Juror's Statement:

     Cities are extraordinary places filled with wonder, mystery, incongruity, humor, and pathos. There is constant tension between order and chaos, stasis and frenzy, rich and poor, young and old, as well as occasional harmonies of breathtaking beauty. There is pulsating energy, obscene wealth, grinding poverty. Which is more incongruous: that soaring towers of steel and glass remain standing, or that slums do? And how is it that hordes of rushing commuters don't break out in daily stampedes and that somehow they coordinate their steps in a constant ballet so that they flow mostly unimpeded from place to place?

     There are wonderful images of the built environment is this selection, modernist images as well as romantic ones. There are mostly public moments but also a few lovely personal ones. I was surprised not to see more street photography. Maybe in an age of social media photographers don't know how to interact with actual strangers anymore. The minority of images here that do deal directly and honestly with human beings are striking.

     So congratulations to those image-makers who have an authentic voice and something to say. I am glad to have engaged with your images and I hope many others will appreciate them too.

Stephen Perloff, Editor
The Photo Review

Juror: Stephen Perloff

The founder and editor of The Photo Review, a critical journal of international scope publishing since 1976, and editor of The Photograph Collector, the leading source of information on the photography art market. He has taught photography and the history of photography at numerous Philadelphia-area colleges and universities and has been the recipient of two grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for arts criticism. He was the recipient of the Sol Mednick Award for 2000 from the Mid-Atlantic region of the Society for Photographic Education, the first annual Vanguard Award from the Philadelphia Center for the Photographic Image in 2007, and the Colin Ford Award from the Royal Photographic Society in 2012.

His photographs have appeared in numerous exhibitions and reside in many museum and private collections. His exhibition, “Unseen Color, Part I,” was shown at The Light Room Gallery, Philadelphia, in March and April 2012. His work was recently included in the exhibitions “An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the Michener Art Museum” at the James A. Michener Art Museum (June 2009 – January 2010); “Streets of Philadelphia: Photography 1970–1985” at The Print Center, Philadelphia (fall 2009); “The Silver Garden” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (February– July 2005); “Continuum: Photography in Philadelphia: Past, Present, and Future” at the Free Library of Philadelphia (March–July 2007); “Filling the Frame” at Photo West Gallery, Philadelphia (April 2007), and “Hot Topic,” a show about global warming, at The Germantown Academy (fall 2007). His work was included in the exhibition "Making Magic: Beauty in Word and Image" at the James A. Michener Art Museum from November 3, 2012 – March 31, 2013, and images from "Unseen Color, Part I" were shown at the InVision Photography Festival in Bethlehem, PA, from October 2012 – January 31, 2013. Other recent shows include "Photography: Perceptions & Perspectives" at the State Theater in Easton, PA, from January to March 2013, and “Two for the Road,” a two-person show at Red Filter Gallery in Lambertville, NJ, in March and April 2013. “Unseen Color, Part II: East and West,” will be on view at The Light Room Gallery from May 4 – June 16, 2013.

He has curated more than a score of exhibitions, including “Philadelphia Past and Present” at the Philadelphia Art Alliance for the city's tricentennial in 1982. He was the curator of the acclaimed series “Photography: Contemporary Prospect” at Historic Yellow Springs (1994–2001). And he curated the exhibition “Camera Work: A Centennial Celebration,” which opened at the James A. Michener Art Museum in September 2003 and traveled through January 2005; an exhibition of environmentally concerned photographs, “Paradise Paved,” for the Painted Bride Art Center (April–May 2005); “Radical Vision: The Revolution in American Photography, 1945–1980” at the James A. Michener Art Museum (January–May 2006); the retrospective exhibition “Andrea Baldeck: The Heart of the Matter” at the Moore College of Art, Philadelphia (January–March 2007); and “Saving Face,” an exhibition of portraits drawn from the collection of Robert Infarinato at the Michener (November 2008 – March 2009). He was also the curator for the Woodmere Art Museum Photography Triennial (September 2009 – January 2010).