Congratulations to Javier Sotomayor, November 2023 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Open." Javier Sotomayor - Entry #879 Dave Koch - Entry #877 Peter Wingfield - Entry #874 Here's what Javier has to say: Hello First of all I wa ...
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Congratulations to Stephen Reed from Texas, USA; PFRE Photographer of the Year for 2021! Stephen won the April 2021 "Master Bedroom" contest, and has been a consistent contributor to the PFRE community.
Below are the top three photographers for 2021 based on the jury's voting:
Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to everyone who participated in the contests throughout the year. Special thanks to the jurors who take time out of their busy schedules to carefully critique these contests and offer feedback; you help photographers around the world improve their craft!
Here is what Stephen had to say about the win:
When I was first notified about being named PFRE Photographer of the Year for 2021, I was excited and shocked, but that quickly turned to being very thankful and humbled. As a newspaper photographer (both the news and advertising sides) for 32 years, I took up real estate
photography as a side hustle to prepare for life when my time in the print media business ended, which it did in 2017. I’m incredibly thankful and grateful that I found the PFRE community and the wealth of talent and resources that reside there. Whether it’s an online class or tutorial, a Facebook group or some constructive feedback, my business would be lightyears behind where it is now without it. So, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to create this invaluable content for my community and profession!I’m also very humbled by this recognition. Every month there are so many excellent entries, it was easy to think “don’t bother,” but I would toss my entry into the mix hoping to get some constructive feedback. I’ve always had a difficult time stepping back from my work and looking at it objectively, so the feedback from the judges was a real gift. This community is full of extraordinary talent and it’s an honor to be part of this group. Thank you to all who entered the contest and raised the bar each month and thank you to the judges for taking the time to provide insightful and meaningful feedback.
I consider myself to be a quiet photographer going about my business, trying to do the best I can. The exciting thing is that I’m nowhere near the photographer I want to be and I have so much left to learn. Hopefully I can do my part to raise the bar a bit and help elevate my profession in the upcoming year.
Wishing everyone in the PFRE community a healthy and prosperous 2022!
Stephen Reed
