Up next: 

 

Land/Scape

Ordinary Things

Fantastic Visions

EXHIBIT Closed on August 16th 2015
Juror: Nissan N. Perez

Juror's Choice: Marv Freedman, 1989  by Don Unrau from Portland, OR USA"

Conflict and resolution, photography that documents the dynamic power-struggles in our world and conversely, the moments of calm.

Humankind is in a constant state of conflict. As described by the famous Karl Marx theory: society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources.  One can see that is true if you simply watch a broadcast news program. 

From civil rights, to gay rights to global terrorism, our world is a bubbling cauldron of adversarial commotion. And it seems it has always been this way. History textbook pages merely skim the surface when if comes to wars and hypocrisy. Cultural misunderstandings, power-struggles and discrimination easily erupt into violence.  

Exhibit Calendar (Subject to Change)
Exhibit Opens:	23 July 15
Artists' Reception:	14 August 15 17:30
Exhibit Closes:	16 August 15
War and Peace Exhibit Catalog now available at PrestoPhoto The Darkroom Gallery Difference

Darkroom Gallery called for photography that investigates the relationship between conflict and photography, exploring the types of photographs created during turmoil, as well the times of peace. We are interested in the progression of war: from the acts that instigate armed conflict to “the fight,” to victory and defeat, and photos that memorialize a time, its combatants, and its victims. Images playing with symbolism and allegory are well suited for this exhibit.

We ask you to think outside the box. This theme of conflict can be expressed intimately, quietly behind civilian curtains as well as on the battlefield. 

Juror's Statement: Although there are distinct kinds, war is commonly defined as a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state. Most of us would agree that war is not a necessity. It is not even an indispensable option. It is often the choice of a certain category of leaders who recur to it for personal/political/nationalist reasons and to assert their leadership through a demonstration of power by fomenting conflict. In the process those who suffer most are men and nature. The victims of war are not only the dead but also the survivors who carry the trauma and scars for the rest of their life. As an accurate visual memory photography has the power to disturb when presented in the context of armed conflict, even if it does not depict death and devastation. While reviewing the submissions for this competition I realized that most photographers addressed and expressed mainly the human facet of the aftermath of war, its physical and emotional devastating effects. Therefore my selection was an attempt to assemble a group of works that would also yield an exhibition with an internal logic. Let us pray and hope that at least the future generations will not have to go through the horrors of war. Without wars peace will become a simple fact of life.  Dr. Nissan N. Perez

• All selected entries are exhibited in our gallery and included in a full color exhibit catalog.
• Juror's Choice receives a 30x48" vinyl exhibit banner featuring their image, free entry into a future exhibition, and a free exhibition catalog.
  
• Honorable Mentions receive free exhibition catalogs and free entry in a future exhibition. 
  
• People's Choice gains free entry into a future exhibit.
• We offer free matting and framing of accepted entries for the duration of each of our exhibition, subject to standard sizes. Photographers set their own prices if they wish to sell their work and retain all rights to their photographs.

Juror:  Nissan N. Perez Currently Vice-President of the Shpilman Institute for Photography (SIP) in Tel Aviv, in his previous position he worked for over 37 years as Senior Curator of Photography at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem where he conceived and created the department of photography and its extensive collection of over 120,000 items. In his curatorial career he conceived and curated over 180 exhibitions in Israel and Worldwide and published a substantial number of books, catalogs and articles. In addition Perez currently teaches graduate courses and seminars at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, The Ben Gourion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, and at the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain. His studies were in psychology, philosophy and art history at the Hebrew University and he ultimately obtained a PhD from the University of Brighton, UK. At the start of his career in photography he was trained for two years first in Paris under the renowned expert and collector Gérard Lévy and at the Société Française de Photographie, then in London at the Royal Photographic Society and the V&A, followed by a one year internship at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. Prior to his tenure at the Israel Museum he worked for many years as a professional photographer specialized in advertising and public relations while also devoting time to personal creative photography. Perez was born in Istanbul, Turkey, educated in French schools and immigrated to Israel in 1967 where he built his life and career in photography.

EXHIBIT Closed on May 12th 2019

Juror: Amy Holmes George

A portrait! What could be more simple and more complex, more obvious and more profound.

Juror's Choice Self Destruction © Samantha Goss

The above quotation comes not from a photographer, but from 19th century French poet (and art critic) Charles Baudelaire. It's still an accurate observation, maybe even more incisive  with the many changes in image-making that have taken place since 1859.  In the age of the selfie and ubiquitous photos of people both famous and unknown it's sometimes hard to imagine a new way of presenting a human likeness, and yet photographers are doing it.  It's said that the portrait differs from the candid (or street) photo in that the subject of the portrait knows that she or he is being photographed, and even that caveat is no longer a hard and fast rule. 

For this exhibition we asked contributors to interpret the portrait in any way they chose. It could be a self portrait, a formal portrait, a from-the-hip shot of someone whose attention was caught, or even a random body part. Manipulation of the image was permitted as long as the primary subject was from a photographic source in any medium.  Thinking, or seeing, outside the box was very much encouraged, and many of the contributors stretched the concept of the portrait to the extreme. The result is an eclectic exhibit of creative approaches to photographing people (and one rooster). 

Exhibit Calendar (Subject to Change)
Exhibit Opens:	4 April 19
Artists' Reception:	13 April 19 17:00
Exhibit Closes:	12 May 19
Submission Rules Selection Process How to make a Submission Submit your work Now Invite a Photographer The Darkroom Gallery Difference

 

Juror's Statement: "First, I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the artists for sharing their personal vision in photography with me! You made my task as juror both challenging and rewarding. I was genuinely excited to discover so much diversity in approach and technique, along with rich, creative interpretations on such a traditional and timeless theme. It seems that photography, a medium of limitless possibilities, has enabled artists to refresh and also reinvent the familiar, long-standing conventions of portraiture. From quiet to compelling, simple to complex, curious to captivating—the works selected for this exhibition range widely in visual as well as conceptual exploration, conjuring stories that exist beyond the frame, surprising me over and over again with something unexpected." - Amy Holmes George, March 2019

 

 

Amy Holmes George, who lives near Dallas, Texas, is a fine art photographer and the past Executive Director of Texas Photographic Society (2013-2018). As a former tenured professor of photography and digital media at Stephen F. Austin State University, Amy has also held teaching appointments at Collin College, Baylor University and University of North Texas. Amy is a recent member of the National Board of Directors of the Society for Photographic Education (2013-2017) and a 2008 Fulbright grant recipient. She earned an MFA in photography from Clemson University and a BFA cum laude in photography and graphic design from Miami University. Exhibited widely throughout the U.S. as well as in Italy, England, France and China, Amy's work has been featured in over one hundred exhibitions and is housed in several permanent collections, including The Getty, The Kinsey Institute and the Fratelli Alinari Museum in Florence, Italy. Her work has been published in a variety of texts, including the third edition of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes [Christopher James, 2015]; Gum Printing and other Amazing Contact Printing Processes [Christina Z. Anderson, 2013]; and the fifth edition of Exploring Color Photography: From Film to Pixels [Robert Hirsch, 2010].

 

---

• All selected entries are exhibited in our gallery and included in a full color exhibit catalog.
• Juror's Choice receives a 30x48" vinyl exhibit banner featuring their image, free entry into a future exhibition, and an exhibition catalog.
  
• Honorable Mentions receive free exhibition catalogs and free entry in a future exhibition. 
  
• People's Choice gains free entry into a future exhibit.
• We offer free matting and framing of accepted entries for the duration of each of our exhibition, subject to standard sizes. Photographers set their own prices if they wish to sell their work and retain all rights to their photographs.