A local Cochrane photographer is being recognized by a prestigious international photography competition and will be representing Canada at the 2021 World Photographic Cup.

Jacquie Matechuk says she's grateful to be part of Team Canada, and have the opportunity to showcase her photo entry at the  "Olympics of photographic art."

"The world Photographic Cup is truly an international event it involves I believe 38 to 40 different countries from around the world," says Matechuk. "They've kind of dubbed this the Olympics of photographic art and the concept behind it is that each country is responsible for harvesting their top images."

Truly an Olympic type of event, Matechuk is amongst four Canadian photographers who are competing for a spot on the podium and a chance at bringing home a Bronze, Silver or Gold medal for her photo entry.

The photo submission was taken by Matechuk in the early days of the COVID lockdown. She says that like most people feeling isolated, she went out for some air and a change of scenery and while she was walking around a usually bustling downtown core in Calgary, she was instead greeted by eerily empty streets.

"The buildings just had such a different feel to them because they're usually something that's such a hub for the city," says Matechuk. "So many millions of people use the Calgary downtown core and all of a sudden it was just vacant. the buildings rather than being these big dominant entities were just so empty and lonely feeling. that ended up being the motivation behind that particular image."

The empty, and lonely image Matechuk speaks of is a black-and-white photo of the Telus Sky building. The towering still image of a typically bustling part of Calgary's Cityscape.

Most commonly known for her sports and travel photography, Matechuk says that broadening her line of work allows her to keep growing her skillset and stay inspired.

"I find that when I work in different genres of photography because each one has different demands and challenges it makes me better overall as a photographer," says Metechuk. "I find, no matter what I'm shooting, if I continue to shoot in a broad spectrum all of them just seem to get better and better and you just continue to push yourself."

The medal ceremony for the 2021 World Photographic Cup is scheduled to take place in Rome, Italy on April 19, but that will ultimately depend on COVID-19 health and safety restrictions.