Faces of Transportation
AASHTO's annual photo/video competition
2014 Categories: Quality of Life/Community Development
You’ve probably noticed that this year’s categories are a little different. We thought it might be a good idea to give you some more information about the categories and how you might turn them into actual photographs.
First up, Quality of Life/Community Development.
This seems to be a difficult, abstract concept that could be difficult to capture in a single image. After all, how do you take a picture of something as vague as quality of life? How do you photograph something that represents the development of a large thing like a whole community? And how do you include a FACE in all of that??
But, think about it for a minute or two and it becomes clearer and maybe even a little bit easier to envision putting those ideas into a visual medium.
We all see quality of life all around us every day. Sometimes, we may take it for granted or get so caught up in our busy lives that we ignore it. The bike path that makes it easier for neighborhood kids to get to school safely. The pedestrian bridge that allows walkers to cross over a rail line. The widened main street that makes shopping trips more efficient. The bus line that takes seniors to doctors’ appointments and the movies. Take a moment to look for these kinds of projects in your area, and especially the people that use them. Talk to them and snap that image!
Community development is a related idea that might be staring you in the face, waiting for you to take a photo: the new, brightly-lit sidewalk that makes a neighborhood safer for everyone; the improved intersection with new lights and crosswalks that allows people to get to shops and businesses; the transit line that brings new customers to the local grocery store.
You get the idea. So go out and get the picture!
Faces of Transportation 
You must be logged in to post a comment.