Meet the March 'The Items We Carry' judge

Even though the instructions for our March contest were to empty your pockets and pocketbooks and start photographing (I think I'll skip the phrase "shooting" this month), the critical part of the instructions was to arrange the items in an interesting or creative way.

In essence, we were photographing still lifes -- just with unexpected items. So when I looked for a judge, I wanted someone with an expertise in this field. And I found one.

James Worrell is a New York City photographer whose images have been used in ads for products and companies such as Pringles, Bicardi, and AT&T. His work has been published in Fitness Magazine, Wine Spectator, Martha Stewart, Psychology Today, Good Housekeeping, and Time, among other publications. He has shot cosmetics, clothes, jewelry, food ... in other words, he's a real catch for RAW.

He sent along this droll bio:

>> James shoots still-life of all types for Advertising, Catalog and Editorial, he is from Iowa, went to school, graduated with a BFA, moved to LA for more school, dropped out, moved to NYC, worked for some really great people, turned pro, had a studio in Tribeca, moved to 19th Street, moved to 26th Street, moved to 38th Street ... you get the picture ... he has received awards from Graphis, Art Directors Club, PDN, International Color Awards, SPD, etc. James is married to artist Elizabeth Fleming, has 2 kids and a dog in the suburbs of Maplewood, NJ, he's mostly friendly, has a tinge of artistic temperament, loves music, history, smart people, objects of all kinds. Give a ring. Now get back to work. Oh yeah, thank you for looking. <<

You can see James' work at his site, JamesWorrell.net, as well as his Facebook page. He also just launched an updated version of his site at WRKBK.

James is reviewing all of your photos today. Since there are fewer than 100 eligible photos this month, he'll choose 25 finalists instead of 50. I should be able to post those Monday, and then the Top 10, including First, Second, and Third Places, a couple of days later.

Meanwhile, here are the two galleries of entries: Gallery 1 | Gallery 2

And here's information about the April "Doorways" contest that's open now.