Hello everyone and welcome to ” Faces of Evanston” 2012 photography and videography competition.  Faces is entering it’s 8th year of competition with  cash prizes, a traveling display of photos and video throughout the Evanston community and a  reception at Noyes Cultural Arts Center to be hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Evanston, www.evanstonkiwanis.org . Along with our traditional concept we have many new changes we would like to share with you.

In Year “7″ we saw Faces adding a youth component to the event allowing the youth of Evanston to enter 5 photos and/or one video for free.  Additional photos and videos can be submitted with a $5.00 entry fee per photo/video.
We also saw the introduction of  video into competition.

As communication becomes increasingly interactive and the power of the web continues to grow and evolve Faces has also evolved to include additional dimensions as we enter the application age in technology.

Some changes we have made to this year’s competition include:

1)We have added Google Translate to allow the international community to view the photo/video and feel more included and interconnected.
2) We have added a 3D cube that allows the viewer to click on a photo and have the image go full screen.
3)We have also added a new plug in to allow this year’s entries to be viewed and voted on in a larger more interactive format.
4) We are adding links to the websites of our currents traveling exhibit sponsors with additional Evanston locations to allow more people to view the amazing photos and videos of Evanston via the web.  At present the photos travel to 10 different physical locations to be viewed and shared by the community but with the web it allows the photos to be viewed by a larger audience.

5) We have also instituted a permanent display location for prior year’s traveling exhibits in the Loraine Morton Civic Center.

6) We have removed the registration process for voting on your favorite photo in the “Voice of the People” part of the competition

Evanston, since its founding as a community, has been a leader in the changing landscape of society.  With its rich history, thriving arts community, world class university, amazing beaches we find Evanston to have a  strong sense of community and place.  You can often find people living in Evanston referring to themselves as Evanstonians, this exemplifies the pride people feel about being an Evanston resident and their community.

Faces hopes through this contest to provide a platform for  photographers and videographers to capture the images of our amazing city and help us view Evanston through their eyes.  .  This year’s theme is Simplicity.  It was chosen as a guide and direction for the photographer and videographer with a broad enough interpretation to allow for creativity and originality. So photographers and videographers take out your cameras the contest begins today.