Fort Worth Camera Club retained The Bird for 2022 by a score of 356 to 323. Top winners (each received 14 points) were:
- 1st – Urban Abstraction 1, Dennis Fritsche, Dallas
- 2nd – The Guardian – Stephen Stookey, Fort Worth
- 3rd – Insect Carnival Ride – Vicki Lai, Fort Worth
- HM – A Bit Angry – Brendan Kelly – Fort Worth; above
- HM – K.P. Wilska – Barcelona Tower – Fort Worth
About The Bird
- Despite the name, the contest is not about bird photography; view History, below.
- A total of 30 digital entries from each club will be judged. Judges view the images in random order.
- Judges are not current or recent members of either club nor do they know the identity of entrants.
- The club with the highest point total is the winner.
Fort Worth Camera Club has won every year since 2007. The contest is alternately hosted by each club, and has been held since 1964, except 1975 and 2016. The Competition Committee selects Fort Worth entries submitted by club members.
- View The Bird competition rules.
- View a list of annual club winners.
History
The Bird competition began when Emily Guthrie Smith suggested that an annual contest would be fun for both clubs. Smith was a Fort Worth native and nationally known artist and teacher. Her works are in private collections, museums and the Archives of American Artists in the Smithsonian Institution.
She donated and carved the trophy, a wood sculpture engraved with the winning club’s name, but the reason she chose a bird is not known. The trophy is perched on the podium at our club meetings, but often nests elsewhere to avoid COVID-19.
Bird image courtesy of Dallas Camera Club; history courtesy of Lifetime Members Becky Scott and Robert Chura.