Here it is: the 2008 Candleblog is People annual reader collage...
It's much better a little bigger but it wouldn't fit in the post full size. Click here to see the full resolution image.
Deciding on the winner was tough. There were several leading contenders, including last year's winner, Undead Molly, who's Mrs. Lovett impersonation is uncanny. Here it is a little bigger so you can revel in the bloody horror...
Other notable contenders included an anonymous entry who is proud of his enormous... fondness for Candleblog, as well as Scott Wild's disturbing naked Barbie doll submission. Emily and I also wanted to make special mention of John Douglas' toothy grin, XJ3's dastardly mustache, Spine's lovely silhouette, Brad Searles' Deadwood mug, Meghan Dewald's candle, JD Ryan's feline facial eruption, Rob Simmon's stubby middle finger, Reba's enormous baby-belly, Matty the Greek's Photoshop chops, Neil Cleary's crafty pen, and all of the other awesome self portraits. I have to say, Candleblog's readers are without question the best looking blog readers in the blogosphere!
Our winning entry this year is Philadelphia-based artist, Kasten Searles. She's the redhead with the iPhone in her mouth in the upper right corner of the collage. Emily and I each picked three winners silently and then said them out loud to each other. We both picked Kasten's shot in our three (we also both picked another one -- the ultimate decision came down to a coin toss between the two). We liked Kasten's shot because it so exemplified the spirit of the collage, which is impromptu self-shots of Candleblog readers. It also features technology, is particularly relevant to Candleblog, and the image itself is striking and artful while also seeming entirely off-the-cuff. Kasten's prize was decided in part by her own suggestion in her emailed photo submission. She will also get a week of free advertising in the coveted Obama spot on Candleblog's front page.
BTW, I'm also quite pleased the Democratic presumptive nominee made this year's collage, though Senator Obama did not submit the photo himself, his Vermont surrogate Neil Jensen did (that's Neil getting mind-controlled by Obama).
Here's a little Candleblog test for you: Other than Emily and me, there are four people who have been in all four Candleblog collages to date. Can you identify all of them? You can see the last three years' collages here.
UPDATE: See an index of all of the original images here.