2023 People's Choice Photo Contest Winners

Since 2008, the City of Valdosta and the Annette Turner Center of the Arts have partnered to host Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest. The contest was established to encourage and showcase the beauty of life in Valdosta through the lenses of professional and amateur photographers. Nearly 80 photographs were submitted and displayed this year at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts in the Tillman Gallery.

Residents could vote for their favorite submissions in the adult and youth categories for one month. On Tuesday, July 25, 2023, the winners for each category were announced by Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and the event sponsor, Coleman Talley LLP representative Bart Davis.

This year's first-place winners are Cale Rackley in the People's Choice Youth, with the submission Orchid Layered on Abstract, Michael Chapman in the People's Choice, with A Mother's Love, Noah Warren in the City Life, with Memories of a Bygone Era, and Rena Taylor in Country Living with Pollination.

In addition to the winners, there were honorable mentions for each category. The honorable mentions are Debra Altobello in People's Choice Youth with Dancing in the Breeze, Chadd Mathis in People's Choice with Lazy Days on Long Pond, Marvin T. Smith in City Life with Colors and Textures, and Noah Warren in County Living with Spring Beginnings.