Regier places in CCCU photo contest
It isn't often that students take the time to look at the numerous posters filled with information spread around the Tabor College campus, but for one sophomore, a poster for a photography contest grabbed his eye.
Jonathan Regier, a Hillsboro native, entered Focus 2003, a photography contest sponsored by Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, because of posters around the college campus, he said.
The photograph that Regier submitted to the contest won honorable mention in the "create" division. The contest featured five categories: change, create, learn, live and touch.
According to Brandon Rush, project coordinator of the Focus contest, "criteria for winners of all categories was for the photographs to be high-quality, interesting photos that help in telling the story of Christian higher education."
Regier's photograph, featuring Michael Woods, a junior at Tabor, was selected to receive honors from over 600 photographs submitted by photographers from more than 40 CCCU schools. In Regier's category, there were an estimated 200 photographs, Rush said.
According to Regier, his photograph, taken during the summer of 2003 during CrossWise tour, was the cause of his interest in the CCCU contest. The tour with CrossWise, a youth ministry organization from Tabor that ministers to youth through camp settings, youth groups and church activities, was the setting for Regier's award-winning photograph.
"Mike Woods and I got the idea for the photo together," said Regier. "I took pictures this summer on CrossWise and enjoyed getting creative."
The photographs entered in the contest were judged by a jury consisting of the four members of the CCCU Communications team and four additional staff members from the Washington D.C. office.
Regier's work was one of two finalists in the "create" category and finished a close second, Rush said.
"Jonathan's photo showed creativity on a few different levels," he said. "For one, it is a photo of a student working a sound board, presumably at a concert, which relates to the creative arts.
"It also is creative in the unique angles and lighting of the photo, which draw the curious viewer in, as the photo at first is ambiguous — then after a few seconds, the viewer realizes what she/he is looking at — a close-up angle of a soundboard."
According to Regier, his photograph also uses the element of command to make the viewer interested in the CrossWise soundboard.
"The focus is on the board, and Mike commands the viewer to look there," he said. "Mike is in control."
Regier's interest in photography spawned from his first summer on tour with CrossWise.
"My first year on CrossWise, (Tabor graduate) Brian Wall got a cool digital camera," Regier said. "I got one for my second year and found out that I enjoy taking pictures."
For the Biblical Studies major, photography is "just a hobby" and he says his favorite thing about taking photographs is enjoying the beauty of God's creation.
While Regier didn't win a cash prize for receiving honorable mention, his photograph has been published on the CCCU website, located at www.cccu.org/focus. The award is an honor for Regier, said Don Krebs, interim dean of students at Tabor.
"With Jonathan's creative abilities, you are able to see a whole new angle and perception of his subject."
