Every third Monday, the entry period for a Contest Corner Challenge comes to a close. The next day (which, on most calendars, is a Tuesday), we begin the voting process, checking out the entries and casting our votes. Five days later, voting ends, and the next Monday, the winner is announced. If it sounds complicated, it’s only because I didn’t explain it well. Honestly, it’s pretty straight forward. Regardless of if you understand the entire process or not, all that you really need to know is that it’s time to vote on the entries for Contest Corner Challenge #57: Pollution.

According to Wikipedia, “pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy.” Most photographs we take are of “beautiful” or “pretty” things - generally speaking, we don’t enjoy photographing “ugly” things - however, it is sometimes the most disturbing of subjects that make for the most powerful photographs. The challenge for CCC#57 was to photograph some form of pollution, or the negative effects of pollution on an environment. Nineteen people stepped up to the plate (including a bunch of people entering a contest for the first time - awesome!) and there are some great (awful? - it is pollution after all…) pollution photographs to vote on. You can check them out here in the CCC#57: Pollution Photo Gallery, and then cast your vote in the voting thread. Voting ends at approximately 5:15pm EST on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 (that’s 9:15pm GMT).

The contest is sponsored by our great friends at SmugMug.com. If the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive a SmugMug Pro Account (1-year free subscription) or a $50 Gift Certificate towards prints at SmugMug.com. If the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a SmugMug Power Account (1-year free subscription).

So, in case you didn’t catch it in the paragraph above, check out the entries here, and cast your vote here.