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Wellington teen's photo selected for new Colorado driver's license design

Fort Collins Coloradoan 3/5/2021 Erin Udell, Fort Collins Coloradoan

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Last May, itching to get out of the house amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 19-year-old Wellington photographer Gabriel Dupon went on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Dupon, of course, had brought a camera. So when he reached Sprague Lake, he delicately balanced on a log off its shores to take a photo — ultimately capturing that day's clouded-swirled sky stacked above snowy mountaintops, a zigzag of trees and the lake's vast, rippled waters.

If that wasn't a good enough description, don't worry. Once you've renewed your driver's license after this fall, a copy of Dupon's photograph will live in your wallet.

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Dupon's photo was one of two winners recently selected in the statewide Iconic Colorado art contest for Colorado's new driver's license design. More than 55,000 Coloradans voted, whittling 400 art entries down to two.

Dupon's photo of Sprague Lake will officially be featured on the back of Colorado's new driver's licenses while a photograph of Mount Sneffels, taken by Glenwood Springs resident Matt Nunez, will be on the front.

Story continues below images

calendar: This photo of Mount Sneffels will be the new front side image of Colorado driver's licenses.

This new driver's license design is expected to launch this fall, according to the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles.

Dupon grew up in Fort Collins and moved to the Wellington area about a decade ago. He has run his own photography business, Gabriel Dupon Photography, since 2019.

Dupon first heard of the Iconic Colorado contest when he was making an appointment at the DMV through its website.

Soon, he was submitting his Sprague Lake photograph to the statewide contest, and it caught the eye of thousands of Coloradans who voted for the state's new design.

"One of the intentions I had when I was getting the picture was not just to capture an ordinary picture, but capture (Sprague Lake in an authentic way)," Dupon said. "What I strive to do in my photography is to capture not necessarily what we can see, but what we can't."

Erin Udell reports on news, culture, history and more for the Coloradoan. Contact her at ErinUdell@coloradoan.com. The only way she can keep doing what she does is with your support. If you subscribe, thank you. If not, sign up for a digital subscription to the Coloradoan today.