Haunted

• Prize
• Photographer
  jude McConkey, United States
• Date of Photograph
  online
• Website
  http://judemcconkey.com

"Haunted" is one of those old deserted houses that pepper the countryside in a form of rural decay. It seems I take a photo of them and soon after they are torn down, fall down, or catch fire. It makes me sad but I like to think that they were waiting for me to save them forever in a photo before they let go of this life.

jude McConkey was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and now resides in the wilds of Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she is a newspaper photographer. When not chasing fires, shooting check-signing events, or forcing people to give up their names so they can ?be in the newspaper,? jude tries - with her photography - to capture the dream world she spent her childhood years hiding in.

An oil and acrylic artist since her teens, jude was known locally for her work yet she found it a difficult and often soul-sucking process, which left her insecure and dissatisfied. Picking up a camera in 2003 was both a surprise and an epiphany to her. ?I found it easy and I thought it was a fluke that would end suddenly.? After a few years she realized it was here to stay and even embraced that photography was what she was meant to do. jude?s photographs are often what she deems to be a melding of reality and the ?what could be? of life - be it dreamlike or frightening. They are, in fact, her reality and she invites you all to come and join her.