2014 Winners

Freshman Juliet Gleason created her video as part of a multimedia class at Pullman High School in Pullman, Washington. She chose the Global Poverty category because it had particular resonance with her own life. “A couple of years ago my father lost his job, so we went from being middle class and surviving just fine to using food stamps. I wanted to get out that poverty is not only starving children in Africa but starving children in the U.S. as well.” And since the topic involves money, she thought it would be interesting to include pennies as a visual.

“One penny, Two penny” is Juliet’s first stop-motion animation video, but her background in photography helped her capture the individual shots she needed to weave the animation together. She taped a black t-shirt to the floor of a basement to use as a backdrop and spent two weeks taking pictures and trying to keep her frame in focus. “Every time I look at a handful of pennies I grimace,” she jokes. Her efforts paid off as she created a fluid animation that is both beautiful and engaging.

Juliet plans on using her prize money towards new camera lenses. She has recently starting photographing urban landscapes, such as alleyways. “A lot of times they are hidden and you have to come out and find them, and when you do, it’s magical, and something that is beautiful that you normally don’t think about.” When she’s not creating stunning photography, Juliet can be found running track, swimming, and playing the bass and guitar.