What to do in Colorado this week: A photographer showdown in Durango

A ’90s snowboard expedition spawns a slideshow tradition, where photographers compete for a $10,000 prize. That, and a documentary film festival, movie night with three comedians and the holiday markets have arrived.

Nov. 12-18

Colorado Pro Photographer Showdown. It was 1997 and Jack Turner had recently returned from a snowboarding trip in Iran. The trip had raised eyebrows and garnered some media attention, but Turner and the trip’s photographer, Eric Berger, knew they had something special in the photos. And not just the ski photos, but the photos of people, buildings, and streets of Tehran. So, at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, Canada, they gathered a bunch of people in a bar and played them a slideshow.

“By the end of the night, there were 200 people, everybody was really drunk and it was really fun,” Turner said. Turns out the people loved a slideshow.

That night spawned a festival tradition that is still around today as the Pro Photographer Showdown, where action sports photographers set their favorite photos to music and compete for a cash prize.

Now Turner is bringing that same format to Durango, where he’s hosting the Colorado Pro Photographer Showdown. The contest was opened earlier this year to any Colorado photographer — not just sports photographers — and five finalists were selected from over 50 applicants to compete for a $10,000 cash prize. There are also $1,000 prizes for the people’s choice awards and best single photograph.

Turner hopes the spirit that lit up that winter bar in Whistler will find its way into the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis, where the competition will take place Wednesday. Scream, cheer, loudly tell your friend how much you love a photo to influence the judging, he said.

The event anchors Colorado Photography Week, a constellation of photo-focused events in Durango that runs from Nov. 14-22.

“This is one of those things that if you blink, you don’t miss it,” Turner said. “It’s really to be savored and enjoyed.”

$25-$35; 7 p.m. Wednesday; For Lewis Community Concert Hall, 1000 Rim Dr., Durango

Other events to consider

• DocuWest Film Festival. From a two-month-long bike ride for civil rights to a Weird Al Yankovich burlesque troupe on tour, the 17th annual DocuWest Film Festival will be a wild ride. Five feature films, two short film collections and a community barbeque on Sunday. $15 per screening; Thursday-Sunday; Sie FilmCenter 2510 E. Colfax Ave., Denver
• Deck the Walls. Sorry for screaming, but IT’S HAPPENING!!! Holiday markets are opening all around us, starting Friday night with the annual Deck the Halls market in Carbondale. Candles, cards and other local crafts, open until Dec. 24. Free; Nov. 13-Dec. 24; Carbondale Arts, 76 S. Fourth St., Carbondale
• Movie Night with Adam and Rory and Ben. If you’re a movie theater shush-er then this is not the place for you. Three comedians — Adam and Rory and Ben — choose the movie, pick up the mics, and riff over the film the entire time. You don’t know the film until you get there and is that really the point anyway? $35; 8 p.m., Friday; The Arts Campus at Willits, 400 Robinson St., Basalt

Note: This is a curated list by the reporter to give readers a sense of arts and culture events happening across Colorado that they may not have otherwise known about. This is not meant to be an exhaustive account of things to do.