December 11, 2024

FOPOS Thanks All those Who Supported Annual Photography Contest, Exhibition

To the Editor:

Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) thanks members of the community who came to the Mountain Lakes House last weekend to see and celebrate our photography exhibition, which featured selected photos from our ninth annual photography contest. The contest, entitled “Perspectives on Preservation,” encouraged people to explore the Greater Mountain Lakes Recreation Area more deeply, and to linger a bit longer within its over 400 acres of preserved public open space and farmland.

The exhibition is a sampling of what photographers found on their wanderings including wildlife, a broad community of plants, diverse landscapes, and vestiges of the ways this land has seen human occupation and use. The photos are an homage to a place — accessible by close to nine miles of trails — where the community can relax and recharge in nature, and where native wildlife and plants can flourish.

We are deeply grateful to REI Princeton for their continuous support of our photo contest, to the participating photographers, and to our judges, Jody Erdman, Tasha O’Neill, and Frank Sauer. Frank’s annual co-exhibition of photos from the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve and its surroundings is always a visual delight.

Our conversations with visitors to the show made clear that the Princeton community places great value on open space, and that the youth of our community are passionate about doing what they can to mitigate the impacts of climate change by helping to maintain and restore healthy preserved lands.

Fran Mcmanus
Jess Atkins
FOPOS Trustees

Jackie Halaw
FOPOS Program Coordinator
Mountain Avenue