2025 Photo Contest
Ice Lake Basin
by Kayla Mackel, '26
San Juan Mountains, Colorado
In this captivating snapshot during a hike up the Ice Lake Basin, we stopped to gaze upwards, enveloped in the undisturbed magnificence of the San Juan Mountains. Towering rocks allow for a stream of water to cross our path, while vibrant wildflowers dance from the trail's edge up to the mountain peaks. It served as a beautiful reminder to pause along the demanding journey, to admire the different perspectives the Colorado West provides, and to remember that the journey is just as beautiful as the destination. As we marvel at the brilliance captured in this moment, we're prompted to safeguard these pristine landscapes, ensuring that their beauty endures beyond our fleeting footsteps.
The State of the Rockies project invites students to submit up to three photos and a description of each photo(s) taken from the Rocky Mountain West that reminds us why, how, and/or what conservation efforts are necessary to preserve and protect nature. Students are required to describe how their photo submission(s) relate to a conservation topic covered by this year's State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll.
Send us a photo you took from the Rocky Mountain West that shows us Top of Mind conservation issues in the West!
W I N $500 1st PLACE $250 2nd PLACE $100 3rd PLACE $100 People's Choice
This student event is made possible by funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and is sponsored by The Colorado College State of the Rockies Project.
Judges
Heather Oelklaus is the Print Work Shop Supervisor for the Colorado College Art Department. She has based her life around art for the last 30 years. After attending the Kansas City Art Institute, Heather moved to Colorado Springs where she has been creating artworks that incorporate her passion for photography, printmaking, sculpture, painting, fiber, and collage. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums and is held in private collections around the United States. Heather explores the boundaries of photography and experiments with alternative processes and technologies. When she is not creating photographs, she can be found plein air painting, weaving on her loom, and researching new techniques for her art making.
Jamie Cotten is an award-winning photojournalist, and the photographer/photo editor in the Office of Communications & Marketing at Colorado College.
As a freelancer for nearly two decades, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, ESPN, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, The Telegraph and in media outlets via Polaris Images, among others.
“It’s amazing to see the way people open up to photographer Jamie Cotten,” says former Colorado Life Magazine Assistant Editor Matt Masich. “Her genuine understanding of life puts her photo subjects at ease, letting her capture them as they truly are in unguarded moments.”
Jamie studied fine art photography at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC before returning to her native Colorado where she graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and international business.
She then returned to the East Coast for eight years, where she frequently compiled story packages - finding, researching, reporting, writing, photographing and often shooting and producing video - solo.
Twice the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) awarded Jamie first place in feature photography - once for her photo story on an inspirational boxing coach who worked for free with inner-city youth, and once for her photo coverage of Burmese refugees in Colorado struggling to navigate the complicated U.S. legal system.
“My ultimate goal as a journalist is to help people relate to one another," Jamie says.
In her free time living back in Colorado, she runs, swims, plays classical piano and enjoys national and international adventures with her son.