Winner of Peterborough Photo Festival Announced

Toronto’s Lucas DeClavasio and his photo “Focus” won the “Focus on Coffee” photography competition on Tuesday held by Spark Photo Festival back on March 12.

DeClavasio’s photography style has been described as abstract/experimental according to his Instagram page. Photo Courtesy of Spark Photo Festival.

The winning image was unanimously voted as the winner that best represented a creative, imaginative and technically well-executed interpretation of the competition theme, “coffee at home” according to the press release.

“Focus” will be exhibited at the 2021 SPARK Photo Festival in when it will reopen in September and featured on the packaging of a special edition Sparkplug X SPARK Photo Festival 2021 Coffee. This special edition coffee will be released in time for the festival in September and will be available for purchase online across Canada.

DeClavasio submitted a unique series of digital double-exposure images that impressed the judges. They said he planned each of the five images to poetically reflect each stage of coffee at home from the craving, to the first sip and through to the last drop.

“The double exposure is captured in-camera with the intention of portraying the physical effects of caffeine,” DeClavasio described. “The feeling of that first sip, it's like your body is in bloom and your mind is ready for whatever the day has in store for you.”

The Toronto-based amateur photographer credits the pandemic for his return from a photography hiatus.

“I needed a creative outlet,” he said. “My overarching goal with my photography is to embrace the chaos surrounding us, reconnect with my surroundings, and hopefully find a way to mentally cope with all these external factors.”

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