IU student wins photo contest

The snapshot is of a dock washed-out by a storm on the island of Caye Caulker, Belize. The photograph won IU junior Tom Pellman $150 and first place in the Indianapolis Star Travel Photo Contest in August. \nThis was the third year the Star has held the open contest. \n"We doubled the entries of last year," said Mike Fender, director of photography at the Indianapolis Star and one of the judges. \nPellman, an Indianapolis native majoring in anthropology and philosophy, was at a site of Mayan ruins last spring break for an anthropological dig when his student research team took a recess to the island of Caye Caulker. \n"We were hanging out in a hostel on the beach when Tom just decided to take a picture," said Tenaya Hurst, a junior who was with the group in Belize. "He took the picture as I was calling for him to come swim outside."\nA professional might have taken several shots, but Pellman just wanted to capture the moment. \n"I grabbed the camera and wrapped it in a shirt so it wouldn't get wet," Pellman said. "I just snapped one picture." \nHe then went swimming in the ocean. \nBack in Indianapolis, Tom's mother, Kathy Pellman, realized her son might have a gem. His mother urged him to enter the Star's travel photo contest. He did, and among 1,786 other entries, he won.\n"It only takes one picture to get lucky," Pellman said with a laugh. \nAll entries were first screened by the Star, then narrowed down to 17. An expert panel of eight judges reviewed and discussed these entries, Fender said. \n"It had a nice misty feel to it," Fender said. "You could almost imagine what it was like to be there."\nOther than the pleasing aesthetic qualities, Fender said Pellman's photo of the ocean through the mist of the storm simply did not look like a typical travel photo. \nPellman had only taken one photography class, at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, but his father, Dale Pellman, said Tom really developed a knack for the form. \n"He's really intrigued by people and travel," Dale said, "but I don't think he is seriously considering being a photographer." \nPellman is currently spending a semester abroad in Rome. He is enrolled in art history courses and submerging himself in the cultures of Italy. He has taken several trips to France and the coast of Italy, visiting fishing villages along the Mediterranean.\nIn addition to taking pictures, he is writing about his traveling experiences.\n"The picture to me is less evidence of his photographic skill than it is of Tom being curious and adventuresome," Kathy said.\nHe first expressed himself in writing by penning songs, Kathy said, but is now devoted to journal writing.\nHurst said Pellman would like to be sent by a magazine or newspaper on trips to immerse himself in a city. \n"He'd write little vignettes about conversations with people he bumped into, or people that he observed," she said. "I really think he wants to be a travel writer and get lost for years at a time and write."\nPellman said he did not plan on winning any awards for the photograph. He took it because it was something he enjoyed. \n"I don't think he would see himself as a photographer," Hurst said. "He's an observer. He'd look at something and observe, and accept it as a moment in his life. The camera only happened to be there."\n-- Contact staff writer Patrick Commiskey at pcommisk@indiana.edu.