Amateur ad power
Photo finish: MFAH contest winner gets her image on a billboard
- Winner: Melanie Trudeau's shot, submitted on Facebook.© 2010 Melanie Trudeau
- Runner-up: Noemi Madrid, submitted on Facebook© 2010 Noemi Madrid
- Runner-up: Emily Harvin, submitted on Flickr© 2010 Emily Harvin
- Runner-up: Taylor LaShae, submitted on Flickr© Taylor LaShae
Put out a call for Houston photographers to produce something campaign-worthy and they deliver.
The assignment? Take a photo of people enjoying the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — be it the Cullen Sculpture Garden, the house museums, or the Glassell School of Art — and submit it to the museum via Facebook or Flickr.
The prize? $500, a membership and your work displayed in an ad campaign.
Over 400 photographs were submitted and from among those museum staff selected three runners-up and a winner.
And starting this Thursday, winner Melanie Trudeau will see her photo — of a woman smiling in front of Paul Gauguin's Arearea (Joyfulness) II — on a major area billboard as the centerpiece of the MFAH "Wish You Were Here" Summer 2010 campaign.
Runners up were Noemi Madrid for her shot of a trio "wearing" three gold Nias Island crowns from the Alfred C. Glassell Jr. collection, Emily Harvin's shot of a dancer cavorting with Ellsworth Kelly's Houston Triptych and Taylor LaShae's imagined walk with Joel Shapiro's untitled sculpture.
MFAH has spoken, but take a look at the four final contenders yourself. Which one is your favorite?