Photo contest winners capture Las Vegas in Springs Preserve exhibit

Cleaned up with a Hoover.

We could be referring to a vacuum cleaner and a filthy living room carpet. ... We're not.

Cleaning up was Josh Hawkins, whose photo of another Hoover -- that little water thingie they call a dam -- took "best in show" in Springs Preserve's recent photo contest, whose entries are on display through Oct. 2 at the Big Springs Gallery.

"To some extent, happy accidents are what we live on," says Hawkins. "I was just driving by and thought, 'Hey, that sunset's really pretty, I've got to pull out a camera and take some photos of this.' "

Wise snap decision to snap a snapshot. Composing a stunning vista through his lens, Hawkins captured the dam at dusk, the setting sun casting it in a warm, purple hue, mountains illuminated by the lights of the dam that shimmer off the water, the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge in the background, all under a cloud-streaked sky.

"Josh's photo really stood out for the technical quality of it, and even though it's not in Las Vegas (it's in Boulder City), the Hoover Dam has had a huge impact on this city and its ability to grow into what it is today," says Jessica Hougen, assistant curator at Springs Preserve. "(The judges) also liked that he captured the past, the present and the future of Las Vegas all in one image."

Though Hawkins was top shutterbug, numerous photographers -- split into adult and youth categories among both pros and amateurs -- entered the contest, the theme of which was to "commemorate the city of Las Vegas by capturing images of its cultural heritage and history."

Other winners included Vicki Rosenberg, Joel Rosales, G. Kim Franz, Elizabeth Carleton and Glynis Irving.

"It's always my worry with photos of the dam that it is a default photo; we've all seen it so many times in so many ways," Hawkins says about a photo that could've been the kind of visual cliche that winds up on gift shop postcards.

"We've all seen it at midday hundreds of times. You have to have the experience to go, 'You know, I really should take a picture of this.' I wasn't really prepared to take that photo at that time. I pulled my camera out of my trunk and jerry-rigged it all together for an eight-second exposure."

Elsewhere in the exhibit, Carleton's first-place winner in the youth category, "Neon Flame," pictures the Flame Steakhouse, neon arrow ushering diners right through the front door. Just behind in that category taking second place was Irving's shot of the venerable White Cross Drug sign on the Strip.

"We were really pleased with the breadth of subject matter we got, but we got a lot of pictures of the El Cortez," says Hougen, and in fact one of them grabbed first place in the adult category.

"The El Cortez has had a lot of renovations since 1941, but the original building has not been renovated and looks the same as it did in 1941," writes Vicki Rosenberg in a statement for her winning El Cortez entry.

Shot at night at the corner of Sixth Street, the photo has an eerie beauty, the El Cortez neon sign reflecting off a pool of rainwater on the street, lending it an air of ironic Vegas loneliness.

"Drive-by," Rosales' second-place winner in the adult category, is an interesting photo shot from ground level at the Strip's "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, looking up at folks celebrating a frequent Vegas occurrence.

"Nothing says Las Vegas like a fast-paced drive-by wedding photo shoot at (sign designer) Betty Willis' famous 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign," Rosales writes. "(It) has become a symbol of our city and stood greeting our guests for 52 years."

Filling out the winners' circle, Franz's third-place finisher in the adult section, "End of a Long Run," evokes nostalgia for the recently shuttered Sahara, the photo a long shot taken from one side of the registration desk, devoid of people, lights reflecting off the floor.

"The Sahara opened in 1952 and anybody who was somebody played there, from Frank Sinatra to Bobby Darin, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis," Franz writes. "It has been a 'long run.' "

Other photos joining those include: another by Rosenberg, the sign of Atomic Liquors and its red and white marquee; Gary Reese's black and white portrait of the Las Vegas Wash; David Carter's shot of four jeans-clad, hat-wearing Big Horn Rodeo cowboys; the mottled motel sign of the Blue Angel Motel, also by Carter; a multidimensional picture of archways and a walkway at the Historic Fifth Street School that follows from the shade into the light, by Shannon Johnson; and another Rosales entry, the collapsed panels, labeled both "closed" and "no vacancies," of the now-demolished Ambassador East Motel on Fremont Street.

Housing this exhibit, Hougen says, takes the Big Springs Gallery farther afield from its initial focus on nature.

"At first we showed a lot of exhibits that were pretty pictures and paintings of Nevada nature," she says.

"What we've been showing in the last year and a half, with more fine art programming, we've gotten away from the let's-show-nature idea, though a lot is still local artists. We are doing our best to show the culture here."

Based on the latest display, they're making Dam good progress.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.