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.

• Biography
  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.