Call For Entries…
Equivalents
17th Annual Photo Competition Exhibition
Juror: W.M. Hunt
Deadline: May 18, 2012
The Photo Center NW is pleased to announce Equivalents: 17th Annual Photo Competition Exhibition, and our esteemed juror, W.M. Hunt. This year the theme is open. Selected entries will be exhibited in Seattle, WA at the Photo Center August – Mid September 2012. All photo processes are welcome. Maximum frame size is 32 inches on the longest side. Artists will be responsible for shipping their framed work to and from the gallery.
JUROR BIO: W.M. Hunt is a champion of photography – collector, curator and consultant who lives and works in New York. He is the author of “The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious” published in 2011 by Aperture in the US, Thames & Hudson in the UK and as “L’Oeil Invisible” by “Actes Sud” in France. Highlights from his collection have been seen at the George Eastman House and in Europe in Arles, Lausanne, and Amsterdam.
Hunt is very supportive of emerging talent and has judged many competitions including World Press, and he has participated in most of the major portfolio reviews including PhotoLucida and Fotofest. He is on the Board of Directors of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund and The Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York where he was the recipient of their Vision Award in 2009. He also served on the Board of Directors of AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers) and was the past Chairman of Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS. He is an adjunct professor at the ICP and the School of Visual Arts.
Founding partner of the prominent photography gallery Hasted Hunt (now Hasted Kraeutler) in Chelsea, Manhattan, and former director of photography at Ricco/Maresca gallery, Hunt has been collecting photography for almost 40 years and has been profiled in The New York Times, PDN, Art on Paper, Modern Painters, The Art Newspaper, PBS’ “EGG, the Arts Show”, as well as BBC’s “The Genius of Photography” and elsewhere.
“Equivalents”, by W.M. Hunt
In 1925 Alfred Stieglitz began to describe his images of clouds as “Equivalents”, and that demonstrates a seeming divide in photography between representation and abstraction. Stieglitz was championing the idea that these photographs of clouds were both. “My aim is increasingly to make my photographs look so much like photographs that unless one has eyes and sees, they won’t be seen – and still everyone will never forget them having once looked at them”. *1
With respect to Gertrude Stein, I would offer that a photograph is a photograph is a photograph.
Eliott Erwitt has another version of this: “What can you say about pictures? You’ve got to look at pictures and react to them. You can’t just dissect pictures. I mean, a picture has got to be a picture to begin with. It should have some kind of content and emotion, and it should appeal to you in some way, and it should be out of the ordinary if possible. And then it’s a picture, whether it’s of hands, feet, ears, noses or whatever.”
Over the years I have judged many photographic competitions and have run into a mindset that confounds me, categories, like “fine art: still life” or “documentary: daily life”. I recognize that these are holdovers from an earlier era when photography lacked some legitimacy as a cultural force, and so I recognize that I should just hold my tongue because in the end, I will champion the images that transcend the notion of strict genres, like “fine art” as opposed to whatever else you’ve got. “Not so fine” art?
What makes a great photograph?
For me it is the ability of an image, a print or a reproduction in a magazine or a candid on your cell phone or thumbnail on your computer screen, to evoke a sensation that resonates through my being. Ring my chimes, please. It is neither the subject matter nor the elements of technical or aesthetic practice brought to bear in its creation that matter. It can be rendered expertly or accidentally, or best, magically. I will be persuaded by the unique marriage of those principles shaping light transcendently.
For this competition I intend to be tingling after hungrily sorting through the hundreds of images of backyards, trees, kids playing, naked girl or boy friends on beds, aging parents or monochromatic panels of pure color, distorting emulsion on glass, or repurposing or disruptive interruptions of the surface with scissors and glue or Photoshop, nonsensical or well intended, and so on, urged on by the hope and promise of those beauties that I haven’t seen before, simultaneously new yet strangely familiar. Shake me and stir me.
And that ‘s why this is the equivalent of fun.
*1 Alfred Stieglitz “How I came to Photograph Clouds”. Amateur Photographer and Photography
*2 “A Show of Hands” 2007, film by James Danziger
RESULTS: We are happy to announce the artists selected for Equivalents: 17th Annual Annual Photo Competition Exhibition by our esteemed juror: W.M. Hunt. We will notify these artists below to confirm the letter image(s) from the entry forms. (Alphabetical by first name).
Ajay Varma: E & F
Andrew Fladeboe: C
Barry Greff: I
Mary Ellen Bartley: F
Benjamin Dimmitt: C & D
Bill Armstrong: B
Charles Purvis: J & K
Christa Bowden: A
Chris Thompson: C
Danielle Khoury: B
David Regal: G
Deborah Bay: B
Donna J Wan: A & G
Eberhard Riedel: I
Edward Bateman: E
Harry Longstreet: D
Jamil Hellu: A
Jane Olin: A
Jeanette May: A
Jeff Gebauer: B
Johanna Warwick: B
Koichi Nishiyama: A & B
Kireilyn Barber: A
Lani Doely: F
Larry Larsen: H
Lauren Marsolier: A, B, E
Leighton McWilliams: C & D
Mansfield Kerry: A
Manuel Cosentino: A , B, C, D, E, H
Mark Morgan: D
Monika Merva: A & E
Maureen Ruddy Burkhart: B
Patricia Ridenour: H & K
Patricia Sandler: E
Peter Miraglia: L
Regina DeLuise: A
Robert Harrison: H
Robert L Covington: E
Robert Moran: E, G, L
Sarah Marie Land: A
Sean McKeever: B
Stephen Strom: D & G
Susan Gans: C
Thomas Michael Alleman: #2
William Rugen: A & E
William Mitchell: C & H
CASH AWARDS: First, second, and third prize winners will take home $1000, $500, and $250 as well as a $75 Blurb Inc. Scrip Certificate for each winner. Photo Center gratefully acknowledges Blurb Inc., Glazer’s Camera, and Panda Lab respectively for their award sponsorships.
ELIGIBILITY: International. The competition is open to all photographers.
HOW TO ENTER
1. Print out the PDF entry form from our website and fill it out legibly. Click Here.
2. Burn up to 12 jpg images on a CD – no DVDs please- (no dvd drive on our office computer-we’re working on it), and include a PDF file on the CD that has your Artist Statement & Print Sizes & Print Types and Your Name. (The juror will view this PDF). Entries by email are not accepted.
3. Put everything in an envelope and mail with your payment to Photo Center NW,
17th Annual Contest, 900 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122. Materials will not be returned.
Mandatory details below…
• Submissions accepted via CD only (not DVD).
• Must be readable on a PC.
• Must submit a minimum of 4 jpgs, and up to 12 total.
• Jpg resolution 72 ppi, RGB preferred, approx 1000 px in the longest dimension
• Jpgs must be titled in this order: The photographer’s name, correlating letter to match the printed out entry form & the title of the image.
• (for example: JohnDoe _A_Untitled.jpg)
• Required PDF file on the CD that includes your name, artist statement or project statement. This statement should be no longer than 4 paragraphs. After the statement, list the image size of your work and print type. (for example: 16 x 20, Silver Gelatin Prints). Do not send a hard copy of the statement-it won’t be used.
• The CD and CD case must be labeled with the photographer’s name.
DEADLINE: All entries must be received by Friday, May 18, 2012 at 7:00 PM.
ENTRY FEE: The entry fee is $40 for 4 jpgs (minimum). You may add additional jpgs for $7 a piece up to 12 total. You must submit a minimum of 4 images to be reviewed with a artist’s statement (digital file). Payment must be in U.S. Dollars. Entry fees are non-refundable. This juried show is our gallery program’s annual fundraiser and the entry fees help to support our gallery program offerings throughout the year.
NOTIFICATION: A list of accepted artists will be posted on this page in mid June 2012. Selected artists will be notified by email and telephone.The framed work will need to arrive by July 27th.
PAST JURORS
1995 – Duane Michals
1996 – Joyce Tenneson
1997 – Jock Sturges (with Trevor Fairbrother)
1998 – Keith Carter
1999 – Linda Connor
2001 – Chien-Chi Chang
2002 – Michael Kenna
2003 – Anne Wilkes Tucker
2004 – Roy Flukinger
2005 – Mary Virginia Swanson
2006 – Paul Kopeikin
2007 – Charlotte Cotton
2008 – Rod Slemmons
2009 – Jen Bekman
2010 – Denise Wolff
2011 – Karen Irvine
1ST PLACE WINNERS
1995 – James Soe Nyun
1996 – Phil Borges
1997 – Trina Kyounghui Yi-Weston
1998 – Lisa Hohlfeld
1999 – Frank Noelker
2001 – Sarah Oehl
2002 – Nanette Vinson
2003 – (tie) Cat Gwynn & Patricia Sandler
2004 – Dennis Chamberlin
2005 – Peter de Lory
2006 – Joelle Jensen
2007 – Sung Jin Park
2008 – Sally Ketcham
2009 – James Luckett
2010 – Adam Satushek
2011 – Laura Plageman
TESTIMONIALS BY PAST EXHIBITORS
Through the competition and exhibition at PCNW, it was great chance for me to expose my works widely at people. Not only PCNW has good gallery, but many famous jurors, critics, and gallerists come around and see my works. Also, it was a good step to start to exhibit my works in USA, and I got the cover photo of The Stranger newspaper in Seattle! – JeongMee Yoon, NY
Last year I had the good fortune to learn about PCNW’s Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, titled “Please Ring Bell” juried by Rod Slemmons. The high quality of the resulting exhibit, and the professional manner in which all details were handled by PCNW personnel was very high. My only regret was that I was not able to attend Mr. Slemmons’ lecture. – David Paul Bayles, Corvallis, OR
Being selected for first place by Paul Kopeikin helped me gain greater exposure for my work, particularly on the West coast. I am proud to have the exhibition and award on my resume. I had a chance to visit PCNW last April and was very impressed with the staff and the high quality exhibitions they consistently host. – Joelle Jensen, Brooklyn, NY
I was in the “Resonances” show juried by Paul Kopeikin in July of 2006. Having three of my animal photographs from my March 2006 trip to Oaxaca with Mary Ellen Mark chosen by such a renowned gallery director confirmed the importance of taking that photographic seminar with her. Just this month (February 2009), I received a request to send six photos to her from that trip for possible inclusion in a traveling show in Mexico as well as in a permanent collection in Oaxaca. – Toni Bennett, Seattle, WA
I was honored to be chosen by Paul Kopeikin to take part in the 11th annual Photographic Center Northwest juried show. He selected three pieces from my Domesticated series, two of which were sold during the show. I went on to become a represented artist at the Kopeikin Gallery. The entire experience was overwhelmingly positive and led to some very nice opportunities. – Amy Stein, New York City
I was chosen by Charlotte Cotton for UP & NOW! ”07. To have the work recognized by someone like Ms. Cotton have helped generate additional awareness about the plight of the women and children in my project Brothels and Fundamentalism. – Kate Orne, NY, NY
Having my work juried into a show last summer by Rod Slemmons meant a great deal to me. Working in social and political satire is probably the most unpopular genre to work in, yet Mr. Slemmons selected my work for this important show. His encouragement helped me to continue working in a genre that rarely pays off financially, yet is rewarding on many other levels. – Diane Bush, Nevada
Having had the opportunity to once again place my work in front of juror, Mary Virginia Swanson through Focused, the 10th Annual Photographic Center Northwest juried show has resulted in a very productive business relationship with her. This has led to a smart promotion strategy that has really moved my career forward. Further, the show has made me realize what a great venue the PCNW is for exhibition and I look forward to the possibility of showing more of my work there one day. – John Chervinsky, Somerville , MA
As I am working on building up my resume with new shows, I was proud to be included in the 10th Annual Photographic Center Northwest Competition, Focused, by the incredible eyes of Mary Virginia Swanson, who selected my work for the show. This became an asset to my CV. – Marc Yankus, New York City
Having been awarded 1st place (tie) in the 2003 PCNW Annual Photographic Competition by Anne Tucker was a high point in my artistic career to this point, and was certainly enhanced by her then having purchased the winning piece. Being able to include these things on my resume, I believe, has greatly contributed to how others view my work. Ms. Tucker’s esteemed reputation in the photography world means that her opinions are highly regarded. Her genuine interest was conveyed both in a personal note I received from her in response to my thank you, and when I had the opportunity to meet her at Photo L.A. Many thanks to PCNW for the consistently high caliber of jurors and exhibits. – Patricia Sandler, Los Angeles, CA
The show curated by Mr. Flukinger helped me gain greater exposure and lead to my being offered other shows around the country. – John Milisenda, Brooklyn, NY
I was chosen by Anne Tucker to be in the PCNW annual contest and was given an Honorary mention and met her at the opening of the show. I then saw her again at Fotofest in 2004 and The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas has now 2 of my prints in their permanent collection. – Michelle Sank, Devon, UK
QUESTIONS? Contact Ann Pallesen, Gallery Director, (206) 720-7222 ext. 11 or apallesen@pcnw.org