Vero Beach was well represented at the 31st annual Through the Eye of the Camera juried photography exhibition at Fort Pierce’s A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery, on display through June 19. In addition to 30 entries from Vero being accepted into the show, five of the top eight awards were presented to Vero artists.
After welcoming everyone to the opening night reception, Marshall Adams, executive director, said a panel of three independent jurors had spent the day reviewing 178 submissions before narrowing the entries down to the 81 works presented at the gallery.
This year’s expert jury panel included Jesi Cason, a board member at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Tampa; Matt Couchon, associate professor of photography at Daytona State College; and Rick McCawley, senior professor of graphic design and photography at Broward College.
Artists submitted their works in four subject categories: Animals, Floral/Landscape, People/Portraits, and Open, and First, Second and Third Place prizes were awarded in each category.
“And then there’s the Best of Show. The judges sit down and after the whole day is done, they review and they discuss and they debate and they go back and forth to decide which they think is going to be the best example of the day for the whole group,” said Adams.
Jurors also chose two special awards: Best Black and White Photograph, and Best Film or Traditional Raw Photography, taken with a film camera or with an uncompressed digital raw file.
“There were 21 total awards given in all of those different categories, so it feels like a nice representation of work that’s here,” said Adams, before congratulating the award winners and artists whose pieces were accepted.
Viewers are invited to vote their favorite through the end of the exhibition to determine the Peoples’ Choice Award.
The Vero Beach award winners start with Steven Hassur, whose unusual double triptychs (one atop the other) titled “Volks’ Art” earned Best of Show.
Hassur’s writeup explains that a turquoise blue 1967 Volkswagen Beetle with white doors was displayed at the 2024 Rockville, MD Antique & Classic Car Show. It had a beaten-up, broken surfboard strapped over the sunroof, a Ron Jon placard in the rear window and a Student Driver sticker pasted on the rear.
“This highly weathered/distressed & rusted automobile had been repainted many times – a beautiful palette. I made this ‘Suite’ of abstract photographs using my Olympus OM-1 Digital camera,” wrote Hassur.
Adams chose “Sanctuary of Light,” a black and white shot taken at a church in Prague by Albert Lim, to be presented with the Director’s Choice Award.
In his writeup, Lim says, “Sometimes you have to rise above and cultivate patience to find your moment.”
He notes that in the years before color photography, people understood how to “orchestrate the contrasts in darkness and grace notes of light.”
Lim says he made his way to a second-floor balcony, where he observed the afternoon light falling from tall windows in a gentle lacework of honeycomb upon the wooden pews and contrasting patterns of the tilework on the floor, capturing a “balanced, ethereal sense of contrast.” Lim also had two other works in the show, “Constructed Gaze” and “Parallel Presence.”
Wildlife and nature photographer Dale Erickson earned First Place Animals for his arresting photograph, “To the Nest.” In it, Erickson has captured a majestic eagle seemingly flying right at him. The look of determination in the bird’s eyes is absolute as it heads to the nest with a bundle of twigs in its talons. Erickson had another work in the show, “Mother’s Love.”
The award for Best Black & White Photography went to David Bence for “Ghost Children.” The stormwater drainage pipe in it will be immediately familiar to most Veroites, even if the double exposure “ghostly children” are not. Bence had five other works accepted into the show:
“Degeneration No. 1” (which earned Second Place Open), “Fins,” “Nautilus No. 1,” “Painters” and “Torcedor.”
The award for Best Film or Traditional Raw Photography went to Les Greenwood for “Mirror Image,” taken on Merrit Island. The clouds in the sky and the vegetation on the little patch of earth where a tricolored heron perches is so perfectly mirrored, it could be hung upside down and none would be the wiser.
Adams pointed out that the evening of the opening, May 15, 2026, was the actual 65th anniversary of the doors opening on May 16, 1961, at what was then called the Fort Pierce Art Gallery, whose director was A.E. Backus.
“He opened this facility with other civic-minded individuals and supporters who gathered that day because they felt like the community needed a community gallery,” said Adams.
“And through that, we have a direct line from 65 years, even though now we describe ourselves as a museum principally, and we organize ourselves around our namesake artist A.E. Backus and his notable students and associated artists like the Highwaymen.”
Adams commented that through Backus, they also learned the importance of encouraging artists’ artistic growth.
“This juried show, one of two that we do every year, is still a testimony to that encouragement. To the idea that artists can learn from each other, can perfect their craft, can get feedback, can share things with one another, and can make a creative place, a creative community,” said Adams.
Now in its seventh decade, Adams said their success is due to the past, present and, hopefully, future sponsors, members, artists and friends.
“We are here because of you, and our success is a reflection of you. So thank you very much for everyone being here tonight, for supporting these artists, this exhibition and of course this institution.”
For more information, visit BackusMuseum.org.
Photos by Norah Kodis
