Juror's Statement:

A juror’s job is always a struggle.  To review a group of images, united by a theme, and select a small group for exhibition is a challenge.  Unavoidably, many good pictures – well seen and provocative – are left out.  It was interesting to see how photographers responded to the call for pictures about lines.  Images of both manmade and natural lines appeared.  Buildings, horizon lines, contrails, trees, railroad tracks, beams of light.  I found myself drawn to photographs that were intriguing – in which the arrangement of space was obfuscated and unclear.  Those visual puzzles attracted me.  On the other hand, some of the most minimal and straightforward pictures, of power lines or jellyfish tentacles, struck me as wonderfully beautiful.  Although I look for innovation and new approaches, I am also engaged by a straight photograph that is well made.  We don’t see it often in photography, but I always appreciate photographers who incorporate humor or playfulness in their work.  In creating this selection I strove to bring together a diverse approach to the concept of lines, pictures that surprise and delight and are just great images, and I hope you enjoy Lines as much as I have.

 Rebecca Senf

Juror:Rebecca Senf

Dr. Rebecca Senf is the Norton Family Curator of Photography, a joint appointment at the Center for Creative Photography and the Phoenix Art Museum. She curates three exhibitions a year for the Doris and John Norton Gallery for the Center for Creative Photography in Phoenix and her past exhibitions include Debating Modern Photography: the Triumph of Group f/64; Richard Avedon: Photographer of Influence; Human Nature: the Photographs of Barbara Bosworth; Edward Weston: Mexico; Odyssey: the Photographs of Linda Connor; Charting the Canyon: Photographs by Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe; Face to Face: 150 Years of Photographic Portraiture; Exposing Time: Capturing Change Through Photography and the Steele Gallery exhibition, Ansel Adams: Discoveries of January to June, 2010.

Senf grew up in Tucson and went to undergraduate school at the University of Arizona, studying the History of Photography. She spent ten years in Boston, Massachusetts where she earned a Ph.D. in Art History at Boston University. In Boston she worked on the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s major exhibition Ansel Adams from The Lane Collection, for which she also co-authored the exhibition catalogue. In October of 2012 her book Reconstructing the View: The Grand Canyon Photographs of Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe was released by University of California Press. Recent projects include exhibitions on the photographic book and in the next few months she will open two exhibitions focused on platinum photography.

Juror's Statement:

I was presented with the task of selecting a finite number of photographic portraits for a show in a gallery. Does that mean select the best photos? Does it mean to select a group of photos that make a cohesive show? Does it mean I should be cognoscente that there is an equal distribution of B&W, Color, Men, Women and Children? Does it mean I should be sure to include interiors, exteriors, daytime and nighttime images? The answer for me is yes and no.

Here's what I did. I selected what I felt were the most unique, compelling, curious, interesting, fun and/or any other attribute that made the photo stand out from the rest. This first set of images was approximately twice the size of where we needed to be for the show. Now the hard part. Break these photos down into a group that A) made sense together and B) stood on their own individually. In the end I had to remove images that were very good but didn't make sense to me for the flow of the show. Its always tough to cut a good image, but that's the reality of putting photos on walls in rooms.
I hope you all enjoy my version of the "Semblance" show.

Cheers,
David

Juror: David J. Carol

Juror's Statement:

In my selection of the still life photography submissions, I chose images where I found a visual narratives over experimental photographic technique. Sometimes too much artificial creativity in a photograph loses the viewers engagement. I normally like looking at stories with multiple images that have some visual elements rather than single images, but I saw potential from the submissions. In some cases, the single images illustrated many emotions and I could come up with questions and produce my own answers to the image. It's just like I am enjoying a Zen dialogue over the image. I could also define the meaning of the image without knowing the photographer's intention or how they want people to react to the photograph.

Yumi Goto

Juror: Yumi Goto

Independent photography curator, editor, researcher and consultant who focuses on the development of cultural exchanges that transcend borders. 

She collaborates with local and international artists who live and work in areas affected by conflict, natural disasters, current social problems, human rights abuses and women’s issues. She often works with human rights advocates, international and local NGOs, humanitarian organizations and as well as being involved as a nominator and juror for the international photographic organizations, festivals and events. She is now based in Tokyo and also a co-funder and curator for the Reminders Photography Stronghold.

http://reminders-project.org