Juror’s Statement

As a curator in a large encyclopedic museum I am often actively seeking specific photographs that tick certain boxes—either to acquire something to fill a gap in our collection or to feature in an upcoming exhibition. Freed of that pressure when jurying an open call like this one, I can allow myself to be drawn to pieces that do not necessarily fit those narrow parameters and remind me why it is that I went into this field in the first place. There is a real joy in simply looking and immersing myself in the creative output of artists who share a love for the photographic medium in all its incredible variety – whether in Anna Grevenitis’ recording of the beauty and everydayness of domestic routines shared with a daughter with Down’s syndrome, or the fragile, uncertain nature of life experienced by photographer Torrance York following a Parkinson’s diagnosis. For some of the finalists the work was very much a response to the Covid pandemic we have all just experienced: in the case of Rohina Hoffman, that meant using her camera to capture the gratitude she felt for food and family when the pandemic caused her to reconsider the powerful connections forged while preparing and sharing meals, Lynn Saville, on the other hand, responded to the claustrophobia of her NYC apartment by documenting dreamlike urban views during twilight rides back and forth across the Williamsburg Bridge on the elevated subway.

In fact, families were an important thread that ran through many of this year’s submissions; three of the Portfolio 2022 artists explore the immigrant experience by delving into their personal archives for source material to relate stories of, for example, the forced internment of Japanese Americans during WWII (Jerry Takigawa); lessons learned through the hand-stitched fabrics created by generations of women whose families farmed the land in a rural German village (Astrid Reischwitz); and the isolation and dislocation of Indian parents who moved to rural Pennsylvania to make a new life during the 1970s (Vikesh Kapoor). Aline Smithson’s focus is on the tangible materiality of portraits of family and friends that speak to her fears for their longevity in a world in which so many now experience photographs only on screens, and Rachel Portesi’s Victorian-inspired tintypes use locks of women’s hair as sculptural elements meant to commemorate loss and longing and grieve for a not-so-distant past. And, finally, there is Annette LeMay Burke, whose wonderfully off-beat landscapes document the many cell phone towers disguised as trees that can be found all across the American West and stand as palpable reminders of the lengths we are prepared to go to support this technology that has taken over our everyday lives.

I am delighted to have had the opportunity to jury the Atlanta Photo Group’s Portfolio 2022 and want to personally thank the many far-flung artists who submitted such impressive photographs this year. This has been a really stimulating experience and, like the portfolio reviews that I often do as well, it has enabled me to “take the temperature” of the wide-ranging work being made in our field today. The task of online jurying comes with its own special set of hurdles, as you can imagine, and the process of judging hundreds of pictures on a computer screen, rather than in person, adds to those challenges. A few familiar “faces” jump out at me each time I do this, but mostly I like to judge an image not knowing whom it’s by or where it’s come from. As a result, I always discover new work and artists whose careers I want to follow in the future. Thank you so much!