As a magazine designer, you can’t possibly imagine what a treat it is do create this issue of No’Ala. It’s a little like Christmas—I get 32 surprises under my tree! That’s how many portraits we commissioned this year from eight exceptional local photographers who stunned us all once again with their skill and unique points of view. This year we asked a number of last year’s “beautiful people” to nominate up to 25 people they thought had that unique combination of physical and internal beauty. Like last year, some husbands, wives and siblings were nominated separately, so it was fun to group some of these people into one portrait. Our 40 beautiful people are as varied as the Shoals. Students, small business owners, musicians, fashion designers, chefs, doctors, coaches, and even one professional athlete make up the “Most Beautiful People in the Shoals,” starting on page 40. On the cover pictured below are Connor and Ben Fisher, shot by Robert Rausch at Cypress Creek. (Don’t miss the other three covers for this same issue! That’s right, we just couldn’t decide!)
—David
We’re looking for someone special, and we think you might know this person.
Two years ago, No’Ala Magazine began its Renaissance Awards to recognize people who live in our communities who very quietly go about the business of making a huge difference for all of us. We wanted to bring recognition to well rounded people who excel in multiple areas—the definition of a “Renaissance Person”—and it was important to us to hear from you about who those people were. Your response was overwhelming, but we were able to narrow the field and choose our recipients; if you’d like to re-read their stories, take a look at the March/April issue for 2010.
To make this award special, we decided to present it every other year, instead of annually. There are five categories: Science, Education, Service & Spirituality, Business & Leadership, and Arts & Culture. We present one award per category, and then our panel chooses one overall person as our Renaissance Person. Their stories will be featured in the 2012 March/April issue of No’Ala.
So, who are our Renaissance people?
A few things you should know. People who were nominated before can be nominated again, but not our past winners (Dr. Nolan Richards, Cynthia A. Burkhead, Arneda Heath, Marigail and Tommy Mathis and Mary White). Politicians and people who make their living doing good works qualify, but our panel will probably favor volunteerism when making the final decisions. There is a panel—this is not an honor bestowed by the No’Ala Editors or staff—so bribes don’t work. When you make your nominations, the more information you can give us the better.
Email your nominations to dsims@atsa-usa.com or mail them to No’Ala Magazine, P.O. Box 2530, Florence AL 35630. We can’t wait to learn about the people who are making a difference here in the Shoals!
No'Ala's September/October 2010 Issue. Cover photo of Phoebee Saye by Armosa Studios.
Our September/October 2010 issue (Beautiful People) won the top award for Best Single Cover at the 2010 GAMMAS held Thursday, May 5, at the W Hotel Midtown in Atlanta. The very same issue took home a silver award for Best Photography as well.
Thank you to Robert Rausch Patrick Hood, Abraham Rowe, Stacy Fulton, Shana Alexander, Danny Mitchell (who photographed the dogs), and particularly Tera and Wes Wages of Armosa Studios, who created the amazing image of Phoebee Saye for the cover. Here’s what the judges said:
“With the direct gaze of its subject, No’Ala’s Sept/Oct issue offers a compelling image that invites the reader into the cover story and entices them to see who are the beautiful among them…and just what the ‘Few Dogs’ look like.”
No’Ala also took home three additional silver awards for General Excellence, Best Design, and Best Single Issue (July/August 2010–Music), plus an honorable mention for Best Feature for our profile on emerging musicians in the July/August 2010 issue.
Each year, the GAMMAS honor the top magazines in the Southeast, and we were very proud to be recognized alongside magazines like Garden & Gun, South, Charlotte Magazine, PineStraw, Georgia Trend, Jezebel, Professional Photographer, and LongLeaf Style.
