2018 Rfotofolio Selections

For the 2018 Rfotofolio Call we where honored to have Collier Brown, Fran Forman,and Aline Smithson as our guest jurors. Rfotofolio also includes our selections in todays annoucement.

We asked each juror to selected their three top portfolios, and top three selections in dimensional work. This was no easy task. All the jurors commented about the difficulty in making selections because of the high quality of work submitted. Be it color or black and white, street photography or abstract, you inspired us with the amazing work that you created. If your work does not appear here do not be discouraged. There was so much wonderful work that we could not select simply becasue we are limited to three choices.

Thank you for entering this years call. By doing so, we are able to see work that we might have missed. Your entry fee helps support the Rfotofolio Grant.

Thank you to the jurors, for your time and thoughtful choices. We were happy to hear that you felt as we did that there was so much wonderful work that this process was a challenge.

The selections where based on the portfolio of work not just the image you see below.

Selections from Collier Brown

Selections from Fran Forman

I’m grateful that many of the artists were courageous enough to submit very personal work, often heart-breaking, in fact. I’m impressed with their courage, resilience and perseverance.

There are major benefits to jurying a major photography exhibition:
The first is, of course, having the luxury of seeing new work and observing trends in the current field of image-making and processes.
The second benefit is being taken out of my own personal comfort zone. I love being introduced to new ways of seeing and working. And like a delighted tourist, I love being introduced to new landscapes and cultures. The experience is often like losing oneself in a good book that transports to a distant land.

On the other hand, the most disheartening part of jurying is that so many wonderful, earnest, and often quite compelling images must be rejected from the final cut. I hope the artist understands this: not having her work accepted usually has more to do with the personal and very subjective tastes of the juror at one particular moment in time, plus the juror’s attempt to exhibit a cohesive body of work.

A note to artists: Although we all hate writing artist statements (we’re visual people, after all), the guidance supplied by statements enhanced my understanding and appreciation of the images. Each series submitted represents a narrative of some sort, and a written statement helps me navigate that story. I also look at the impact of each image, its composition, emotional impact, and (subjective) beauty and at the coherence of the series as a whole.
Fran Forman

Three-dimensional Work

Liese Ricketts
The Emperor’s Back
Clever, funny, extremely timely.

Cavalo Lusitano:The Spirit Within © Keron Psillas Oliveria and Veritas Editions

Craig Alan Huber/ Photography by Keron Psillas
Cavalo Lusitano:The Spirit Within is an incredible example of craftsmanship.

K.K.DePaul
Interesting integration of old photographs and assemblage.

Photography

Karen Bullock

This work is emotionally powerful and incredibly sad. I had a hard time looking at the images of suffering animals, but I applaud the artist for forcing us to see what we, as a society, try to ignore and deny. This is an important statement and deserves to be seen by all caring people. I gave this is top rating due its impact and importance.

Nadine Boughton

Ruth Steinberg

An elderly mother photographed with compassion and love, showing the challenges and daily rituals of a population often considered invisible. Heart-warming and lovely.

Merit

Plate II: Umbilical Memory © Laura Bennett

Laura Bennett
Botanical garden: the beauty of decay with a nod to antique botanical illustrations.

Selections from Aline Smithson

Huge congrats to all who submitted as the photographic offerings were not only totally on point, but there was so much excellent work to consider, you made my job very, very difficult.

Normally, when selecting work, I look for photographs that challenge, transport, and delight qualities that almost every project submitted to this call possessed. So much of the work was worthy of this nod and it was a complete pleasure to spend time with the projects. My initial list of selections was incredibly long and narrowing it down was like a series of small wounds, knowing ultimately that decisions made about art are completely subjective.

Three-dimensional Work

K.K. DePaul

This project beautifully articulated, through text and process, the many faces we not only share with the world, but with ourselves. Creatively using the same image through out the project and allowing what surrounds it to change was a touch of brilliance, creating a straight line to the truth. Truly masterful work.

Melanie Walker

I don’t think I’ve ever met a puppet I didn’t like, but these take my appreciation to another level—artful, soulful, they hold mystery and memory, and expand the idea of a photographic portrait to new realms. Rather than a static story telling, this format allows for the possibility of new narratives each time there is interaction with the object.

Lisa Nebenzahl

The idea of making a shadow into a 3D object was compelling and transformative and I appreciated all aspects of this project’s presentation–it reminded me of the boxes that held my rock collections in my youth. To capture something that is ever changing in such a unique and thoughtful way made this work even more intriguing.

Photography

Brian Van der Wetering

This project showed me botanicals in completely fresh and unique way. There is often a sameness to lumen prints, where this artist created new worlds that kept me wanting to see more. More like abstract painting, with a nod to Japanese sensibilities, this work is stellar in it’s artistry and presentation.

Laura Bennett

There was magic in this project, beautifully executed and exquisite detail and color. The articulation of the work also brought together the idea of our bodies as living…and dying organisms that are in harmony with the natural world. It is work that I returned to again and again and was delighted each I revisited it.

Nadine Boughton

This project treads into territory that is seldom discussed in polite conversation—the discussion of menstruation and how it has been marketed to women. The artist sets advertising photographs of the 1950’s–sumptuous white gloved evening gowns, into a world of ovulating landscapes and cavernous spaces, pulsing with red, all combining into a humorous and fantastical series. What’s not to love.