Visual Narratives: PCNW’s 27th Juried Photography Exhibition
Juror: Mary Virginia Swanson
On view: November 3 – December 14, 2025
Juror talk and artist reception:
Friday, November 14th; talk will begin at 6pm, with reception to follow
Talk & Reception:
Visual Narratives, Extending the Sequence with Mary Virginia Swanson
Friday, November 14, 2025 at 6pm
In this open-themed call for entries, artists were invited to submit a cohesive body of work that uses image sequences to tell a compelling visual story. Artists were encouraged to present work that not only demonstrates technical and aesthetic strength but also reveals an intentional flow, rhythm, or progression of ideas. Artists from across the U.S. and beyond submitted over 1,900 images for consideration. With her keen eye and extensive experience, juror Mary Virginia Swanson curated just over 100 images that tell the visual narratives of 30 distinct artists.
Juror bio:
Mary Virginia Swanson is a celebrated author, educator and mentor who has spent her career helping artists find the strengths in their work, identify appropriate audiences, and present their projects in a professionally informed manner. Her broad background in imaging industries offer photographers a broad range of perspectives on both the making and marketing of art.
For the past 20 years Swanson has been writing about and teaching workshops on the process of bringing a body of work to publication, whether your book be hand-made, self-published or brought to print through a traditional press. First released in 2011, Swanson coauthored with Darius Himes “Publish Your Photography Book”, now in its third edition released by Radius Books (2023) which combines essays by the two authors alongside conversations with over 60 publishing industry contributors. Building on the strong foundation of earlier editions, this 10-year update expands on the prominence of self-publishing, limited editions, and artist-made books, and informs readers on the path to placing books in private, public, academic and curatorial libraries.
Swanson holds an MFA in photography from Arizona State University. Selected awards she has received include the Lifetime Achievement Award, Griffin Museum of Photography (2013); Susan Carr Award for Education, ASMP (2014), and the Society for Photographic Education Honored Educator (2015). Swanson is based in Tucson, Arizona.
Selected Artists
Julia Arstorp (Darian, CT)
Terry Barczak (Minneapolis, MN)
Kathy Fridstein (Port Townsend, WA)
Marcia Glover (Bellevue, WA)
Victoria Hunter (Vashon, WA)
Ilia Iaikov (Seattle, WA)
Alexander Johns (San Mateo, CA)
Barbara Kalina (New York, NY)
John Kane (Issaquah, WA)
Judith Leckrone Lee (Seattle, WA)
QT Luong (San Jose, CA)
Ellen Mahaffy (Eau Claire, WI)
Jade Nguyen (Bloomington, IL)
Charlotte Niel (Oakland, CA)
Jason Parent (Champlain, NY)
Michael Rainey (Hansen, ID)
Jonah Reenders (San Francisco, CA)
Esther Rivera (Westminster, CO)
Kathryn Rodrigues (Chicago, IL)
Jakob Rushlo (Seattle, WA)
Philip Sager (San Francisco, CA)
Brandon Sawaya (Bellingham, WA)
Susan Seubert (Portland, OR)
Paige Smith (Seattle, WA)
Skip Smith (Langley, WA)
Michael Sobel (Seattle, WA)
Daniela Spector (Long Island City, NY)
Talon (Sacramento, CA)
Libby Wadsworth (Eugene, OR)
Grace Yan (Columbia, SC)
Thank You to our Prize Sponsor
Awards
1st place = $1,000
2nd place = $500
3rd place = $250
Results
2nd place:
3rd place:
Marcia Glover (Bellevue, Washington)
Victoria Hunter (Vashon, Washington)
Skip Smith (Langley, Washington)
Jake Rushlo (Seatte, Washington)
Grace Wan (Columbia, South Carolina)
Past Jurors
1995 – Duane Michals, Artist
1996 – Joyce Tenneson, Artist
1997 – Jock Sturges, Artist and Trevor Fairbrother, Curator, Seattle Art Museum
1998 – Keith Carter, Artist
1999 – Linda Connor, Artist, Educator
2001 – Chien-Chi Chang, Photographer, Magnum Photos
2002 – Michael Kenna, Artist
2003 – Anne Wilkes Tucker, Curator, Museum of Fine Art Houston
2004 – Roy Flukinger, Curator, Harry Ransom Center
2005 – Mary Virginia Swanson, Consultant, Educator, MVS
2006 – Paul Kopeikin, Paul Kopeikin Gallery
2007 – Charlotte Cotton, Curator, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
2008 – Rod Slemmons, Director, Museum of Contemporary Photography
2009 – Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Gallery, 20×200
2010 – Denise Wolff, Editor, Aperture
2011 – Karen Irvine, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Photography
2012 – W.M. Hunt, Collector and Curator
2013 – John A. Bennette, Collector and Curator
2014 – Whitney C. Johnson, Director of Photography, The New Yorker
2015 – Julia Dolan, Minor White Curator of Photography, Portland Art Museum
2017 – Sandra Phillips, Curator Emeritus, SF MOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)
2018 – Conor Risch, PDN Senior Editor + Lara Behnert, Starbucks Senior Manager, Creative
2020 – Kris Graves, photographer and publisher, Kris Graves Projects
2021 – Shamim M. Momin, Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Henry Art Gallery
2022 – Jennifer L. Stoots, certified photography appraiser and photo historian; and Liza Faktor, curator and creative producer
2024 – Gail Gibson, art dealer and owner of G. Gibson Projects
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 and 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
2012 – Lauren Marsolier
2013 – Tuan Cao
2014 – Alejandra Carles-Tolra
2015 – Meike J. Paniza, Sparks
2017 – Hiroyo Kaneko
2018 – Mark Daughhetee and Kiliii Yuyan
2020 – Jon Henry
2021 – Lamar Graham
2022 – Mike Vos
2024 – Kerry Mansfield