Gallery in Carrizozo displays top submissions for the New Mexico Magazine photography competition

• Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography is the largest gallery in the state focusing on photography

The Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography will display photographs from New Mexico Magazine’s 17th Annual Photography competition beginning with a grand opening Jan. 27-28.

The exhibit will include the grand prize winner, “Pilgrimage to Tome Hill,” by David Cushman of Rio Rancho and will be open noon to 5 p.m., both days.

Billed as the largest photography gallery in New Mexico, the Tularosa Basin Gallery has the space to handle large exhibits and this is the gallery’s third year for the New Mexico Magazine competition.

Owner Warren Malkerson said the contest has grown in fame and recognition over the years and more than 2,700 photographs were submitted for this round by nearly 400 photographers.

They competed in six categories: landscapes; plants and animals; sense of place; New Mexico details focusing on New Mexico life, the people, professions, places and things; seasons; and enchanted adventures at New Mexico State Parks.

From that bounty of talent, 25 winning photographs were selected with awards going to first place through fourth, plus honorable mention and an overall grand prize winner.

Twenty different photographers were declared winners, five of them each had two winning photographs. Nineteen of the winners were from within the state and one from Colorado. Six of the winning photographs were in black and white and the remainder were in color.

The photos will be on display and for sale at the gallery through the spring. The gallery carries the work of more than 35 other photographers, who all are from New Mexico capturing subjects  within the state, making it a New Mexico TRUE Gallery, tapping into the state’s tourism campaign.

More than 500 photographs will be exhibited.