We are very proud to announce that Pikto's new revamped website was chosen out of thousands of entries to be a Webby Official Honoree. The Webby Awards is the leading award for excellence in website design and functionality. Pikto is listed under the Professional Services category and shares the Honoree award with other impressive sites from Vogue and Allure Magazine to the the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the full list here.

Enjoy Free Expedited Post shipping on any Photobook, Card or Calendar order of $50 or more using our Pikto Book:it application until April 15, 2012. Valid in the US and Canada.

It was an honor to look at the many photographers work submitted for the 2nd year of the Pikto Top Pick. The quality and power of images surpassed my greatest expectations. Thank you to all the image-makers who took part in this competition.

Over ten days Gina Martin (National Geographic), Brian Morgan (The Walrus) and myself went through each entry individually, reading the captions and studying the work. We deliberated, slept on it, went back and deliberated some more until each had chosen a selection of our favorite series.

We unanimously agreed that Anastasia Taylor-Lind’s work from her story ‘The National Womb: Baby Boom in Nagorno-Karabakh’ was our choice for this year's Pikto Top Pick.

Anastasia Taylor-Lind’s series explores the Birth Encouragement Program in Nagorno-Karabakh, which distributes cash payments to newlyweds for each baby born; the aim is to repopulate the region after the devastating 1991-1994 war. The compelling story immediately stood out, I was drawn to the painterly, sensitive approach, rich in beauty and artistic execution. I did not sense the photographer in the pictures, I saw only the subjects, and this made for a powerful set of images, a refreshing look at a very difficult story. Taylor-Lind’s work comes form the heart; there is emotion, an honest approach to storytelling and a compelling manner of presentation. A naturalness that is hard to achieve, naturalness that comes only with dedication and respect for the people that let her into their lives, and the utmost trust in return by the people she documents.

A personal Honorable Mention goes out to Matt Eich and his series ‘Sin and Salvation in Baptist Town’. A long-term story set in Greenwood, Mississippi, following a community of people whose ancestors were freed from slavery only to be segregated, then supposedly desegregated only to live like second citizens (according Matt’s mission statement).

Eich’s goal is to explore the Baptist Town neighborhood; he is looking for an answer to the question - what creates this pocket of poverty, crime and violence? He plans to document the more affluent neighbors to better understand the adjacent communities and how the two compare.

“They don’t drink from different water fountains or ride the back of the bus anymore, but their neighborhood is geographically separated from the white community by train tracks. There is a chasm between rich and poor” - Matt Eich, Photographer

Like Taylor-Lind’s story, Eich’s colorful and intimate portrait of Baptist Town will stay with-me. I look forward to following the developing work.

First and foremost what I look for in a body of work is an understanding that the photographer truly connects with the subject, an honest approach, a sensitivity and respect for the people and the landscape they document. I want feel something, I want to sense commitment and dedication to the importance of telling this story, technical ability is great, but if the there is no emotion, no connection, then often, the story is not being told. It is important to make work from the heart. It is important to have a voice: people respond to passion.

I look forward to attending the Pikto Top Pick Opening Reception ‘The National Womb: Baby Boom in Nagorno-Karabakh’ Images by Anastasia Taylor-Lind, January 21st 2012.

Regards and keep photographing.

Johan Hallberg-Campbell
Pikto Curator

Today we had the pleasure of hosting the talented Lara Jade in the Pikto studio. Check out a couple "behind the scenes" shots of her fashion workshop!

Well everyone, it’s finally time to reveal our 2011 Pikto Top Pick Winner! We received over 250 fantastic submissions, but the expert panel of judges had to choose only one. After much deliberation we are pleased to announce that Anastasia Taylor-Lind with her body of work "The National Womb: Baby Boom in Nagorno Karabakh" is taking top prize! She will be receiving $5,000 towards the production of her gallery show held here in the Pikto Gallery.

Anastasia Taylor-Lind is an English/Swedish documentary photographer based out of London, United Kingdom and is represented by the VII Photo Agency. This will be Anastasia's first solo exhibition.

While researching news stories back in 2008, Anastasia came to hear of Nagorno Karabakh's mass wedding for 674 couples; the wedding provided couples with payments of €1,400 for marriage and additional payments upwards of €1,400 for every child they bore, increasing with every child born (up to €70,000 for the seventh). The wedding was funded by wealthy Armenian businessmen in an effort to repopulate the region; Nagorno Karabakh's population had been deeply affected after the devastating war between the region's ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijan. This huge wedding spawned a "birth encouragement program" sponsored by the government. All couples married after 2008 are eligible for the program.

Anastasia's interest in stories of women doing "exceptional or interesting" things was sparked by the region's efforts to increase population growth at a time when most areas are dramatically trying to cut theirs down. She headed to the region and approached the government for all of the information she could on the program. What she found was a society with deeply entrenched gender roles; men played little to no role in the private sphere, being expected to provide for their families. Women, as in many traditional societies, were encouraged and expected, to raise their families staying at home to raise children and care for their mother and father-in-law.

In search of subjects, Anastasia soon found herself in the hospital approaching pregnant women, some even in labor ready to give birth. As evidenced by her photographs, she didn't find it difficult gaining access to her subject; a lot of people from the area were comfortable with photographers because they were exposed to photojournalists during the war. She quickly found herself in their homes, being filled with both coffee and tea, fruits, chocolates and cakes.

Anastasia notes that she never would have thought of doing a story like this in her twenties, a subject with its primary focus marriage and children. Now that she's in her thirties, with a lot of those around her having children, her photography is starting to shift what's happening in her life. She believes that photography is a good way to examine what's going on in our own lives.

The judges overall thought that her body of work was the strongest, her "clean and crisp" style revealing an original story. She manages to combine "her beautiful portrait work with reportage images" bringing together a strong story.

Congratulations once again Anastasia!

"The National Womb: Baby Boom in Nagorno Karabakh" will be on display at the Pikto Gallery from January 6, 2012 - February 29, 2012. The reception will take place on January 21, 2012 from 6pm-10pm with the artist and other influential members of the photographic community in attendance. Anastasia Taylor-Lind will also be giving a special talk at Pikto that weekend, more details to be announced closer to the date.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted their work, always great to put your work out there. Some of the other photographers who were shortlisted are as follows:

- Matt Eich
- Ivor Prickett's
- Akihiro Furuta
- Terence Byrnes
- Kevin German
- Tobi Asmoucha
- Maxim Dondyuk
- Tina Remiz
- Aaron Cobb
- Mateusz Sarello

Pikto would also like to congratulate Grayson Lee for winning the Most Popular vote based on online ratings! Grayson will receive a $1,000 credit at Pikto. Congratulations!
Great work everyone! Stay tuned for more details about Anastasia's exhibit!

Hi everyone!

Pikto Top Pick is unfortunately coming to a close, with the deadline only two days away - November 15 at 23:59 EST. Hope you've submitted your work, however there's still time to do so here!

This week we're featuring the work of Julia Martin and her series "Some of the People I know."

"Some of the People I (Don't) Know explores human interaction in motion - unfamiliarity, discomfort, amity and intimacy are captured in conversation. In photographing the gamut from people she knows well to those she's only acquainted with, Martin examines her relationships with others, gaining new insight into these connections through an intuitive use of a toy camera. In her unique arrangements she comments on how an individual, with their repetition and variation, can become a pattern. The series is approached without any inclination to reproduce what the eye sees, or strictly adhere to what the machine records; instead, through natural interaction, Martin expands on the reductive capture and attempts to render a memory onto film. The contact images are documents of exchange, portraits of shifting perception, and subtle transformations. While Martin's presence is implicit in actions and reactions, only the subject is depicted. From this position the viewer is left to interpret the nuances of the dialogue; the distance between artist and subject, body language, laughter and silence, become clues as to their association. Martin's need to act as diligent archivist became the impetus to catalogue and study her surroundings. In doing so she tries to keep in check what cannot be controlled, to come to understand the constant flux of everything and everyone. Some of the People I (Don’t) Know is a visceral reaction to change, and a method of coping with the loss/gain inherent to it."

To see more of her work, check out her website theabsentgoodbye.com

Hello!

Hope you've all been getting your submissions ready for Pikto Top Pick, the deadline is fast approaching: November 15, 2011. The entries and comments have both been pouring in, so get involved while there still is time!

This week we're featuring the work of Aaron Cobb.

Aaron Cobb in his series takes a look at Sun City, Arizona, a self-governed retirement community built in the 1960s.

See you next week!

Hello Photographers!

Be sure to submit your work to the Pikto Top Pick Competition. Time is running out, only 17 more days to submit your series of images! Let us know what you think of the images, join the conversation by commenting and rating the images.

This week we're featuring the work of Per Andersen.

Andersen's statement is as follows:

Jökulsárlón ("Glacier Lagoon") is the largest glacier lagoon or lake in Iceland. The lagoon developed about 60 years ago. It has grown since then because of melting of the glaciers. It now stands 1.5 kilometres away from the Atlantic Ocean's edge and covers an area of about 18 km2. The “glacier lake” have doubled in size in the recent 15 years. Icebergs breaking off of the glacier gather at the mouth of the lagoon’s shallow exit, and melt down into smaller ice cubes and sail out into the ocean. In the ocean the small icebergs 'live' for a few hours. Then they vanish …

See you next week!

Hi Everyone,

The deadline for Pikto Top Pick is soon approaching! Submit your series of work before November 15 for your chance to have an all expenses paid, 2 month exhibit at Pikto. Click here to submit your work!

This week we're featuring the work of documentary photographer Larry Louie.

In his series of images, Larry Louie takes us around the world, giving us a glimpse into the lives of more remote cultures. His images reveal a beauty and stillness in communities that are "threatened by urbanization and globalization."

Have a look at more of Louie's work here.

It's week nine in the Pikto Top Pick competition!

Just a reminder to everyone that the deadline for submitting your images is November 15. Get your series ready today and submit your photos here! The best entry, as decided by our expert panel of judges, will have a two month show at Pikto's gallery space for the months of January and February.

Now on to the pick of the week!

Today we're featuring the work of Miho Aikawa. Miho is a freelance photographer based in New York. Her series "Dinner in NY" looks at the relationship we have with our food.

Her artist statement as taken from her website:

"The term dinner refers to the main meal in a day. Consumption of food is as essential an element of life as sleeping for a human being. Most of the people who know the importance of eating habits care about the quality of food and nutrition. However, even if the food provides the necessary nutrition, that alone is not enough. The question is, what is a quality dinner? Having dinner is not just about eating food, but portrays many aspects of our lives.

Let's think what we can do to enhance the pleasure of the table."

Let us know what you think of her work! See you next week for Top Pick!