Essex Heritage Celebrates Spectacular North Shore Scenes

SALEM, MA — During a difficult 2020 the beauty and personality of the North Shore still shown through the camera lens through the 2020 Essex National Heritage Area Photo Contest.

Photos from Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody and Salem were among the winners of the contest that encourages photographers of all levels to "capture" the living landscapes, unique places and interesting people of Essex County.

"From rocky coasts and harbors and rural farms to historic downtowns and parks, photographers vividly captured a variety of special places in Essex County for their award-winning submissions to this year's contest," the judges said.

All of the photographs were taken within the Essex National Heritage Area and fell into the categories of Bright Sunshiny Day, People of Essex County and Uniquely Essex County.

There was also a People's Choice Award for "My New Friend" taken in Peabody by Jennifer Arcuri of Salem (above photo).

"Beach Baby" taken in Ipswich by Kathy Diamontopoulos of Haverhill was the Grand Prize Winner.

"New Life" taken in Danvers by Deric LePard of Salem earned third place in the Bright Sunshiny Day category, "John's Farmstand" taken in Essex by Karen Hosking of Salem earned first place in the People of Essex County category, "Watching the Halloween Moonrise" taken in Salem by Rick Matthias of Salem earned third place in the People of Essex County category and "Abbot Hall" taken in Marblehead by Derrick Mills of Marblehead earned first place in the Uniquely Essex County category.

The contest is presented by Essex Heritage in partnership with North Shore Bank, Essex River Cruises, Ipswich River Watershed Association, Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, REI, SEE Shore Photography, The Trustees, and the National Park Service at Salem Maritime and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Sites.

The 2020 Photo Contest included a unique bonus category — Heritage at Home. Photographers were invited to send in photographs capturing experiences of "home" in the Heritage Area during an unprecedented year. The chosen images in this category were taken by Donna Bambury, Sarah Tracy Burrows, Richard Calnan, Stephen Dagley, Pat Frederiksen, Joseph Holbech, Patty Humphries, Henry Rutkowski and Geoff Schutt.

A virtual reception on Feb. 23 is open to the public and can be accessed here.

At the virtual reception, this year's winners will be presented with their awards and prizes. The 2019 winners will also be displayed and the details for the 2021 contest will be revealed.

The eleven winning images will be exhibited for one year at the office of North Shore Bank in Peabody (32 Main Street, Peabody, MA 01960) and the office of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (160 Main Street, Haverhill, MA 01830).

All the winning photographs can also be viewed here or here.