TAC photo contest finalist exhibition at Tekethopa

The Oakley Arctic Challenge (TAC) and Protest invited all photographers that have attended the event to an historic photo contest. Travel support and prize money is on the table. Well established photographers, young talents, family and friends have submitted their best lifestyle and actions shots from The Arctic Challenge. The finalists are now announced.

The jury, consisting of Nick Hamilton from Transworld, Danny Burrows from Onboard, Jody Koenders from Protest and Odd Harald Hauge from TAC, met this weekend for some serious decision making.
- It was hard to come to a conclusion. The quality of photos from TAC throughout the years is great, says Nick Hamilton.

In the true spirit of TAC, the jury was looking for variation as well as single shot quality.
- The photos will be exhibited in Tekethopa, starting Tuesday 19th Februrary 2008, 17.30.
We wanted the photos to look good together. There were a lot of great action shots, but we tried to find photos with a special taste to it, says Jody Koenders from Protest.

4 action shots and 4 lifestyle shots were chosen. Protest and TAC cover travel expenses, hotel and food for the event for all finalists. And they are:

•    Ari Marcopolous, for lifestyle shot of Eero Ettala in Lofoten in 2000 and action shot of Terje Haakonsen in Lofoten in 2000
•    Marcus Fischer, for lifestyle shot of Elias Elhardt in Lofoten in 2005 and action shot of Danny Kass in Finnsnes in 2005
•    Frode Sandbech, for action shot of Terje Haakonsen in Midstuen/Oslo in 2007
•    Thomas Larsen Røed, for action shot of unknown rider in Midtstuen/Oslo in 2007
•    Thimon de Jong, for lifestyle shot of Dimi de Jong in Midtstuen/Oslo in 2007
•    Marco Sampaoli, for lifestyle shot of Manuel Pietropoli in Oslo in 2006

- The photos represents what  TAC and snowboarding means to a lot of people around the world; action and lifestyle combined, arena contest and nature experience in a delicate mix, says Danny Burrows from Onboard.

The Oakley Arctic Challenge starts Monday February the 18th and ends with finals on Saturday February the 23rd. The jury will meet early in the TAC weeks to decide upon two winners. Protest have organised to European street artist that will transform these photos into innovative pieces of art. The winners will be presented on the farewell party and receive a total of 5000 EUROs from Protest.