Winning Images from "Chicago in Focus" Photo Contest Available to View on Dream Town Website

CHICAGO, IL, August 19, 2010 (Press-News.org) Dream Town Realty, a frontrunner for the online real estate market in Chicago, has posted all winning and honorable mention submissions from the company's "Chicago in Focus" photography competition on its website. Visitors to the site can get a preview of images, which will be published by the brokerage in a coffee table book later this year. The photos were publicly unveiled at a special awards ceremony on Thursday, August 5th that was attended by over 250 guests and members of the local media.

Dream Town has created a special page on its site to feature the cash prize-winning photographs and honorable mention entries. All images were taken by Chicago-area shutterbugs who wanted to share their own perspective of the city with the public.

"The response we had was extraordinary. We received over 3,200 entries," said Yuval Degani, president and co-founder of Dream Town Realty. "We were beyond impressed with the photo submissions and the level of creative talent represented here."

The concept behind Chicago in Focus was to produce a portrait of the city through the eyes of its people. Amateur, student and professional photographers were invited to participate in the project. The final product will be a bound, full-color picture book about life in Chicago from the viewpoint of the local community.

The pictures are available for viewing at http://www.dreamtown.com/contest/winners.jsp. Approximately 125 photos were selected by a panel of celebrity judges from some 3,200 submissions. Images include cityscapes, lake and river shots, nature scenes, people, buildings, public transportation, outdoor art and sculptures, Chicago institutions and original takes on a place that has been photographed billions of times over.

Funds raised at the awards reception benefited La Casa Norte, a local organization that assists the homeless in Chicago's Humboldt Park area. First, second and third place winners were presented cash prizes at the ceremony and the first place photo will also be used on the cover of the Chicago in Focus book. Visit the Dream Town website for a list of finalist names and to watch a slideshow of the images to be used in the publication.

"We wanted to show as many different sides of Chicago as possible with this book," Mr. Degani said. "The result is a one-of-a-kind keepsake that truly captures the spirit of this city and showcases its beauty."

Dream Town is largely recognized as the leader in online Chicago real estate. Its top-ranked website (www.DreamTown.com) receives tens of thousands of unique visitors weekly and offers the most advanced Internet home search available to Chicago buyers today. The company has developed proprietary technology and applications to improve online house hunting and increase web exposure for listings. Dream Town Realty provides residential buyer and seller services, as well as commercial, international and REO sales divisions. The company also has a luxury homes sector and a new home construction and renovation branch called Dream Town Builders and Remodeling.