Communication Arts 2022 Photo Annual

I am very excited to announce that the Astronaut on Planet White Sands images shown above have been chosen for inclusion in the 2022 Communication Arts Photography Annual, which will be published in the July/August 2022 issue of Communication Arts (CA). The CA Photography Annual is one of the most exclusive photography competitions in the world. The Communication Arts Photography Annual competition has been held for the last 63 years making this one of the oldest photography competitions in the World. From the Communications Arts press release, “Of the 2,241 entries to the 63rd Photography Annual, only 117 were accepted, making the Photography Annual the most exclusive major photography competition in the world.” My congratulations to all of my peers who were also included in the Photo Annual this year as well. Overall, the quality of the work on display was quite impressive and very inspirational. I can’t wait to get the print version of the magazine and spend a little more time perusing all of the great images.

For those not familiar with Communication Arts, here is a description from the press release of the magazine, which is more like a high-end book than a magazine: “Communication Arts is a professional journal for designers, art directors, design firms, corporate design departments, agencies, illustrators, photographers and everyone involved in visual communications. Through its editorials, feature articles and the annual competitions it sponsors, CA provides new ideas and information, while promoting the highest professional standards for the field. With a paid circulation of 25,000, CA has a rich tradition of representing the aspirations of a continually-growing and quality-conscious field of visual communications. Now in its 63rd year, CA continues to showcase the current best—whether it’s from industry veterans or tomorrow’s stars—in design, advertising, photography, illustration, interactive and typography. Everything is reproduced with printing technology and attention to detail unmatched by any trade publication anywhere.”

For me personally, getting the email that another set of my images made it into the Photo Annual, this being my fourth time to be included in the CA Photo Annual over the last decade, is a confirmation of how we knocked it out of the park on this assignment for New Mexico Tourism. Along with the notice, I also received an email that I could announce that my image was included in the Annual, even though the July/August issue is just starting to ship out right now. Having seen a PDF of the July/August issue I have seen that Communication Arts also included one of the Astronaut images on the opening page of the Photo Annual section as well–as shown below.

The images included in this set were all created for New Mexico Tourism and specifically for the City of Alamogordo and the New Mexico Museum of Space History. For the full story on this assignment, and to see a larger set of images, check out my Fall 2021 Newsletter and this web gallery on my website. My thanks to New Mexico Tourism and Bill Stengel–who brought me in for this assignment–for giving me the opportunity. Big props also go to Mike Shinabery, who was in the astronaut suit, and the New Mexico Tourism team for bringing this assignment to life and for all the hard work to help create these images. Also, my sincere thanks to Communication Arts and the jurors who chose the winning images: Mike Davis, Jennifer Dorn – Variety, Luis Paulo Gatti, Natalia Jiménez – Washington Post, Marcia Minter – Indigo Arts Alliance, Nikki Ormerod – Undivided Creative, Adrienne Pao – Academy of Art University School of Photography, David Roennfeldt – 3 Deep Design, Marcus Smith, and Steve Wallington – The Photography Movement.