BIRK TURNS PHOTOGRAPHY TALENT INTO AWARD-WINNING MATERIAL

Marsha Gail Birk always knew in her mind's eye what she could do with a camera. But it wasn't until her doctor figured out what her real eye needed that she began to envision a career as a professional photographer.

"I always liked photography, but I had what is known as a dislocated lens and that kept me from finding out what talent I really had," said Birk, who got the break she was looking for in 1987. Her doctor fitted her with a lens that bypassed the normal lens and turned 20/100 vision into 20-30.

Birk's work showed steady progress and culminated in her first award recently. She won the Best in Show Purchase Award at the People Photography Contest at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff with her entry titled "In Step."

The museum received 84 entries from 37 people in 10 Missouri and Arkansas communities.

The former Jackson High graduate and English teacher at Southeast Missouri State was encouraged to enter her first contest by cohorts at the Photography Club of Paducaha, Ky.

"They told me I had a good eye working with a 35 millimeter camera," she said. "I thought it might be a neat chance to put my work up against others. I got the idea God was speaking to me, telling me to go for it so I did."

She won first place in the professional division for her entry titled "Private Thoughts" and placed third with an entry titled "Simply Elegant."

Birk learned she might be able to turn a natural inclination toward photography into a business as a teacher at Delta High School. "The kids complained about their senior pictures," she said. "I was a cheerleader sponsor and had seen how the pictures were being taken. I decided I could make up my own packet and did. That got me started on what is now a small business."

Birk likes to specialize in "storybook" illustrative pictures and portraits. "I like to use the 35 millimeter camera because you have to crop the picture as you're taking it," she said. "You have to see it in the frame and get it right on the spot or it won't work. That's a challenge I've liked ever since I got started in this."

Birk's work will be on display Sept. 8 at the Andrew Jackson House in Jackson from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.