An Exhibition of Photos of the Town Of Essex Including Essex Junction

Juror's Statement:

Once I began looking, the literal description of time became almost arbitrary, a consideration, but not the reason for choice. How do you record time in a photograph? Essentially, as soon as you click the shutter you are recording a moment, a moment created conceptually or literally, a moment made by you, a moment of time. Each photograph was something special, the artist’s attempt to connect with the viewer, their version of time and what that meant. I liked that thought.

I looked for images that had connection, that felt honest, made me pause and made me think. The stranger the picture the more I was drawn in. I felt I could make my own story. 

 Johan Hallberg-Campbell

Juror:Johan Hallberg-Campbell

Johan Hallberg-Campbell was born in the Highlands of Scotland and has been living and working in Canada since 2007. He is a Graduate of The Glasgow School of Art.  
 
As a freelance photographer, he has worked for numerous publications and institutions worldwide, shooting assignments globaly. Johan's commissioned and personal work has been published and exhibited internationally. As a freelance Curator, he has curated 45 photographic exhibitions in galleries such as VII gallery, New York and Pikto gallery, Toronto, showcasing the works of local, national and international photographers. Johan is the photo editor at Raw View magazine alongside Donald Weber. 
 
His work explores what it means to belong to a community and have traditions rooted in heritage, and alternatively what happens when one's "place" is altered, removed, distorted and shifted.  He continues to develop his book length project 'Coastal', a project photographing the Canadian coastline in which he was awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant to make work in 2014. He will continue producing 'Coastal' in 2015.

Juror's Statement:

I kept in mind the call for entries: "From the far corners of your backyard to the far away country it takes weeks to traverse to, we want to see where you end up when you go 'far away'."  As I was selecting the winners, I enjoyed going around the world with the 114 photographers who submitted 632 images. Yet, some of the best work was not made in a far away, foreign land either, reminding us that the idea of far away is as much about a mental or emotional journey as it is a physical one.  The best images were technically flawless and perfectly composed.  They had one or more added elements, be it an especially dramatic time of day, an unusual angle, an experiment with time or with focus, for example.  Some, but not all then had an element of post production that supported the narrative in the image, be that making the image B + W or pinhole or panorama, etc.  These added elements ALWAYS supported the story in the photograph and never looked like they were thrown in to improve an otherwise mediocre image.

The Juror's Choice goes to "Ruins Jumieges, Normandy".  This has all the elements I noted above.  The light is magical, the composition dynamic, the birds flying through make it a moment, the choice of black and white adds to the drama and the square format keeps our attention within the image unlike a rectangular image, which tends to move the viewer through the image.  The photographer who submitted it may have taken a look at my work in advance and seen how I use the play of light and shadow in much of my work. One reviewer wrote “Wells uses light like a surgeon.” That idea, previewing the juror’s work and adjusting the submission accordingly, can improve your chances.  

It was a real thrill to go around the world in a weekend (which is how long it took me to pick the winners.)   I never had to go through security, fight for a seat or argue with a surly customer service representative.  Sure, going all those places would have been real blast, but seeing those places and those people enabled me to go “Far Away” from the comfort of my home.

David H. Wells

Juror:David H. Wells
David H. Wells is an editorial, commercial and location photographer/ video-maker. He is affiliated with Aurora Photos and specializes in intercultural communications and the use of light and shadow to enhance visual narratives. Wells focuses on multimedia productions and photo-essays for publication and exhibition for local, national and international clientele.

Juror's Statement:

The 'Grocery image' really piqued my curiosity and stood out as a firm favourite. It's a simple yet deceptive picture, photographed from a cool, analytical distance. Graphic, textured and verging on abstraction, the formal qualities are all there on the surface for us to see. But it also subtly speaks of time and its passing through the traces left via scrawlings and notes which coupled with a gentle humour makes it very human.

 Tim Clark 

Juror:Tim Clark