I dunno... I can tell why it won, though...

If you're a fan of folks like Emmet Gowin and even Annie Leibovitz, this would be the pic. The more quiet art approach. A curator or gallery organizer would be more in line with picking this image.

I WILL add that I do see what he's getting at - that the tiles, the pool wall and the lines of the walls lead you to the center where the boys are - you're lead into the shot. Technically it's got some skill, though I have no idea if it's accidental. This could very well have been a family snapshot he entered into a contest and got lucky.

Aside from that... Not my thing...

My personal tastes, however, like a LOT of the other ones in the small gallery better - I don't remember their names, but the black woman with the red bag in the cyan/green background, the man sitting in his cluttered bedroom, the man with no legs, the Muslim woman in her ice-cream truck, and the older couple redoing their portrait from years ago left impressions with me that the winner did not.

I like social relevance, I like illustration, I like a hint at who the person is in a portrait these days. All I get from the boys is that they're indoor swimming, with that look on their faces like, "Dad, take the picture sometime today..."

-Lew