Sanford Historic Trust opens Images of Sanford photo contest

Black-and-white photos of Sanford streets, storefronts, porches, waterfront views and neighborhood scenes could end up defining the city’s 2027 calendar, with the Sanford Historic Trust now taking entries for its Images of Sanford contest. The theme is “This is Sanford,” and the juried competition will select 13 photographs from within Sanford city limits.

Kathy Hull and Reg Garner are coordinating the contest, which gives residents and photographers a direct role in shaping how Sanford is seen in the year ahead. The Trust says it is looking for recent images that capture street scenes, restaurants, outdoor sports, homes, holidays and Sanford events, along with storefronts and the waterfront. Selected photographs will be framed and exhibited at the calendar reveal event, tying the contest to a public showcase as well as a printed calendar.

The deadline for submissions is July 15, and the Trust says entries should be black-and-white photographs. Photographers keep ownership of their images, but they grant the Trust permission to use them for the calendar and related promotional purposes. Questions go to calendarcontest@sanfordhistorictrust.org.

The calendar itself is distributed free each year, supported by sponsors. The Trust lists sponsorship levels of $1,000 for title sponsor, $250 for month sponsor, $100 for friend of the calendar and $50 for save-the-date sponsor. The reveal is tied to a November event at Jeanine Taylor Gallery, giving the project a visible place in Sanford’s civic calendar.

The contest fits a preservation effort that reaches well beyond one annual publication. The Sanford Historic Trust says its mission is to protect, preserve and cultivate Sanford’s historical heritage through education and innovative stewardship. Formed in 1989 as a not-for-profit group, it traces its roots to “urban pioneers” who were renovating historic homes near downtown Sanford before the city’s historic identity was broadly recognized.

Sanford already carries that layered heritage in public record. The City of Sanford says the city has three historic districts, including two listed on the National Register of Historic Places and one local historic district. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation says Sanford also maintains two locally designated historic districts. The Sanford Museum, established in 1957 as a memorial to founder Henry Shelton Sanford, maintains a Sanford photograph collection and local history archive, underscoring the city’s long link between images and memory.

The annual calendar has its own history, too. The Trust’s winners page shows named winners in both 2025 and 2026, and a Sanford Heritage source says Hull and Garner started the Images of Sanford calendar together. Garner’s photography biography notes that he was president and founder of the Sanford Camera Club and president of the Orlando Camera Club, a background that helps explain the contest’s careful juried structure.