A picture is worth a thousand words, but adding a few hundred more words could earn Plant City residents a cash prize.
The Plant City Photo Archives and History Center is accepting entries for its sixth annual photojournalism contest, which has traditionally been open to students at Plant City High School. This year, however, things will be a little different: the playing field will be bigger.
The center is allowing adults 18 and older to participate in the photo contest — a first, says Executive Director Gil Gott. The idea came when Gott was given a copy of the book, “Zen and the Art of Local History,” and he read it cover to cover. He came away from it with the sense that more of the history of Plant City, and other nearby towns, could be brought to light if the photojournalism contest were expanded.
“These people know,” Gott says. “They know stuff that you don’t. They know stuff that you may never know. Why not give them a chance to start telling you?”
Gott’s believes that there are people in Plant City who still have untold stories and the photographs to help tell them. These people know things that the local high schoolers don’t, or can’t, know. Things like that can help the center paint Plant City in more intricate detail than before.
This year’s theme will be the same for both age groups: Participants are being asked to document part of the history of the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World through no more than four pictures and a varying amount of words. High school- ers can include between 300 and 600 words, while adults are asked to bump that count up to between 400 and 800.
Although the contest is not yet open to students at Durant and Strawberry Crest high schools, the center has confirmed that it’s working on plans to include both schools in the future. Gott says that the center is working to gauge the interest of students at those schools and believes that it shouldn’t be too long before the center is able to open things up to those schools in addition to Plant City High.
Last year’s winners, Jackson Hardie and Ashlyn Yarborough, covered the history of the Glover School and its op- erators, Bealsville Inc., and the McGinnes Lumber Company, respectively. This year’s winners can receive $100 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place, with honorable mention winners receiving certificates.
Contestants may use old or recently-taken photos of their own in the contest, as long as they provide the center with the originals, which the center wishes to scan and add to its collection.
Gott hopes that the contest could help other historical or- ganizations in the Tampa Bay area add to their collections while the people with untold stories are still able to pass them on.
“It’s their history,” Gott says. “If you don’t give them a chance to tell you, it goes down with the family — but that’s it.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
HOW TO ENTER
Deadline: Friday, April 10
Cost: Free
Guidelines: No more than four photos. Fonts must be regular (Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman) and 11 to 12 points in size (excluding headings). High schoolers: submit a 300 to 600- word story. Adults: submit a 400 to 800-word story. Adults must be age 18 or older, must live in the greater Plant City area and must not be a high school student.
Submissions: Email to Gil Gott, at gil@plantcityphotoarchives.org, or drop off at the Photo Archives and History Center, 106 S. Evers St.