This just in: Mr. Right and I win third place

http://px3.fr/winner/zoom.php?eid=2025-07&uid=3225553


May 2008
WINNER OF PX3, Prix de la Photographie Paris
Beth Moser of United States was Awarded Third Prize in the 2008 Px3 Competition.

Paris, France
Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3) announces winners of the 2008 competition.

Beth Moser of United States was Awarded: Third Prize in category Fine Art for the entry titled, " Mr. Right ." The jury selected 2008’s winners from thousands of photography entries from over 85 countries.

Px3 is juried by top international decision-makers in the photography industry: Carol Johnson, Curator of Photography of Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; Gilles Raynaldy, Director of Purpose, Paris; Viviene Esders, Expert près la Cour d'Appel de Paris; Mark Heflin, Director of American Illustration + American Photography, New York; Sara Rumens, Lifestyle Photo Editor of Grazia Magazine, London; Françoise Paviot, Director of Galerie Françoise Paviot, Paris; Chrisitine Ollier, Art Director of Filles du Calvaire, Paris; Natalie Johnson, Features Editor of Digital Photographer Magazine, London; Natalie Belayche, Director of Visual Delight, Paris; Kenan Aktulun, VP/Creative Director of Digitas, New York; Chiara Mariani, Photo Editor of Corriere della Sera Magazine, Italy; Arnaud Adida, Director of Acte 2 Gallery/Agency, Paris; Jeannette Mariani, Director of 13 Sévigné Gallery, Paris; Bernard Utudjian, Director of Galerie Polaris, Paris; Agnès Voltz, Director of Chambre Avec Vues, Paris; and Alice Gabriner, World Picture Editor of Time Magazine, New York.

Winning entries from each major category (Advertising, Photojournalism, Book, Fine Art, Nature, and Portraiture) are exhibited in Paris at the prestigious Galerie Acte 2 from June 26-28 and published in the high-quality, full-color Px3 Annual Book, which is distributed to galleries, agencies, publishers and bookstores worldwide.

About the Winner:

Contact Beth Moser:
bethmoser@gmail.com
http://www.bethandmrright.blogspot.com



ABOUT Px3:
The "Prix de la Photographie Paris" (Px3) strives to promote the appreciation of photography, to discover emerging talent, and introduce photographers from around the world to the artistic community of Paris. Winning photographs from this competition are exhibited in a high-profile gallery in Paris and published in the high-quality, full-color Px3 Annual Book.
Visit http://px3.fr

For Press Inquiries, Contact:
info@px3.fr

How I met Mr. Right!

Mr. Right began after a long love relationship ended. It is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek statement on the illusion of the perfect mate, illustrated by how people interact with their significant others in photos. I’ve used this project as an opportunity to document my life for the past 4 ½ years. There is something about being photographed with a significant other that most of us can relate to. We tend to feel more comfortable and less vulnerable with someone we love. When you look at candid pictures of a couple, you are hopefully able to see and feel the happiness within the shared experience they felt at that moment. A photograph has the power to document and preserve, saying, “we were here, together”. If we’ve yet to find them, we wonder who our Mr. or Mrs. Right might be and we’re never certain when they might appear. This forces us to live our lives as fully as possible. Though it appears I am alone with my drawn-in Mr. Right, I am not by myself. I always had someone helping me, whether it was a friend or a stranger. Over the past 4 ½ years, I have met so many people who have become a part of this project and I have consistently noticed by peoples’ reactions that it seems to illicit both hope and laughter. It is important that while the viewer may laugh at Mr. Right and myself, hopefully one can ultimately relate to our moments together and picture themselves in my place. I used a Canon Elf Power Shot and set it to the highest quality the camera would allow. Mr. Right was drawn using Photoshop. I like that leaving him hollow allows the viewers to fill in their own vision of what he looks like. The images convey everyday candid pictures that people take to document their lives and relationships.

The first photo here is so old and I really didn't know a whole lot about file size back then and how to scan images in properly. The image is at 72 dpi and the original size.....

Here is how it all started:
April 2003

Just found one of the older ones...

Ah this one should have gone in after my first post but hey... that is why I am here.. no rules for me here...

Real Quick; I haven't really told you how and why i take the pictures the way I do... I have been through about 2 or 3 digital cameras since I started. I started with a 4 mega pix canon elf and now use a Canon Power Shot A550.

I was really jaded by the whole digital craze that started 5-6 years ago. I was a traditional photographer that went to Art school and didn't believe in digital. So, I wanted the images to seem candid and not picture perfect. I wanted Mr. Right to grow and change over time and not look the same in every shot; because I know I don't. This picture was scanned in from film. I think this is the last one I actually scanned in... then I moved on to the digtal later the next year.

Enough said this Mr. Right and me on Halloween 2003. I am ofcourse the little devil and he is the Angel...

Beth and Mr. Right move to NYC

A little back up story. I am from Louisville, Kentucky but moved to Chicago when I was 19 to go to Columbia College Chicago. I earned a BA in Photography in 2000. In 2003, my then boyfriend and I decide to part ways. I left Chicago and moved back to my hometown to figure out where to go to next. I searched for jobs all over the country; heck even outside the country and a colleague of mine emailed me one day that she had a job for me in NYC. (digital archivist at an architecture firm; was the job) Completely stoked and scared at the same time, and to make a long story short I managed to get myself there in Jan 2004. I knew all of 2 maybe 3 people in NYC so I spent a lot of time alone walking around the city. (a better part of my time in Central Park) I couldn't help but notice people/ couples and there everyday behavior in the city. NYC is perfect because you have so many people to watch. You have the couples that are clearly from there, and then the tourist...

About 2 weeks into my new move to the city I met a group of people in a bar one night and ended up going to the girls party later that week. I met 3 Brit girls there that night that little did I know would be come 3 of my closest friends today. Becky (wix), Lucy (tits), and Emily (Em)....

I had my new posse! I lived in NYC for about 15 months and during my time there, the girls and all my new friends that I would soon meet started to help me with my project. Over the last four years it has become something fun for my friends and I to do when we are out. "Hey, can you take a picture of me and Mr. Right? Thanks!" Friends and strangers gladly do it! Course the strangers don't know what they are even doing!

Here are some of the earlier ones....

Trip to LA

This was taken in Malibu in June 2004. I went out to LA for my friend Andrew's wedding. I stayed with my best friend from college Anna. Fast forward to present day, I live in LA now and with Anna! It is funny to look back at this picture because while I was living in NYC during this time I would have never thought one year from then I would move to LA!

Back in KY

This was taken in my friends backyard with the help of my friend Emily's daughter (she was 5 then). I was baby sitting that day and thought we would go outside and take some pictures. She follows direction quite well i might add.

My lease was up in Brooklyn in April 05.. I decided to move across the country to LA and try it out... (still here) But before that I stayed in KY for 2 months because I was in my friend Emily's wedding....

Our Trip moving out west

June 2005 The Grand Canyon; this was a great trip. We took the southern route to get to LA. I think I cried when I saw the Grand Canyon. Nerdy, I know but I was just so overwhelmed and taken back by how beautiful it is and HUGE....

I don't have any pictures of us in New Mexico but Santa Fe was my favorite...