Whenever we have our picture taken, some of us fuss over how we look. We hope for a good hair day or think a certain angle is our best. Now imagine seeing your picture and thinking that outward appearance doesn’t match who you are inside. It’s a reality for a lot of trans women and trans men, but Orlando-based photographer Harry Aaron hopes to empower them through the truID Project. “I’ll be helping both masc and fem presenting transgender individuals both in Florida and beyond get portraits taken that really reflect their true ID, their true identity,” Aaron said. On a Saturday in early June, he transformed a local studio to feel like a Hollywood photo shoot with all the lighting, equipment, makeup artists and hair stylists one would expect to see at a big-budget shoot. “My background is a combination of sports, portrait, advertising,” Aaron said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with companies like WeWork, Peloton, WWE, body armor the Drink company.”He said that knowledge has helped him better serve the people whose pictures he’s photographing. “It’s brought me a wealth of experience behind the camera and getting a better understanding of how to make people feel comfortable in front of it,” Aaron said. Even though the trans men and women who participated in the truID Project got to feel like stars, they didn’t have to pay thousands of dollars to get their pictures taken.”truID Project is a pay-what-you-can portrait event series,” he said. “If you’ve got two bucks in your pocket, I’ll still send you off with a professional portrait.”Jaz is one of the people who had Aaron take her portrait.“It enlightened me. Brought me back to good times in my past life,” Jaz said.Even though her curiosity brought her to the photo shoot, she has a keepsake from the day to hold on to.“Just admire them. And show some associates from my peer support group or something like that,” she said. “I’m really impressed. It’s like, it’s so cool.”Aaron’s inspiration for the project stemmed from the recent news stories affecting LGBTQ+ people.“Seeing the barrage of negativity that’s been directed toward the trans and LGBTQ community overall, especially in Florida, I wanted to try and do something for those in my community, direct action, that could help people even on a 1-to-1 level,” Aaron said. And he received help from volunteers like Tiffany Borroso, the owner of Orlando Bridal Makeup. Tiffany said she didn’t think twice about volunteering her services to help.“I think it’s just so important for somebody to feel like they can represent who they are without hiding it or feeling scared or feeling like they can’t afford to do something like this,” Borroso said. “For me, I didn’t even think about not being paid or whatever being here on a Saturday, I don’t care what day it was. For me, it was important to be here and show up for the community in such a special way.”“I want this to be a situation whether you’re using it for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, whatever it may be- emailing it to friends and family that you haven’t seen in a while, I want to send folks off with a photo where they can say this right here is who I am,” Aaron said.

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Project Save Photograph Archives is thrilled to announce a major move to a new space this summer. The new location – 600 Pleasant Street in Watertown – will feature an exhibition gallery and larger office space.

When its doors open this fall, Project Save will be one of the few hubs for photography not just in the Boston area but in the entire region, featuring exhibitions from the archives, various workshops and lectures, as well as exhibits of contemporary photographers. 

The move represents a significant milestone and comes less than two years after the addition of new executive director, Dr. Arto Vaun, who has brought a fresh perspective and transformative vision to Project Save. Vaun’s commitment to elevating Project Save’s profile and highlighting its true value has already produced a wider impact and attracted a larger audience. 

Through initiatives such as the annual Artist and Research Residency, the Conversations on Photography series and interactive new website, Project Save has launched a bold new vision to claim its rightful place in the national and international field of photographic cultural work. 

Founded in 1975 by Ruth Thomasian, Project Save Photograph Archives is a groundbreaking nonprofit that champions photography as a means of preserving and sharing the global Armenian experience and social history in general. Its collection spans over 80,000 hardcopy original photographs from around the globe, making Project Save the oldest and largest such archive in the world. 

According to Vaun, “We’re living in a time when once again there are forces actively trying to rewrite history and erase any traces of Armenian culture. There’s no clearer, more powerful and direct evidence to counter such attempts than photographs.”  

In the past year, Vaun has also built a new advisory board with experts from premiere institutions such as the Getty Museum, the Smithsonian, Harvard, the Library of Congress, Boston Public Library and Oxford. The members range from curators and archivists to scholars and acclaimed photographers and artists. 

“The fact that such successful professionals who are non-Armenian have enthusiastically joined our board tells me that Project Save has great potential that’s beyond just the Armenian world,” Vaun said. “It also reaffirms the fact that Project Save’s legacy is extremely unique, important, and must be secured for future generations.”

According to Vaun, the upcoming move is part of a larger plan for growth. “Our 50th anniversary in 2025 will be a major milestone. The goal is for Project Save to secure its own permanent building in the next five years,” he said. “It would further solidify Project Save’s identity as one of the few important photographic archives and museums in North America, and one of the most vital organizations dedicated to social history and the global Armenian experience.”

Project Save has launched a JumpStart campaign to rally investors around its new vision and plan. “Amazingly, we’re like a 48-year-old startup,” said Vaun. “The product is already built, unique and strong. It has incredible potential and wide appeal. But there’s never been the proper kind of investment to realize that potential. So this is a very exciting and rare opportunity, not only for our organization but for all those who care about introducing a wider demographic to Armenian culture and history.”

Guest Contributor

Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

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BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR

The Friends of Council Grounds State Park are again holding their ninth annual amateur photography contest in 2023, and they want to encourage visitors to Council Grounds State Park (CGSP), located just north of Merrill, to “come and enjoy the park and remember to bring a camera along and take photos for the contest.”
Park visitors in previous years have captured some wonderfully unexpected and candid images of animals in the park and people enjoying Council Grounds, as well as great images of plants and landscapes, to enter into the contest.

Rules
There is no cost to enter and the rules are few and easy to follow. All photos entered into this year’s contest must have been taken within the boundaries of Council Grounds State Park between Aug. 1, 2021, and July 31, 2023, (a two-year period), and each person can enter only one photograph, so pick your best image to enter. Professional photographers and anyone who sells their photos are not eligible.
Images must be in color, submitted as high resolution digital JPEG files, emailed to: [email protected], and may only be submitted between July 1 and July 31, 2023. Keep images at their original aspect ratio (don’t crop them into weird thin photos) for best results. No panoramic, digitally enhanced, or altered photos. Submit images that be enlarged and clearly printed in an 8×10” format.
Photos can be submitted in one of four contest categories, so submit your photo in the best category for your photo’s subject matter.

Photo contest categories are:

• Plants (includes wildflowers, trees, shrubs, fungi, berries, cones, etc.)
• Wildlife (includes animals, birds, insects, etc.–anything found walking, crawling, hopping, or flying in CGSP.)
• People using the park (includes people engaged in any activity in the park–walking, hiking, cooking, swimming, biking, fishing, exploring, just relaxing, etc.). (Please do NOT include photos with recognizable faces of people.)
• Landscapes (includes broad scenes, sunsets, sunrises, rivers, etc. but remember, no panoramic images.)(This is the most popular category.)

Each photo submitted must include:

• Contest category
• Date taken
• Photographer’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number

By entering the contest, photographers verify the image is their own and agree to have their submitted photos used/copied/displayed/published (without fee or compensation) in conjunction with the contest, including in local publications, in articles relating to this or future contests; online at the Wisconsin Parks Website, on the Friends Facebook page, etc., and displayed in the Park contact station; on cards or postcards for sale by the Friends Group; and/or saved or re-used for any future purpose by the Friends of Council Grounds State Park group.
Any photo that does not comply with the contest rules, is not properly labeled, or is deemed inappropriate in any way by the Friends of Council Grounds State Park Board will be rejected.
Contest judges, DNR employees, and Friends Group members and their families are not eligible to enter.
Complete rules are available online at: dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/councilgrounds/photocontest or on the Friends of Council Grounds State Park Facebook page. Copies of complete rules are also available at the Park office and in the entryway at the Merrill Chamber of Commerce office.

Judging
After July 31, a panel of judges from the Friends Group will narrow the entries down to the top three in each category. Photographer names will not be revealed to the judges. Any category with fewer than eight entries may be canceled.
The three finalist photos in each category will then go to public voting to determine the final first-and second-place winners in each category. Public voting will take place from Aug. 15 through Aug. 31, 2023. Finalist images may be viewed on the Friends of Council Grounds State Park Facebook page, at the Park contact station, and at the T.B. Scott Free Library in Merrill, Wis. The public will vote on their favorite single image on the Friends of Council Grounds State Park Facebook page or by emailing their vote for their favorite image to [email protected] Only one vote per person. Duplicate votes will be eliminated.
Winners will be notified and announced in Sept. 2023.
First-place winners in each category will receive a 2024 Wisconsin State Park vehicle sticker. Second-place winners in each category will receive Council Grounds merchandise or a gift certificate valued up to $15.

Whether flying, hunting, breeding or preening, birds and their varied behaviors make for some stunning photos. From a female Baltimore oriole’s bright yellow feathers, to the iridescent shine of a pigeon’s neck, these winning shots from the 2023 Audubon Photography Awards showcase the beauty of bird life that can often go undetected.

Last week, the National Audubon Society announced the winners of the 14th iteration of its annual bird photography contest. A panel of 15 judges whittled down a submission pool of some 2,200 entrants from eight Canadian provinces, all 50 states and Washington, D.C. They looked at each image’s technical quality, originality and artistry.

The judges selected several honorable mention recipients and prize winners across eight categories, including one for videos and one for images of female birds.

The National Audubon Society holds the contestants to high ethical standards. As of last year, the nonprofit banned images taken using a technique called playback—when the photographer plays an audio recording of a bird’s own call or the sound of a predator. Some birders now see this as an unethical practice, as it can disrupt animals’ natural behavior, distracting them from activities such as feeding or protecting their young.

The organization also requires its photographers to leave a respectful amount of space between them and the wildlife. It suggests using telephoto lenses to zoom in, rather than closely approaching or baiting the birds. Birds nesting on beaches, in particular, require extra care, because frightened adults might leave their young vulnerable to predators or extreme temperatures.

Experts in bird behavior and ethical bird photography review all the images, looking for red flags that might suggest a photo was taken in a harmful way.

From the massive pool of entries, the images below rose to the top. They capture not only the beauty of birds, but their fascinating behaviors and the habitats that are critical to their survival. If you can’t get enough, Audubon magazine has shared a gallery of the contest’s top 100 photographs.

Grand Prize Winner: Rock Pigeon

It may come as a surprise to city-dwellers that the bird known for pecking at trash on sidewalks has earned the National Audubon Society’s top prize. But “when you take a minute to look closely at a pigeon, you’ll see that they’re quite beautiful,” contest judge Preeti Desai, the organization’s senior director of social media and storytelling, tells Audubon magazine. “In the right light, their iridescent neck feathers appear to glow.”

Liron Gertsman, a Canada-based professional nature photographer, captured this image of the much-maligned birds.

“I rarely point my lens toward pigeons, but I couldn’t resist as this pair, perched under a pier, carefully groomed each other’s feathers,” Gertsman tells the publication. “Purposefully exposing for the brighter parts of the image, I used the shadowy environment to create a studio-like black background for these remarkable iridescent birds.”

Though they have a reputation for being dirty, pigeons are fastidious creatures that frequently bathe. The social grooming behavior shown here, known as allopreening, is an affectionate courtship technique. Pigeon pairs tend to mate for life, stick together year-round and share parenting duties such as incubating eggs and raising their young.

Professional Award Winner: Atlantic Puffin

While on a road trip in Iceland, professional photographer Shane Kalyn and his wife heard a tip that they could see a puffin colony in the Westman Islands. About half of the Atlantic puffin’s breeding population nests in Iceland, where the rocky cliff sides create an ideal habitat.

After taking a ferry to the islands, the couple pulled over for a break.

“There, we saw a lone bird perched on the most amazing lava rock cliff, which was covered in colorful lichen and blooming wildflowers,” Kalyn tells Audubon. “It was raining, and the sky was dark, creating a moody tone. I knew this moment was special.”

Amateur Award Winner: Chinstrap Penguin

Amateur photographer Karen Blackwood was watching a group of gentoo penguins in Antarctica’s iceberg-filled Cierva Cove, when she noticed a lone chinstrap penguin standing on an iceberg.

“It peered over the edge, and I knew it was going to jump,” Blackwood says to Audubon. “I adjusted my settings, keeping in mind the pitching boat, moving iceberg and penguin that would soon be in midair. The bird jumped directly in front of me, diving straight into the water. I caught it just before it slipped beneath the waves and got both eyes and its perfect shape.”

Youth Award Winner: Dunlin

In Barnegat Light, New Jersey, a group of sandpipers stood on the rocky shoreline, foraging for a meal. Each time a wave came in, the birds would take flight for a few moments, just in time to avoid being swept into the ocean. Watching them, photographer Kieran Barlow tells Audubon he “became enraptured.”

“I hunkered down between boulders and waited,” he tells the publication. “It was a challenge not to fall between the wet, seaweed-covered rocks into the water.”

But by the time an hour had gone by, Barlow had captured this photograph of a dunlin taking flight with little time to spare before the wave hit the shore.

Female Bird Prize: Baltimore Oriole

Though the orange and black pattern of a male Baltimore oriole is perhaps more well-known—and featured in the logo for Baltimore’s Major League Baseball team—the species’ females are a sight to behold, and this one earned the Female Bird Prize.

This is the third year that the National Audubon Society has given this award, which is meant to highlight the female birds, which are generally less colorful than males and “often overlooked and underappreciated in birding, bird photography and science,” according to a statement from the organization.

Female Baltimore orioles construct a hanging pouch to serve as their nest, sometimes spending more than a week weaving together strong plant fibers to make a durable home for their young. Amateur photographer Sandra M. Rothenberg grew up watching the female orioles gather strands of grass or horsehair for their engineering feats. Now, she watches the birds in Warren, Pennsylvania, from behind a small blind, or a structure that hides her from the animals’ sight.

“This female barely landed to grasp a tangled clump of horsehair and natural hemp and sisal fibers caught on a branch. She was surrounded by a lacy, fluttering, diaphanous veil,” Rothenberg says to Audubon. “Off she flew into the woods with her prize trapped in her slender bill.”

Plants for Birds Winner: Verdin

In Tuscon, Arizona, amateur photographer Linda Scher saw her first verdin, a songbird that lives year-round in parts of the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico. She watched a pair of them make a nest in a cactus known as cane cholla.

Scher came back to the site about a month later and found the verdins gathering caterpillars to feed their young. As the winner of the Plants for Birds category, the image demonstrates the relationship between the verdin and the flora in its native habitat.

“In this photo, we see the role that native plants such as cacti play in providing critical food and shelter for birds—even in the harshest environments,” contest judge Marlene Pantin, partnerships manager for the National Audubon Society’s plants for birds program, tells Audubon. “I am struck by how the cactus seems to envelop the bird, providing a sense of care and protection for it.”

Fisher Prize: Brown Pelican

While photographer Sunil Gopalan was on a cruise in the Galápagos Islands, the lights of the boat attracted fish to the site where it was docked. To feed on the fish, several Galápagos sharks appeared, as well as a brown pelican. They competed for the fish, with the bird lifting itself into the air when a shark came near it.

To Gopalan, this was a moment that had to be captured, so he waited until the shark swam beneath the pelican, visible as a blurred silhouette.

“An interaction of species like that is a photo opportunity,” Gopalan tells Audubon. “I didn’t know if this sort of photograph was common, but for me, it was special.”

Professional Honorable Mention: Northern Hawk Owl

This snowy photo of a northern hawk owl earned Grand Prize winner Liron Gertsman a second accolade. Unlike other owls that hunt with their sharp hearing at night, northern hawk owls hunt from a perch during the day, watching for voles or other birds to swoop down on.

Looking for these creatures, Gertsman trekked tens of miles through snow-covered terrain to find this individual at the top of a tree.

“Even with snowshoes on, I was sinking down to my knees at almost every step,” he tells the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Lisa Bryn Rundle.

Amateur Honorable Mention: Reddish Egret

Amateur photographer Nathan Arnold spotted this reddish egret while kayaking at sunrise in San Carlos Bay–Bunche Beach Preserve, in Fort Myers, Florida.

When one of these egrets hunts, it pokes its bill into the water to snatch a fish, then tosses the prey into the air before swallowing it whole.

“I took this photo as the light over my shoulder illuminated water droplets and a small fish, right as the egret flipped its breakfast into its bill,” Arnold tells Audubon. “The scene felt surreal.”

Youth Honorable Mention: Green-winged Teal

After a winter with much less snow than usual in Alexandria, Virginia, one day in February had a forecast for flurries in the morning. Photographer James Fatemi went to Huntley Meadows Park and found this pair of green-winged teals to be some of the only birds visible in the marsh.

“After a few hours, they began their courtship ritual and mating just as large flakes started to fall,” he says to Audubon. “I hung my lens over the boardwalk to get a water-level view.”

Plants for Birds Honorable Mention: Tree Swallow

One early morning, amateur photographer Vicki Santello was on a kayak in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, when she heard a noise like a loud hum.

“My ears guided me to the source: thousands of tree swallows hunting insects on the wing and water surface,” Santello says to Audubon. “Their collective wing-beating generated the noise.”

Above the water, tree swallows flew in wide sweeping motions, foraging by snatching insects out of the air. And those aren’t leaves on the tree branches—they’re even more swallows, tightly packed together.