Feb 26 By Rob McIlvaine
The winners of the 2008 All Army Photography Contest have been announced, and now it's up to AKO users to choose the "best of show."
Out of 3,110 submitted world-wide by deployed Soldiers, Guard, Reserve Soldiers, Army civilians and their family members, 1,716 entries were forwarded from the Army garrisons to the Department of Army level for last year's competition.
A 12-hour day was needed for three judges to study and discuss the considerable talent, wide variety of styles and high quality of the images in order to present 76 photographers a total of 112 awards.
The winning entries may be viewed at the contest website at https://artscrafts.fmwrc.army.mil. Log in with your AKO user name and password and select "Gallery of Winners" under "Contest Winners" on
Vote for your favorite photo among the first place winners in each division for the best of show award. Select "Viewer's Choice Voting" under "Contest Winners."
Viewers Choice Voting is open until March 3.
The judges this year were Renee Klish, a photographer and art curator for the Center of Miltary History; Min Enghauser, a photographer with the Torpedo Factory Art Gallery in Alexandria, Va.; and Rob McIlvaine, news photographer, videographer and senior information specialist with FMWRC Public Affairs.
All were impressed with the artistic quality, skill with digital photography and PhotoShop capabilities. But 11 photographers stood out above the rest by winning in multiple categories with their range of artistry.
This could be explained by their considerable talent, or it could be an indication of the strong garrison programs.
Of the multiple winners, David McNally, Edward Johnson, Mark Whitford and Chun Tucker all hail from Camp Yongsan; Brenda Walker and Richard Pugh, who produced seven award-winning photos, call Fort Campbell home; Christophe Paul and Andrew Kim produced their images at Camp Casey; and Laura Irick did her best work at Wiesbaden.
According to the judges, their work was extraordinarily professional. In fact, their photos are actually worth more than the often repeated 1,000 words by speaking volumes on humor, drama, action, inspiration and contemplation.
Certificates and monetary awards are being sent to garrisons who will set up local awards ceremonies to publicize the winning photographers and make the presentations.
To see just a few of the photos, click here.