Landscape nominee

The Lone Cowboy, an imagined artifact of Hollywood portraited by John Ford moves. This fixture of the depiction of the west has been a withstanding tradition for years across Monument Valley. Now in Contemporary America, the trained horse stands petrified on the edge of the cliff, so tourist can have themselves pictured as they were apart of these John Ford films.

William Mark Sommer is a visual artist and educator working with in the small town of Loomis, California. Through Sommer's work in analog photography, he has received a BFA in Art Photography from Arizona State University and traversed the United States developing a practice that engages in themes of human nature, preservation, empathy and time.

Growing up in a bypassed highway town of Loomis, Sommer’s life was shaped by small-town American culture. This culture along the Lincoln Highway gave him a deep admiration towards the overlooked and in-between places that were forgotten by the many.

Sommer has exhibited projects in North America and Europe; venues including, The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, Center For Fine Art Photography, Midwest Center For Photography, Center for Photographic Art, Belfast Photo Festival, Incadaques International Photo Festival, Yeiser Art Center, Northlight Gallery, His awards include Life Framer’s First Prize Award Selected by Alex Prager and British Journal of Photography & 1854 Media “Open Walls” and “Decade of Change”, He has also been featured in publications like Stay Wild magazine, Lodown