The annual Art of Photography international competition opened with its Gala reception in downtown San Diego’s historic Lyceum Theater this past Saturday night, and is now open for viewing through November 1, 2009.

If you’re not familiar with this stellar annual international art event in San Diego, you really should check out their website at www.artofphotographyshow.com. Here’s a brief summary from their website if you are really in a hurry.

A total of 16,000 photographic entries were submitted by artists from 57 countries around the world for this juried competition. The judge for this exhibit is Charlotte Cotton, who is the Curator and Head of the Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Ms. Cotton selected 111 images — the best of the best!