First Place - Photo by Edmund Lee of Morganville

(FREEHOLD, NJ) -- Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon announced the winners of the 2024 High School Photography Contest conducted in conjunction with the County Clerk's 29th annual Archives & History Day that took place in October. Edmund Lee of Morganville, a Manalapan High School junior, took first place in the competition.

“This year’s winning photographs provide a glimpse into life here in Monmouth County through the eyes of our young people,” said Clerk Hanlon. “These talented students truly captured the beauty of Monmouth County through their photographs, and their work will deservedly be preserved by the Monmouth County Archives for years to come.”

High school students residing in Monmouth County and/or attending a school in Monmouth County were encouraged to submit an original color or black-and-white photograph capturing something significant or special about Monmouth County life today that should be preserved for future generations. The contest theme, “Monmouth County Life Through a Lens,” was based on the featured exhibit chosen for this year’s Archives & History Day event, a photography collection of the George Evans Studio, a former Freehold-based photography studio whose collection was made available to the Monmouth County Archives.

Second Place - Photo by Avellana Cameron of Oceanport

Clerk Hanlon presented the winners with their certificates and prizes during the awards program of this year’s Archives & History Day last month at the Robert J. Collins Arena at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft. The event drew hundreds of attendees and more than 50 historical organizations participating as exhibitors. Each year, a catalog of the featured exhibit is also published and made available to all attendees. A digital version of this year’s catalog, “Monmouth County Life Through a Lens” may be viewed and downloaded here.

The winning photographs as well as photos of each winner receiving his or her award from Clerk Hanlon can be downloaded from the Monmouth County Clerk’s Flickr page.

The winners are:

First place - Edmund Lee of Morganville, Manalapan High School junior

Second place - Avellana Cameron of Oceanport, Shore Regional High School freshman

Third place (tie) - Dylan Czekajlo of Union Beach, Red Bank Regional High School sophomore; Sophia Villa of Holmdel, Biotechnology High School freshman

Honorable mention - Isabella La Torre of Howell, Academy of Allied Health and Science High School freshman

Third Place (tie) - Photo by Sophia Villa of Holmdel

Third Place (tie) - Photo by Dylan Czekajlo of Union Beach

Honorable Mention - Photo by Isabella La Torre of Howell

The Office of the Monmouth County Clerk is comprised of five divisions handling property recordings, elections, archives, passports and records management. The County Clerk’s Office also provides resident, veteran and Gold Star Family identification cards to county residents, administers oaths to notaries and public officials and performs wedding ceremonies. The Monmouth County Clerk is a constitutional and administrative officer elected to a five-year term by the voters of Monmouth County. Christine Giordano Hanlon, Esq. was elected Monmouth County Clerk in November 2015 and was re-elected to a second term in November 2020.