CHALLENGER DEFENDER

• Prize
  Bronze in Book/Other
• Photographer
  Nancy A Scherl
• Agency / Studio
  Nancy A Scherl Fine Art
• Technical Info
  Varied Settings /full Frame /available And Strobe Light. Shutter Speeds 1/15th-1/125th Asa 100
• Photo Date
  2019-2025

CHALLENGER DEFENDER, is about the Tibetan monastic debates which are an ancient practice performed by Buddhist monks. By using critical thinking skills, applying logic and reason to interpret complex topics learned through memorization from their scriptures, monks derive at their own hypotheses. Floodlights are hung from the monastery rootops at night and cast shadows from the monks as they engage in these impassioned debates Visually, I felt as though the debates had been staged, choreographed and lit specifically for me, but in fact, they are not staged or rehearsed at all.

Nancy Scherl is a social documentary and fine art portrait photographer based in New York City. She often uses Cinema Verite' invoking metaphor and social commentary. Nancy completed an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media at New York City’s School of Visual Arts, following her undergraduate studies in documentary and fine art photography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers where she served as a board member (2016-2019) and is a board member and treasurer of the Katonah Museum Artists Association in Katonah, New York.