Finding a unique perspective: The Exposure Abstract Gallery

Unique perspectives foster creativity and galvanize inspiration.

In photography, they have the power to transform the ordinary and create the unfamiliar—to paint fiction from reality. The shapes created when afternoon light falls on an Alaskan spine, or the otherworldly realities that can be created using light are only just two examples of the limitless potential to expand photography beyond it’s traditional confines.

We didn’t have any preconceptions of what to expect when images began rolling in for the Abstract category of Exposure, yet we knew that they would be photos that removed us from the familiar. That they would be photos that inspired a new outlook on the world, be it the mountains, streets, or beyond. They would be photos that share a unique perspective on snowboarding and the culture we so readily define ourselves by.

This past October, we first introduced our new photo competition, Exposure. Over the course of one month we accepted photo submissions from 804 unique photographers, ultimately totaling a staggering 4,060 photographs. Photos were submitted into one of four categories: Action, Lifestyle, Scenic, and Abstract, to be judged by a panel of Snowboard Magazine editors. One winner was chosen from each category, with a fifth People’s Choice category winner selected that spanned all four stylistic disciplines. While each of the four demanded a unique set of criteria and expectations for said group, one requirement spanned the photo competition: the photos needed to make us want to snowboard. We can say with confidence that these images brought us to great days on a snowboard, real or imagined, and we hope they can do the same for you.

From the selection of winners and standout submissions we blew off some steam during our party at X-Games in Aspen, before getting back to the grindstone to create Exposure: The Photo Competition Issue. Now, it’s time to share the photographs that became immortalized on the pages of that magazine.

View the Scenic and Lifestyle galleries from Exposure.

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