A tremendous opportunity awaits aspiring Fresno City College photography students. A photo contest is being held in part to generate community interest with Fresno’s art scene.

Photography students have the chance to have their body of work showcased at the downtown Broadway Studio during the first Art Hop of October. Time is of the essence. Contest submissions are due afternoon between 5:00 and 6:30.

During this Thursday’s Art Hop, former FCC photography student, Jorge Miguel Castillo is generously donating his Broadway Studios space in an effort to showcase contest submissions from current FCC photography students.

“I want to motivate photographers to go out there and show their work,” Castillo explained.

Attendees of this Thursday’s Art Hop will vote for their favorite FCC student photo submission. The student who receives the most votes will have the privilege of returning to Broadway Studios to showcase their body of works to hundreds of visitors next month. Fresno’s Art Hop takes place on the first Thursday of each month from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

“When I was going to school, I would have liked it if somebody helped me out getting Art Hop going,” Castillo said. “I just started thinking about it. What if I give some of my friends the opportunity to have their work shown here at Broadway?”

The contest rules require that FCC photography students submit their entries today, September 5, between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Broadway Studio No. 14. The entry fee is $5 per photo with a submission limitation of two photos. Photograph sizes must range between 5-by-7 and 11-by-14.

Castillo, 26, graduated from FCC in 2010. After completing high school in 2004, Castillo focused his studies and his future on photography.

“This is what I like to do. I picked it up from my mom because she was a photographer in Mexico City. So I decided to keep going with it,” he explained.

Later this year, Castillo is hoping to grant FCC student photographers with an additional opportunity to submit their works. Castillo believes that this will give photography students more time to diversify and build their portfolios.

Students who choose to submit their work will be pleased to know that all varieties of photography work are welcome.

“I’d like a lot of the students from Fresno City to come check out their fellow student’s work out here. That way they can get interested in the art of Fresno,” Castillo said.

Broadway Studios #14 is located on the corner of Broadway and Tuolumne at 1416 Broadway St.

For more information, contact J.M.C. Photography at 559-304-6030.