Posted: Sep 15, 2005 07:43 am EDT
A stark yet luminous image of Tibetan prayer flags on the shore of the world’s highest saltwater lake has taken first prize in the 2005 Banff Mountain Photography Competition. Mead Norton of Auckland, New Zealand was awarded Grand Prize for his photo Prayer Offerings on the Shore of Namtso Lake, Tibet.

The pilgrims' prayers

“Each year, thousands of pilgrims from Tibet, China and other countries make the long journey to [Namtso Lake] in order to pray to Buddha and leave offerings of katas — white silk scarves — and strings of prayer flags along its shore. They believe that as the wind unravels their offerings their prayers are released into the heavens,” Norton explained on the image.

“I spent four days camped on the shore of the lake and captured this image one day as the sun was setting. I could feel a mystical aura surrounding the lake and could imagine what it must have been like when Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter first explored the area.”

One in 2600 applicants

Mead Norton is a photography teacher and freelance photographer whose photographic travels have also included trips to Southeast Asia, Cuba, the Caribbean, and North America.

Norton’s selected image was one among more than 2,600 entries from 24 countries submitted to the 10th annual competition. He was awarded $1000 CDN plus prizes from competition sponsors.

Category Prizes

Beside the great Prize, The following photographers won category prizes and will each receive $500 CDN plus prizes from competition sponsors:

Best Photo – Mountain Adventure: Mitch Toelderer on Cliff Drop, Arlberg Area, Austria by, Peter Mathis, Hohenems, Austria

Photographer’s comments on the image: “In early January, Mitch Toelderer and I were sitting on the chairlift going up to the Madloch, in Austria’s Arlberg area. We both saw this cliff and knew that because of recent heavy snowfall there had to be enough snow on the landing spot as well. Mitch checked the drop with binoculars and after a while he was ready to do it. January is the perfect time to take this special picture due to the height of the sun. In February the sun is already too high, so the background is no longer shaded enough. The backlight makes the spray look especially beautiful.”

Best Photo – Mountain Culture: Balti Girl, by Bobby Model, Nairobi, Kenya.

Photographer’s comments on the image: “This photograph of a young girl is part of a documentary project that celebrates a unique mountain culture in remote Baltistan. Located in the heart of the Karakoram, this area is arguably the world’s most extreme and isolated region."

"The Kashmir dispute has had a significant impact on Baltistan, and as a result the Balti people face numerous social, economic and political obstacles, which have fuelled a growing cultural-identity movement. However, the recent development in peace negotiations between Pakistan and India has resulted in the reopening of the disputed border on a limited basis. The cross-border movement could bring dramatic and positive change to the region. Baltistan may thus be on the verge of a new era.”

Best Photo – Mountain Environment: The Red Queen’s Forest, by Patrick Stoll, Boise, ID, USA

Photographer’s comments on the image: “I often drive past this poplar tree farm when traveling from my home in Idaho to the Oregon coast. Something about it always seems a bit surreal and somewhat sinister. Maybe it’s the ever-present darkness under the dense canopy of leaves or the way the parallel rows of trees create a shutter effect as one drives past; the distant vanishing point blinks on and off but seems to remain in the same location."

"It reminds me of the Red Queen’s comment to Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass: ‘Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.’ In evolutionary biology, the Red Queen Hypothesis states that a species must constantly be moving (adapting and evolving) in order to stay in the same place (remain in existence). For me, the tree farm picture symbolizes a future where the only remaining forests are those that can adapt to the selective pressure of commercialization.”

Best Photo – Mountain Flora and Fauna: Fearless, by Dusty Demerson, Crested Butte, CO, USA

Photographer’s comments on the image: “Traveling up Taylor Canyon in central Colorado after a recent storm, I was captivated by the play of light and shadow between the forest and the new-fallen snow. Most of the canyon is heavily forested, making finding a simple subject difficult. Finally, up near the Taylor Lake Dam, I found this seemingly threatened young pine.”

Best Photo – Mountain Landscape: Crystal Hills, Hohenems, Austria, by Peter Mathis, Hohenems, Austria.

Photographer’s comments on the image: “After a very heavy snowstorm in December, I went for a randonnée ski up to the Hohe Kugel, a mountain not far from home. About 50 centimeters of fresh snow had fallen. I came around a corner and saw that slope with all those tiny little hills and waves. Due to the low temperature, the snow crystals were extraordinarily beautiful. I returned to that spot several times over the winter, but it was never again like on that special day.”

Yellowstone to Yukon Region Prize: Rob Buchanan of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, was awarded $500 CDN for the best overall photograph from the Yellowstone to Yukon Region (Y2Y) for his photo Sir Donald Range, Rogers Pass, Selkirk Mountains, B.C. This prize was sponsored by the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.


Photographer’s comments on the image: “The jagged peaks of the Sir Donald Range mark the dividing line between the Selkirk Mountains and the Purcell Mountains in the interior of British Columbia. These rugged peaks — Eagle, Uto and Sir Donald — were the final barriers in 1881 to railroad surveyor Major A.B. Rogers in his quest to find a pass to the east for a Canadian transcontinental railway."

"The victory he must have felt when, having climbed to the shoulder of Avalanche Peak, he gazed down on the pass that would later bear his name, can only be imagined. Undoubtedly, he enjoyed a well-deserved hunk of hardtack and a plug of chewing tobacco, stroked his dromedary whiskers, muttered some congratulatory profanities as was his custom, and started back on his epic journey to send news of his discovery.”

Special Mentions:

In addition, each of the following photographers received Special Mentions: Chris Atkinson (Canada), John Beatty (UK), Menno Boermans (Netherlands), Andrew Burr (USA), Canadian Julie Castonguay, Dusty Demerson (USA), Pam Doyle (Canada), Andrew Querner (Canada), Stanley F. Rose (USA), and Ryan Salm (USA).

The winning images will be exhibited at The Banff Centre from October 2005 to September 2006 and will also be exhibited at select locations in North America and abroad.

The Banff Mountain Photography Competition is presented by Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre, which promotes understanding and appreciation of the world’s mountain places by creating opportunities for people to share — and find inspiration in — mountain experiences, ideas, and visions.

The Banff Mountain Photography Competition is an international competition open to all photographers. Information regarding the 2006 Banff Mountain Photography Competition will be posted in April, 2006. The 2005 information can be checked meanwhile (see links on the left), but used for reference only.

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