'Roots in Detroit' Photo Competition Winners Showcased in Farmington

Lesa Ferencz wanted to get people excited about photography. And that's what happened Saturday night, at the "Roots in Detroit" photography exhibition, held at the Powerhouse/Winery building in Farmington.

"I'm absolutely delighted," said Ferencz, owner of Farmington-based Lesa Photography. "It's not even been an hour and we have had at least 75 people come through."

this past winter, and sent out a call for entries in January. She received over 100; all had to be taken in the Detroit over the past three years and had to reflect the community.

First place winner Susan Barnes' entry depicted Detroit boxer Daryl Cunningham, right before a professional fight. Barnes, who lives in Huntington Woods, said she was asked by a Web publication to take some photos of boxing matches. She soon realized "there was a little more to boxing than what happened in the ring."

Her collection of images reveal scenes rarely viewed by boxing spectators, of "all the hard work and preparation that goes into the sport." Barnes, the mother of a boxer, said she has been working on the project for three years.

Ron Warren's photograph, taken in Greektown on an October night, took 2nd place. The photo was taken on a north/south street, where a red tube crosses overhead. "I thought that would be an interesting thing to shoot," he said. "It felt kind of 'Batman-y' to me."

Warren's wife, Dawn Sketch, had one of her photos selected for Honorable Mention. It's a sepia-toned photo of a church on Jefferson with a "ghost" of the Detroit skyline in the background.

"It was the day of the blizzard in February, and we had gone shooting at Belle Isle," she recalled. On the way home, as the couple was traveling down Jefferson Ave., "this image was just there. Then Ren Cen (Renaissance Center) was there, and it was kind of like a ghost ... though you think of of a ghost as something from your past."

The couple currently lives in Oak Park, but are originally from Warren. Sketch was the first to fall in love with photography, and she encouraged her husband when he started shooting his own photos while trying to break into the ad copywriting business. Now, they shoot professionally, specializing in weddings and events.

Andreas Eichelmann of Rochester won honorable mention for his photo of a group of homeless men, with the startling detail of one man's eye looking out from under his clothing. Eichelmann said the men were huddled against a wall in February, when the temperature was around 15 degrees.

Originally from Germany, he has been a photographer for 30 years and is working on a book that will contain 50 interviews with people who are homeless. "I wanted to understand what happened to them," he said. "I just collected all these things to raise awareness. Too many people are just closing their eyes."

All 11 artists who received awards had their work displayed throughout the cavernous room, which also contained a pair of giant feet. Ferencz said those are a fixture in the room; they were used in the 1970s as a prop for Green Giant commercials. 

In addition to the winners mentioned above, Thom Briggs, a Detroit photographer, took 2nd place. Honorable mention also went to Amy Claeys, Lori Morrow, Marc Beauregard, Kim Gusway, Chelsea Murdzia and Matthew Harding.