Time is running out!

l to r: Sage Sohier, Amy Stein, Hiroshi Watanabe, Donald Weber, Louie Palu

Only 6 more days to register for Critical Mass!

Wow: Claire Beckett & Sarah Sudhoff

Claire Beckett, Private Eric Jilderda at Basic Training, Fort Jackson SC, 2006

"An artist with a big camera, work boots and weather appropriate clothing—I have spent the past several years tromping through the back fields of American military bases, trying to make pictures which are true to the nature of military training and true to the soldiers themselves."
- Claire Beckett

Claire Beckett, Private Dan Floyd at Basic Training, Fort Knox, KY, 2007

Sarah Sudhoff, Monday 11 am

Following my surgery in 2004 for cervical cancer, I began to photograph in hospitals, morgues, medical museums and my doctors’ offices. The photographic works focus attention on the physical and often emotional traces cancer and surgery can leave on the body while challenging the prescribed treatment for recovery and role of the patient.
-Sarah Sudhoff

Sarah Sudhoff, Sale

Sam keeps 'em coming in... Jeong Mee Yoon & Ian Van Coller

Jeong Mee Yoon, SeoWoo and Her Pink Things, Ethan and His Blue Things

In "The Pink and Blue Project" photographer JeongMee Yoon took a cue from her five-year-old daughter's obsession with pink and began an exploration into the trends in cultural preferences of children from diverse cultures and the associated relationships between "gender and consumerism, urbanization, the globalization of consumerism and the new capitalism."

Ian Van Coller, Zanele Ndiovu

In a project that also explores stereotypes within the complex global economy, Ian Van Coller's "Interior Relations" focuses on portraiture of domestic workers in post-Apartheid South Africa, photographed in the homes where they're employed. Dressed in their 'favorite' clothes "as a means to express their own identity within their environment," Van Coller's portraits emphasize "the struggle for both blacks and whites to create and express their conflicted identities in the wake of colonialism and Apartheid, as well as in a modern world still swamped by misperceptions of Africa as 'the dark continent.'"

Ian Van Coller, Regina Mlalazi

Both Yoon and Van Coller have received loads of attention and have been exhibiting widely with these projects that investigate not only their immediate subjects, but important cultural issues as well. Yoon was also one of our six Finalists for the 2007 Book Awards and Van Coller's resume is chock full of many Critical Mass connections, including shows at the Rayko Center, the Light Factory, and the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, among others.

Jason Horowitz & Sarah Small

Jason Horowitz, Scott

Using perhaps the most familiar of subjects, the body, Jason Horowitz uses the power of photographic detail and painterly abstraction to seduce and repulse simultaneously within his series "Corpus." Horowitz writes "shot with the same “glamour” lighting set-up used for fashion images, these photographs subvert that process to look at what is real rather than ideal."

Jason Horowitz, Bruce

Horowitz recently received an Individual Photographer's Fellowship from the Aaron Siskind Foundation and has shown widely, including exhibitions at Blue Sky Gallery and Peer Gallery (now the Michael Mazzeo Gallery).

Sarah Small, Ariella and Crow

Sarah Small is also interested in creating tension in her images, through the juxtaposition of unlikely characters. "While many of these scenarios are staged," Small writes, "the emotions that result -- uneasiness, curiosity, sensuality -- are spontaneously captured and authentically experienced. Though these moments may be disquieting, they are packaged in candy colors that disarm the viewer so they can move in closer. I want to photograph the raw emotional underbelly of scenes both found and fabricated."

Sarah Small, Molly and EllyMay

more great reviewers keep trickling in

Matt Blalock, editor of the online documentary magazine, Vewd.

Nathan Golden, from the series Platform 22

stop, you're going to make us blush

Amy Stein on Critical Mass

yet one more very exciting recent addition to the CM2008 Reviewer list

Anri Sala, No Barragan, No Cry, 2002 from 1000 words, issue #2

Tim Clark, editor of the exceptionally handsome and thought-provoking online magazine, 1000 Words. I believe that brings our count up to 218.

Andrew Sovjani & James Rajotte

Andrew Sovjani, Paper No. 4

Back in the day, when I was a young and green undergraduate photo student, I had an instructor who gave an assignment that never failed to split the class. The assignment was as simple as they come- photograph a brown paper bag, with nothing more said.

For those of us who found inspiration in the process of going out into the world and finding our subject matter, the challenge was in the hunt. But for those in the class who were interested in constructing images, the assignment became an introduction to lighting, set design, and in a few cases, pyrotechnics.

Andrew Sovjani's studies of paper and light bring me back to the elegance of keeping it simple:

Andrew Sovjani, Paper No. 36

You know, I also teach photography and give my students that same paper bag assignment today. I'd say 40% hate it, 40% love it, and those other 20% are just trying to pretend that they're not in the process of text-messaging or updating their myspace pages.

James Rajotte, Scott, 2006

Speaking of that "exaggerated sense of self," computer users might get from spending extensive time in a virtual environment, James Rajotte's been concentrating on just that in his series "Blasted." Photographing people he met through craigslist, Rajotte's project emphasizes the physical isolation inherent in any online community.

James Rajotte, Smita, 2006

Make that 217 Reasons to care

add one more to the most amazing and comprehensive juror list ever even attempted in the history of mankind:

Jeffrey Ladd, Instanbul, Turkey 2001

Jeffrey Ladd, Photographer / Publisher / and perhaps the most prolific and consistently thoughtful blogger out there.

Lucas Foglia & Mitch Dobrowner

Lucas Foglia, Johnny in the Asparagus

Lucas Foglia, Khamta Picking

Lucas Foglia's The Garden is a project that examines the complexity of an urban garden in Rhode Island, containing 72 plots, used by neighborhood gardeners who come from all over the world. As Foglia writes, "...the garden fosters dialogue between cultures and enables its gardeners to retain their cultural traditions. The garden becomes a window into the lives and cultures of the people that it serves."

Mitch Dobrowner is our winner of the Award for the Nicest guy who I met last summer and am writing about today. Mitch attended our NW Summer Reviews back in July and wowed many with his breathtaking black and white landscapes.

Mitch Dobrowner, Church Rock

Mitch Dobrowner, Civilization

Lots of CM connections for both of these photographers too, including LensWork for Mitch and group shows at HCP and the Light Factory for Lucas.

Wise Words from MVS

Out of pure respect, I keep wanting to refer to Mary Virginia Swanson as being the contemporary photography equivalent of Yoda- kind, omniscient, inspiring, and positive, yet straight and clear with the truth. In short, they're both great. But hmmm, there's just something about the comparison that doesn't sit right...

Read some Critical Mass tips from Mary Virginia Swanson here.

Hee Seung Chung & Alejandro Cartagena

Sam's picks - Hee Seung Chung & Alejandro Cartagena

Hee Seung Chung's project "Persona" is a fascinating examination of emotion, using actors in a studio environment. As Chung writes, "I attempt to encapsulate this in-between and vulnerable moment in which the actor’s authentic self and staged persona coexist. I want this work to raise the fundamental issue of the nature of photographic portraiture; of how photography can represent feelings or the inner truth of the subject, and how it is realized within the interplay between the camera, the sitter and the viewer."

Hee Seung Chung, both from the series Persona

Alejandro Cartagena, from Lost Rivers

Alejandro Cartagena's Lost Rivers project is intended as a "social comment on contemporary Mexican unplanned urban development and its unintended consequences." Evoking the traditions established by the New Topographics photographers in the 70's and 80's, Cartagena has followed the trail of urban development and set his sights downstream. Rather than photographing the development itself, Cartagena's attention is drawn to the changes in the landscape that are maybe a little less obvious, but just as important- not what's there, but what's missing: water.


Both of these photographers have been shown widely, and I've noticed Cartagena's work in group exhibitions at HCP and PCNW.

The work of both of these photographers, one based in London, the other based in Monterey City, Mexico points out another great aspect of Critical Mass- that anyone, from anywhere can enter. Not only that, but we're actively trying to reach beyond outside the U.S. and get great people involved as both reviewers and participants. Last year, we awarded five CM scholarships to Polish photographers in an attempt to highlight good work that, due to the global economy, might have a hard time getting seen outside of its region. From that, we received lots of great feedback from reviewers who were excited to see what we'd brought in. This year, our selected country is Mexico. We can't wait to see what comes in.

Sam's Picks

Sam and his assistant, Diamond

One of the goals with this blog is to create a place to draw attention to the photographers and reviewers we're lucky to work with. But the challenge for me is how? What process do I follow? Who do we talk about today? Well, I've got an idea... in a process as close to random as I know, "Sam's Picks" is a new feature where I have my 6 year old son Sam select who he wants us to highlight. Let's see, let's try two per day. Today, for our inaugural run, Sam's selections are:

Krista Steinke

and

Jon Edwards

Steinke's project, "Backyards, BB Guns, and Nursery Rhymes" has garnered much recognition: exhibition venues include the Houston Center for Photography and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, she's had her work published in Photo Review and Shots, among others, won 1st place in the Singular Image Color Award from Center, and completed a residency from LightWork.

Krista Steinke, the apples grew ripe and fell far from the tree

While more often than not, Critical Mass becomes an important introduction for photographers and jurors with conversations and opportunities carried on later, sometimes it does lead to immediate and direct opportunities. For example, when she came across Jon Edwards's portfolio, "A Way of Being," Laura Valenti, Photolucida Board Member and Program Director at Newspace Center for Photography, swooned and immediately offered Edwards a show. She's obviously not the only one who noticed the work. A quick scan at Edwards's resume shows lots of activity, much of it with CM connections - Rayko Center, Photo Resource Center (we heart Leslie), Griffin Museum, Shots, Orion, and more. Oh and hey, Jon, congratulations on that Siskind Foundation grant. Hmm, two other previous CM participants are in that list too. Maybe Sam will pick them soon.

Jon Edwards, Sam

In Pingyao, China,

it's now two o'clock on Sunday morning so I imagine that Laura Moya, our much loved Director, is either sleeping soundly or soon will be. Laura was invited to the 2008 China Pingyao International Photography Festival to see what they're up to and to give a presentation about what it is that we do. In preparation for that, we put together a slideshow of work by previous Critical Mass participants. This image, a screen shot of a trial version I'd worked on, is my personal favorite combination of goofy idvd menu template with the perfect picture, Colin Blakely's The Anachronism of Basic Instinct, from the series "Somewhere in Middle America":

Yes! Now! Finally!

Registration for Critical Mass 2008 is now open!

Critical Mass 2008: 216 reasons to care

Andy Adams, Flak Photo
Jeanne Adams, Ansel Adams Galleries
Laura Addison, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe
Kate Albers, Art Historian, University of Arizona
Paul Amador, Cohen Amador Gallery
Peggy Sue Amison, Sirius Arts Centre
Kathy Aron Dowell, Kathy Dowell Art & Service
Simon Bainbridge, British Journal of Photography
Anthony Bannon, George Eastman House
Susan Baraz, Lucie Awards
Jayne H. Baum, JHB Gallery
Lise Beaudry, Gallery 44
Alexa Becker, Kehrer Verlag Publishers
Nathalie Belayche, Food for your Eyes
Linda Benedict-Jones, Silver Eye Center for Photography
Harvey Benge, Independent Curator / Photographer
Joshua Berger, Plazm Magazine
Ellen Borner, Independent Curator
Howard Bossen, Adjunct Curator, Kresge Art Museum
Ellen Boughn, Stock Agency Strategist
Camilla Brown, Photographer's Gallery
Leslie K. Brown, Photographic Resource Center
Elizabeth Brown, Henry Art Gallery
Paul Buckley, Penguin Group
Katherine Bussard, Art Institute of Chicago
Crista Cammaroto, The Light Factory
Alessandra Capodacqua, Studio Marangoni Foundation
Clinton Cargill, New York Times Magazine
Jean Caslin, Caslin Gregory & Associates
Jim Casper, Lens Culture
Darren Ching, PDN / Klompching Gallery
Brian Paul Clamp, ClampArt Gallery
Joerg Colberg, Conscientious blog
Alison Collins, Iris Gallery of Fine Art Photography
Linda Connor, Photographer
Daniel Cooney, Daniel Cooney Fine Art
Sean Corcoran, Museum of the City of New York
Rodrigo Corral, Rodrigo Corral Design
Ellen Curlee, Ellen Curlee Gallery
Emmanuel D'Autreppe, Editor / Curator / Educator
Luca Desienna, Gomma
Alexa Dilworth, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University
Crista Dix, Wall space Gallery
Michelle Dunn Marsh, Chronicle Books
Catherine Edelman, Catherine Edelman Gallery
Natasha Egan, Museum of Contemporary Photography
Terry Etherton, Etherton Gallery
Dana Faconti, Blind Spot Magazine
Jon Feinstein, Humble Arts Foundation
Elizabeth Ferrer, Rotunda Gallery, BRIC Arts
Roy Flukinger, Harry Ransom Center
Harris Fogel, Mednick Gallery & Gallery 1401, The University of the Arts
Hannah Frieser, Light Work
Jason Fulford, Photographer, J&L Publishing
Aprile Gallant, Smith College Museum of Art
Helen Garber, Photographer/Consultant
Diana Gaston, Fidelity Investments
Judi & Bernard Gerson, Galerie BMG
Christian Gerstheimer, El Paso Museum of Art
Anna Gianesini, FotoGrafia Festival Internazionale di Roma
Fabian Goncalves Borrega, Art Museum of the Americas
Olivia Gonzales, Sheldon Art Galleries
Alan Griffiths, Luminous Lint
David Haberstich, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Rob Haggart, APhotoEditor.com / APhotoFolio.com
Nelson Hancock, Nelson Hancock Gallery
Cara Hanzal, Mint Museum of Art
Ulrich Hass-Pursianinen, Backlight Festival Tampere
Lisa Hatchadoorian, Nicolaysen Art Museum
Gary Hesse, Curator and Consultant
Darius Himes, Radius Books
Tom Hinson, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cherie Hiser, Photolucida
Lisa Hostetler, Milwaukee Art Museum
Jason Houston, Orion Magazine
Jan Howard, The Museum of Art, RISD
Lisa Hunter, writer/collector
Joanna Hurley, Hurley Media / Radius Books
Konstantinos Ioannidis, Art Historian
Karen Irvine, Museum of Contemporary Photography
Michael Itkoff, Daylight Magazine
Cory Jacobs, Modern Painters & Culture & Travel Magazines
Ann Jastrab, Rayko Photo Center
Jen Jenkins, Giant Artists
Brooks Jensen, LensWork
Whitney Johnson, New Yorker Magazine
Maya Jones, White Sturgeon Art Gallery
Russell Joslin, Shots Magazine
Ron Jude, Photographer / co-founder, A-Jump Books
Mindaugas Kavaliauskas, Kaunas Photo / F Galerija
Arlette Kayafas, Gallery Kayafas
Eric J. Keller, Soulcatcher Studio
Anne Kelly, photo-eye Gallery
Ann Kendellen, Blue Sky Gallery / Photolucida
Debra Klomp Ching, Klompching Gallery
Lisbeth Neergaard Kohloff, Colorado Photographic Arts Center
Paul Kopeiken, Paul Kopeiken Gallery
Angela Krass, Fotoprojx
Thomas Kuhn, Critic / Educator
Marten Lange, Photographer / Farewell Books
Zuzana Lapitkova, Central European House of Photography
Shane Lavellete, Remain in Light
Sam Lee, Sam Lee Gallery
Joanna Lehan, Aperture
Jim Leisy, Photolucida / Portland Art Museum Photo Council
Jain Lemos, Photography & Publishing Consultant
Russell Levin, Levin Gallery
Maren Levinson, Red Eye agency
Stu Levy, Photolucida / Portland Art Museum Photo Council
Stephanie Lewis, Northwest Arkansas Community College
Briana Linden, Blue Sky Gallery
Kevin Longino, Watermark Fine Art Photography
Karsten Lund, Museum of Contemporary Photography
Celina Lunsford, Fotografie Forum International, Frankfurt
Mary Ann Lynch, Not for Profit Photography Network
Allen Maertz, Blue Sky Gallery
William Maguire, Florida International University
Elizabeth Mangini, California College of the Arts
Lee Marks, Lee Marks Fine Art
Nadja Masri, GEO Magazine
Michael Mazzeo, Michael Mazzeo Gallery
Mary McClean, Knopf Art Department, Random House
Rebecca McClelland, Wallpaper Magazine
Shannon McDonald, Panopticon Gallery
Raymond Meeks, Photographer
Kate Menconeri, Independent Curator
William Messer, Independent Curator
Jennifer Miller, Independent Photo Editor
Kevin Miller, Southeast Museum of Photography
Anja Mische, Palazzi
Richard Morehouse, Morehouse Gallery
Robert Morton, Editor
Laura Moya, Photolucida
Claire Ann Mussard, Curator / Consultant
Weston Naef, J. Paul Getty Museum
Ruben Natal-San Miguel, collector / ArtMostFierce blog
Julianne Newton, University of Oregon
Brady Nichols Sloane, Curator
Amani Olu, Humble Arts Foundation / Bond Street Gallery
Larry Padgett, The Center for Fine Art Photography
Deborah Paine, Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle
Joaquim Paiva, Collector
Paul Paletti, Paul Paletti Gallery
Ann Pallesen, Photographic Center Northwest
Lambros Papanikolatos, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography
Rick Perez, Stephen Cohen Gallery
Stephen Perloff, Photo Review
Chris Pichler, Nazraeli Press
Mark Pinsukanjana, Modernbook Gallery
Terry Pitts, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
Phillip Prodger, Peabody Essex Museum
Marc Prust, Vu Agency
Laurel Ptak, Iheartphotograph.com
John Pultz, University of Kansas
Eugen Radescu, Pavilion Magazine
Bojan Radovic, House of Photography, Slovenia
Christopher Rauschenberg, Blue Sky Gallery / Photolucida
Shawn Records, Photolucida
Rixon Reed, photo-eye Books and prints
Richard Renaldi, Photographer
Ema Ribeiro, Lab65 Gallery
Arianna Rinaldo, D Republica
Stephanie Rogerson, Gallery 44
John Rohrbach, Amon Carter Museum
Miriam Romais, En Foco
Gavin Rooke, Society of Photographers
Kerri Rosenstein, Gallery Saintonage
Laura Russell, 23 Sandy Gallery / Photolucida
Marisa Sanchez, Seattle Art Museum
Tina Schelhorn, Galerie Lichtblick
Maarten Schilt, Mets & Schilt Publishers
Jennifer Schlesinger, VERVE Gallery of Photography
Martha Schneider, Schneider Gallery, Inc.
David Schoemer, Hassla Books
Randall Scott, Randall Scott Gallery
Becky Senf, Center for Creative Photography
Ariel Shanberg, Center for Photography at Woodstock
Elizabeth Shank, Silverstein Photography
P. Elaine Sharpe, Independent Curator
Mark Sink, Gallery Sink
Karen Sinsheimer, Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Mike Slack, The Ice Plant
George Slade, Independent Curator
Mark Sloan, William Halsey Gallery
Susan Spiritus, Susan Spiritus Gallery
Amy Stein, Photographer / Educator
Jennifer Stoots, Stoots Fine Photogrpahy
Alex Supertano, Independent Curator
Lisa Sutcliffe, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Mary Virginia Swanson, M.V. Swanson & Associates
Boaz Tal, Holon Academic Institute of Technology
J.D. Talasek, The National Academy of Sciences
Paula Tognarelli, Griffin Museum for Photography
Cary Tijerina, Oswald Gallery
Gordon Undy, Point Light Gallery
Laura Valenti, Newspace Center for Photography / Photolucida
Annie Van Avery, Photo Center Northwest
Herman van den Boom, Hexgalleries
Michael Van Horn, The Joseph Monsen Collection
Marie Via, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester
Scott Wallin, Whatcom Museum of History and Art
Jennifer Ward, Fotofest
Katherine Ware, New Mexico Museum of Art
April Watson, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
John Weber, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery
Carla Williams, Exposure Magazine
Rick Williams, Lane Community College
Clint Willour, Galveston Arts Center
Rhonda Wilson, Seeing the Light / Rhubarb-Rhubarb
Bryan Wolf, Photolucida
Denise Wolff, Phaidon Press
Laura Wzorek, Center
Madeline Yale, Houston Center for Photography
Carol Yarrow, Photographer
Susan Zadeh, eyemazing magazine
Del Zogg, Works on Paper Study Center, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

CM08: Update - more reasons to care

We're getting there. Afraid yesterday was spent in a black hole of traveling and no wifi, but today I've been back and forth a few times with our great Web guru and we'll be opening things up pretty soon. Might be today, might be tomorrow, but it shouldn't be any later than that. In any case, you'll have until October 6th to enter and this isn't like our in-person portfolio reviews- there is no cap on submissions. Bring 'em on.

In the meantime, a few more sneak peeks at a few of our confirmed reviewers:

Richard Renaldi, Tawnie, Havre, MT

Richard Renaldi, whose beautiful book Figure and Ground should definitely be on your wish list.

Lambros Papanikolatos, from the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography.

Bojan Radovic, from the Hisa Fotografije (House of Photography) in Slovenia.

Amy Stein, photo superstar, educator, and CM2006 Book Award winner.

Joanna Lehan, from Aperture. No need to say any more there, right? I mean, come on, it's Aperture.

Dana Faconti, from Blind Spot. Ditto.

Alexa Becker from Kehrer Verlag Publishers. Hmm, it seems worthy to note that Lisa Robinson's book Snowbound, published by Kehrer Verlag, was just named Photo Book of the Year at PHotoEspana. Congratulations Lisa. Robinson's project was one of our CM top 50 in 2006.

Speaking of, have you noticed how we've got a thumbnail list of our top 50 on the site, going back to the beginning of Critical Mass, in 2004? You might notice a lot of familiar names and projects. I'll go into more depth later, but what immediately strikes me is that I went to a great panel discussion at Aperture a couple nights ago about collecting photography. Among the work displayed and discussed, I remember seeing work by previous CM participants Nicole Jean Hill, Michal Chelbin, Molly Landreth, Amy Stein, and Brian Ulrich, among others.

Nicole Jean Hill, Fire Eyes

Not to mention that one of the panelists Amani Olu, founder of Humble and director of the Bond Street Gallery, is another of our confirmed reviewers. So is the discussion's moderator, Laurel Ptak, author of the great blog Iheartphotograph.

I could do this all day...

Critical Mass 2008

is going to open very, very soon. Sorry for the confusion regarding the exact time, but believe me, it's better to work the bugs out before any pictures and credit cards are involved. It's looking like it'll probably be Thursday of this week. The new guidelines will be posted at the same time.

We've got lots of great jurors lined up this year, over 200 and they're still trickling in. Many have juried for us before and love the process, but some are new to Critical Mass. A few new jurors I'm really excited about:

from Making a Map by Wakoba Noda, published by Farewell Books

Marten Lange from Farewell Books- Not only is Lange a great photographer himself, but his small press has been putting out some real humdingers. Incredibly affordable humdingers at that.

Another great publishing company we're excited to have on board is Phaidon. Though she's probably exhausted from that enormous Blurb contest she recently helped jury, Denisse Wolff is eager to look at our finalists. I guess 175 probably seems like a cakewalk now.


Whitney Johnson from the New Yorker. Come on, it's the New Yorker, what else do I need to say?

Debra Klomp Ching from the Klompching Gallery. Since opening last year, Klompching has exhibited artists such as Simon Roberts, William Greiner, and Lisa Robinson (Yes, CM 2006 finalist Lisa Robinson) and is quickly becoming one of the galleries to watch in NYC.

Clinton Cargill from the New York Times Magzine. Come on, it's the New York Times Magazine. What else do I need to say?

More to come...

Speaking of...

Daniel Traub. He just showed work from his series "City's Edge" at Catherine Edelman's renowned gallery in Chicago. Edelman, one of our returning Critical Mass jurors, first saw the work in CM07.

Daniel Traub, Treeline, Shunyi district, Beijing, 2006

In Flavorpill's online guide to Chicago, writer/curator/ and CM08 juror Karsten Lund writes:

His exhibition at Edelman Gallery features images that offer window-like views of China's protean man-made landscape and its inhabitants. Traub explores the contradictions of these settings — where migrant camps emerge alongside immense villas and extravagant monuments — and invokes the vicissitudes of a nation, as it grapples with wealth and poverty, tradition and change.

We couldn't be happier!

Donald Weber, from the series Bastard Eden: Chernobyl at Twenty

Not only did Donald Weber, Shen Wei, and Daniel Traub make the list of Photo District News Magazine’s PDN30 2008, but we’ve finally entered the blogosphere so we can shout about it. All three were among our Critical Mass finalists last year and Donald’s project Bastard Eden: Chernobyl at Twenty was one of our book award winners for 2007. The book’s coming together wonderfully and is going to be breathtaking.

Yowza, Dowza

Beth Dow, Standard, Little Morton Hall from the series In the Garden

I know, I know, I apologize for the weak title of the post, but wow, what can you say about the recent announcement that Beth Dow, one of our 2007 CM finalists, received the $25,000 Grand Prize for her Blurb Book and project In the Garden? Umm... congratulations! Beth's work's got a lot of exposure in recent memory, shows at Jen Bekman and Blue Sky galleries, among other honors. Can't wait to see the book.

Congrats also to the familiar names on the list of Honorable Mentions: Joni Sternbach (one of our 2007 CM book award winners, whose book we've got in the works right now), Hiroshi Watanabe (one of our 2006 book award winners), Richard Laugharn, Grant Willing... so many great projects.

The Big Idea

The big idea behind Photolucida is exposure. Not only in the creation of photographs, but through promoting the culture of photography. To that end, our programs involve a massive portfolio review every other spring that brings together 160 photographers and 60 reviewers selected from across the country (if not around the world), as well as Critical Mass, a juried competition of sorts where the initial pool of photographers is screened down to 150 who have their work seen, and voted on, by approximately 200 of the most influential curators, publishers, and editors out there. From those who receive the highest votes, we produce at least two of the most exciting books of the year. From the entire pool, countless connections are made.

Time and time again, we've noticed the work of our participating photographers floating around out there in the world and we see this blog as a place to draw attention to it, highlight our participants and reviewers, make important announcements, and to encourage dialogue. Pull up a chair.