Discover and RSVP to upcoming Art Gallery exhibitions and events

Description

Juror’s Statement

“There is no closed figure in nature. Every shape participates with another. No one thing is independent of another, and one thing rhymes with another, and light gives them shape.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

This quote by Bresson has always struck me as one of the most poignant descriptions of fine photography, and even more so – by a photographer who ultimately understood the elements of what makes a successful photographic composition.

I have always used photography as tool to express metaphor and I personally love seeing juxtaposition, shape, and form mesh with poetic narratives in photography. I enjoyed looking through all the work that was submitted to this exhibition and narrowing it down to 75 photographs was no easy task. But when discerning which images would ultimately land into the gallery exhibition and then into the online exhibition as well, the common thread was looking for that poetic metaphor that I think photography is so keen on exposing. The work that is in the gallery exhibition had these eloquent qualities, and also included what I considered the ability to exhibit beautiful tonal ranges that would lend themselves to a fine photographic print, ready for exhibition. The breadth of work in this exhibition that fulfilled these qualities range from the spectrum of a visual narrative, to the simple contemplative beauty of quiet Zen landscapes and still life, to portraits that tell a story deep within the eyes of the subject.

The Juror’s Award and the Director’s award were both selected for their unique approach to the medium of photography – both playing on uses of photographic film – The Juror’s Award playing with how the use of film can be used sculpturally to portray a three dimensional quality; and the Director’s Award playing with the concept of multi-layered double exposures in a landscape photograph. I loved how both of these photographs have poetic resonance while also utilizing the poetry of photography as well as interesting composition.

When jurying and curating exhibitions, sometimes the final selections that culminate into an exhibition wind up taking a life of their own and telling one long story. Because of this, certain images get excluded not because they are not worthy, but because they do not complete the whole picture that the exhibition will tell.

Kudos to all who entered, and thank you for allowing me into your artistic perspectives.