Por La Razón o La Fuerza

A few weeks ago, I saw a flyer in the Art Department building promoting a photography contest "Miradas de Valparaíso" ("Views of Valparaíso") sponsored by the Municipality of Valparaíso Department of Tourism Development in the categories of people, architecture, and urban landscapes Valparaíso.

So I decided, why not just turn in some photos, since I already have a ton on my computer? So I sent in 5 (would have been 8, but the inbox was full).

Fast forward to yesterday and I received the following email:

Por medio de la presente tengo el agrado de comunicarle que usted a sido el ganador del primer lugar del concurso fotográfico "Miradas de Valparaíso" organizado por nuestro Departamento de Desarrollo Turístico de la I. Municipalidad de Valparaíso. La premiación será el día 11 de octubre en el edificio consistorial ubicado en Condell 1490 en el hall del 2º piso a las 10 de la mañana. Por favor confirmar su asistencia.

MEANING: I won first prize in the contest and invited to a prize ceremony! I was totally surprised! And immediately skeptical that there must have been many first place winners. In any case, I eagerly RSVPed yesterday and trekked over to the Municipality's building this morning.

Turns out that there were almost 400 entries, of which about 40 were chosen as winners... but THEN they chose a 2nd place and a 1st place, and I got 1st! This is the winning image, which I sort of cheesily titled "Flores en el Invierno" ("Flowers in the Winter"), since I often give cheesy titles to things I don't think are important (and call important things "Untitled"):

The program director mentioned that the gold, red, and blue are actually Valparaíso's flag colors (and pointed to a nearby flag)... a fact to which I was totally oblivious. So I think that's really the reason it won... It's not one of my favorites of all time, but I guess now it's one of my most memorable (and may be appearing on a Valparaíso mug or tote bag in the near future?).

I was actually the only winner to show up at the ceremony, but with about a dozen staff members, we carried out the ceremony. It was strange to have people be able to comment on my photo from memory... like I didn't even remember the title but the program director cited it during a taped interview with the Municipality's press person (I got interviewed too!). Long story short, I got a certificate signed by Valparaíso's mayor and a free dinner!

The 11 of September was also a turning point in Chilean history.

Here´s a brief summary of the happenings that day:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A716591