Resident's photo wins National Geographic prize
First place in 'people' category
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

HAUNTING--Above, children gaze through a window on a rain-drenched day in Tibet in Jean-Claude Louis' winning photograph. The shot was awarded first place in the "people" category in National Geographic's 2007 international photography contest. Louis, below, moved to the U.S. from France 20 years ago. A retired doctor, he has won numerous awards for his work in photography.

A haunting portrait of two Tibetan children peering out of a rustic wood-framed window landed Old Agoura resident Jean-Claude Louis first place in the prestigious 2007 National Geographic Society's international photography contest.

Louis' portrait was selected as National Geographic 's top photograph in the "people" category. Contestants from China and Maryland captured first-place recognition in the animal, landscape and photo essay categories.

"It was raining," Louis said of the moment he saw the children gazing out of the window. He had traveled to the remote area of Tibet as part of a photography study trip with famed photographer Steve McCurry. (McCurry is the man who took the striking photograph of the green-eyed "Afghan girl," a portrait featured on a 1985 cover of National Geographic magazine that became a worldwide sensation.)

Louis, 57, said he received the news of the award while he was traveling. "I got a phone call in the middle of the desert," he said.

"The best people photos tell a story and draw viewers into the lives of subjects," a National Geographic official wrote on the magazine's website, www.nationalgeographic.com.

The Tibetan children's faces were described as conveying a combination of "expectation and sadness."

"It's nice to be validated," Louis said. "It motivates me to continue."

Louis' talent has been validated many times. He captured first place in the "Sense of Place" category in the Travel Photographer of the Year competition for his black and white images of Berlin. He was also commended for his work in the "One Planet, Many Lives" category of the contest. Louis' life and work was featured in Black & White magazine's 2007 Portfolio Contest Selection, and he captured the Center for Fine Art Photography's Alternative Photography award.

Louis focuses his talent and lenses on ancient Asian cultures. He's traveled to China, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, and is completing a body of work on Berlin to be published this year.

A Travel Photographer of the Year judge wrote, "As anyone who's been there will testify, Jean-Claude Louis' haunting portfolio perfectly captures the sense of 'no man's land' that still exists in parts of Berlin." Dean Brierly wrote in his Black & White magazine profile that Louis' work is "elegant . . . emotional . . .and cerebral."

"Serenity exists with a slight edginess in his formal portraits," Brierly wrote.

A retired doctor and Amgen research scientist, Louis believes that photography and science have much in common. The process of exploration is the same in both fields, he said.

"It's just a way to express myself and share my different experiences and vision of the world," Louis said. "(Photography) is a good fit with my training as a scientist and my need and desire for creativity." Photography, he said, offers freedom. "It's liberating," he said of the passion for photography that was sparked as a teenager.

A native of France, Louis moved to the United States 20 years ago to find a "common ground" with his wife, who hails from Israel. The couple lived in San Diego and Thousand Oaks, and moved to Old Agoura five years ago.

Louis is stacking up an array of prizes for his photographs, including an all-expense-paid trip to the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. for his photo of the Tibetan children. He won a Tanzanian wildlife adventure with African Safari Roots, and an array of photography equipment and software for his work in the Travel Photographer of the Year contest.

The four grand-prize-winning entries in the National Geographic contest were chosen from a pool of nearly 150,000 submissions from participating countries. Each country held national contests and in the final round sent one winning entry from each of four categories to National Geographic Society headquarters.

Louis' advice for aspiring photographers is simple: "Just go out and take pictures--that's how you develop your vision. . . . Try, try and try . . . make mistakes . . . be passionate and believe."

National Geographic's photographic archives contain 10.5 million images.