WILLOW CREEK — The Carnegie Library is putting out a call for photographers of all skill levels to capture Willow Creek through their lenses as part of a new competition and exhibition running through August.
The “Through the Lens: Willow Creek” competition will award prizes in four categories: landscapes and waterways, wildlife and nature, downtown and architecture, and people and community life. A fifth category, “Ice-Out Memories,” invites submissions of historical photographs documenting past Ice-Out celebrations.
“We have people stopping at the library every week asking where they can find good photography spots or old pictures of the town,” said librarian Doris Kim, who organized the competition. “This gives us a way to celebrate what people are already doing and build an archive for the future.”
Entries will be displayed in the library’s community room throughout August, with a public reception and awards ceremony scheduled for August 23. First-place winners in each category will receive $200 gift certificates redeemable at local businesses.
Jed Thorne, who will serve as a judge alongside two professional photographers from Presque Isle, said the historical category is particularly meaningful. “Some of the Ice-Out photographs from the 1950s and ’60s are extraordinary — real slices of town life,” Thorne said.
The competition is free to enter, with a limit of three submissions per photographer. The deadline for entries is July 25. Submission guidelines are available at the library and online.