize package that includes a feature in DarkSky’s Nightscape publication, DarkSky’s blog and social media, a DarkSky membership, DarkSky and Visit Utah swag, and a Peak Design Field Pouch. Additionally, one photograph will be presented with a “People’s Choice Award” based on votes by the public. This winner will receive a prize package that includes a $250.00 gift card to B&H, a feature in DarkSky’s Nightscape publication, the organization’s blog and social media, a DarkSky membership, and DarkSky and Visit Utah swag. Review the official contest rules and eligible photographs here.

To see the winning photos, visit the official website for the photography contest at capturethedark.darksky.org and check out the official announcement on the DarkSky blog.

About DarkSky International

DarkSky International, headquartered in Tucson, AZ, USA, is a recognized global authority on light pollution, empowering a global movement to protect the night sky. DarkSky restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation. Since 1988, our global community of dark sky advocates have protected more than 200 International DarkSky Places, enacted dozens of responsible lighting policies, and raised awareness of light pollution on every continent.

Susan Serven
DarkSky International
susan.serven@darksky.org
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