Visions of freedom

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY – Three fine young photographers were honored as winners in the Gordon Parks Breaking Chains youth photography contest, held as part of this year’s Juneteenth Celebration organized by poet L. Monique.

The day-long program, sponsored by the Sullivan County Chapter of the NAACP and the Tobacco Free Coalition, featured spoken word artists, step dancers, singers, fine food and consciousness raising about slavery and its effects on minorities more than 140 years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. A youth basketball tournament was staged on the court across the street from the Neighborhood Facility.

Bridget O’Brien, a sophomore from Sullivan West High School, garnered the most votes in the contest for her photo of fellow student Nicole Daley, a dancer. The black and white image of Daley dancing freely in an open field epitomized the notion of freedom to O’Brien, who has entered other contests and takes pictures for her school yearbook.

The rules said the contest winner had to be present, but O’Brien had to leave before the announcements, which were delayed past 5:00 p.m. Sixteen-year-old Cheryl England of Chester, NY was designated the winner. England’s photo of some down-and-out men smoking in Haverstraw, NY was titled “Freedom Going Up in Smoke.”

Chantoll Forrest, a seventh grader from the Robert J. Kaiser School in Monticello, took second place with her photo of a telephone, symbolizing “how you should have the freedom to speak your mind.”

The contest was named for the iconic African-American photographer/filmmaker Gordon Parks, whose work spoke volumes about the plight of people of color in the 20th century.