PORT ANGELES — Portrait Photographer of the Year was just one of the trophies Ernst-Ulrich Schafer took home from the spring Professional Photographers of Washington convention in Olympia.
Schafer, a 23-year resident of Port Angeles, also won Best in Show, Best Portrait of a Man and Best Portrait Image in the convention’s print competition last month.
Two of his black-and-white images, one a portrait of a client and the other part of his “Yank Them off the Sidewalk” personal project, won the judges’ favor.
The former, a close-up titled “Eye of the Beholder,” landed him Best in Show and Best Portrait of a Man trophies while “Ozette Warrior” took the Best Portrait Award of Merit.
Subject of ‘Eye’
“Eye” is Schafer’s photograph of Gordon Hempton, a sometime Joyce resident and author of One Square Inch of Silence, a book about Hempton’s activism for quiet in national parks.
The placement of Hempton’s hands makes the image different from the traditional portrait.
“Ozette Warrior” is an image of James, a man Schafer met one recent day on a downtown Port Angeles sidewalk.
He invited James, who like Schafer is a Vietnam war veteran, into his studio for a free portrait sitting.
Schafer has been a portrait photographer for about 11 years. He said he attends conventions and seminars whenever and wherever possible.
He can be reached via his Facebook page and at www.ErnstUlrichSchafer.com.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
