A special thanks to Christopher James, for choosing two of my photographs from Nicaragua series as Honorable Mentions for the Juried Photography Exhibition. On view May 3- May30 at the Mill Pond House Gallery.
Juror: Christopher James
Christopher James is Chair of the photography program at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University and an internationally recognized artist and photographer whose paintings and photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums in this country and abroad. His work has been published and shown extensively, including shows in The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The George Eastman House, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The first edition of his book, The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes (Delmar, 2001) has received unprecedented critical acclaim, was the winner of The Golden Light Technical Book of the Year award, and is recognized as the definitive text in the genre. The second edition of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes is scheduled for February 2008. James was a Professor at Harvard University from 1978 – 1991 and has lectured and given workshops throughout the world. www.christopherjames-studio.com
Juror’s Statement
29th Annual Juried Photography Exhibition
I had a terrific time going through the 550 images that were submitted for this 29th edition of the Annual STAC Photography Exhibition and it was a complicated process selecting a cohesive show that illustrated both the quality of the work and the theme I decided to build upon. My inclination was to select work that was challenging, that invited me to create “with” the image rather than to simply subjectively identify its content. I chose work that was, for me, clearly differentiated between what the camera was manufactured to record, and what the photographer intended to communicate.
For example… Imagine making a beautiful photograph, along with hundreds of other photographers, of the sun sinking into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mallory Square pier in Key West… or, seeing this sunset event in an ironically different way by creating a photograph of all those people making the same picture together, their flashes popping off into infinity, to assure a better exposure of the experience. Both images will document the Key West sunset but the latter approach will transcend the Mallory Square
experience by illustrating the personal impressions of the photographer and not simply the camera’s innate ability to capture light.
I am genuinely pleased with this show and want to add that like most juried exhibitions, the selection of work is only a representation of the juror’s personal preferences and not a definitive critique on the merits and artistic qualities of the images submitted. Good luck to all and thanks for the opportunity to see such great work.
Christopher James
March 2008
