Ivan Blanco wins BSI’s open photography contest

The panel of judges are, from left, Best Sunshine International, Ltd. general counsel Alan Chan, Minda Castro of Beach Road Magazine/Glimpses of Guam, Mark Rabago of Saipan Tribune, BSI chief executive officer Mark A. Brown, Laila Younis Boyer of Marianas Variety, and BSI chief services officer Tao Xing. The entries were judged last Oct. 21. (Contributed Photo)

Winners of Best Sunshine International Ltd.’s photography contest last month will be presented with their awards today. The open photography contest garnered about 200 entries in just the week that it ran.

“We are humbled by the community’s overwhelming response to our photography contest.  With so many good-quality entries received, Best Sunshine had difficulty winnowing down the entries,” chief services officer Tao Xing said.

The first place winner is Ivan Blanco with his entry titled “Makeshift Playground.” It features a 5-year-old girl surveying the ocean—her “playground”—from a makeshift cover built from damaged pine tree branches.

Jack Stewart’s Simba, which means to go to Mass in Tagalog, won second place. It shows a young boy holding on to his mother as they line up for hot meals provided by Kagman Community Church as part of the relief efforts after Typhoon Soudelor.

Third place went to Fredereic Guintu and Macy Manzanares for their entries, “School 101” and “Healing Saipan.”

The top 14 photographs will be exhibited at the casino during today’s awarding rites.

Winners will take home $2,000, $1,000, and $500 for the first, second, and third places, respectively.

“These photographs show us how the members of the community struggled during Typhoon Soudelor and how we coped in its aftermath,” Xing said. “Each photo tells a story. Each photo is a memory. Each photo memorializes the people’s resiliency. Each photo is a testament to the people’s will to survive. Truly, the photography is an ode to the triumph of the human spirit.”

Ten others—Kevin Ada, Tony Peters, Aysem Bray, Nessea Cruz, Ponce Corotan, Josephine Togawa, Geri dela Cruz, Mary Ann Lagmay, Andrey Zerkov, and Selmalyn Taitano—will get $100 each as consolation prizes.

The entries were judged last Oct. 21 by BSI chief executive officer Mark Brown, Xing, BSI general counsel Alan Chan, Laila Younis Boyer of Marianas Variety, Minda Castro of Beach Road Magazine/Glimpses of Guam, and Mark Rabago of Saipan Tribune.

“This early, we are making preparations as to how we are going to share the winning entries with the public so we may encourage not only creativity, but also recognize heroism,” Xing said. “We look forward to the next iteration of this photography contest. We thank all that participated.”