We are proud to announce the Rfotofolio Selections for 2020.
This year we were honored to have Jennifer Schlesinger, and Paula Tognarelli as our guest jurors. We appreciate their time and thoughtful choices.
We asked each juror to select their top portfolios, and three works of merit in
two-dimensional work and the same for three-dimensional work. This was no easy task.
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 because we are limited to a certain number.
As is our tradition we include our choices for the Rfotofolio Selections.
Thank you for entering this years call. By doing so, we are able to see work that we might have missed. Your donations help support Rfotofolio and the grants we give each year.
Thank you to Carol Boss and Hahnemühle paper for your support of Rfotofolio and this years Hahnemühle Award.
Thank you to Lensbaby for sponsoring the Lensbaby Award.
This year Rfotfolio has selected Michael Darough for the Hahnemühle Award, and
E.E. McCollum for the Lensbaby Award.
The jurors made their choices based on the portfolio of work not just the image featured in todays announcement.
Selections from Paula Tognarelli
“After over twenty years of looking, it is expected that someone like me would recognize photographs. My every day connections to imagery as juror, reviewer, advisor, curator, explorer and photo fortune teller remain after a lifetime. It is difficult to call out favorites as it would be for any parent. My decisions for this juried opportunity are all based on a present-day mindset shaped by national chaos, abusive behavior, incessant media influence, swarming locusts and a pandemic.” Paula Tognarelli
Michael Darough
The Talk
” I believe there is nothing more urgent than to call out systemic racism. By choosing this portfolio I acknowledge that systemic racism exists and that I am committed to exhibiting photographs by indigenous people and people of color. This work is important. “The Talk” is real. Paula Tognarelli
Work of Merit
Philip Augustine
Convergence
“Convergence was chosen as a merit portfolio because the bold, geometric and abstract shapes stood strong and deliberate. I’m seeking structure and reliability as our present days seem erratic and chaotic. I also respond to the photographer’s artistic yet academic query and the incorporation of dual methods of approach to the final print. To me it implied an openness to varied points of view and problem solving.” Paula Tognarelli
Work of Merit
George Nobechi
Japanese Aquaria
“Exploring is learning. For eight months I’ve deprived myself of getting lost in search of wry finds. Getting lost is one of my favorite things to do. Japanese Aquaria gave me the opportunity to meander and explore safely inside my own home. Viewing these horizontal photographs of aquariums, I had the physical sensations of a personal journey. The wry finds came with an aquarium tank photographed in snow or three dolphins featured as if standing erect in a sea of green in a darkened room. My favorite is of the young child dressed in red in a space that features a walrus with long tusks.” Paula Tognarelli
Merit Winner
Diana Cheren Nygren
When the Trees are Gone
I chose When the Trees are Gone because of its imaginative nature. The word that comes to mind when I look at these photographs is “bellwether”. Absurdity is in the wind in these photographs and isn’t it though? Paula Tognarelli
Three-dimensional Work
Melanie Walker
Ghost Forest/Leaves of Absence
Nomadic Dreamer
“In the three dimensional category I chose portfolio Ghost Forest/Leaves of Absence
Nomadic Dreamer, Why? It was the fabric swaying that grabs my attention. The gallery comes alive. It is spectral figures in multiple stances and the leaves and birches blowing as if by the forest’s breath. This work is enchanting and makes me believe in magic being real.” Paula Tognarelli
Work of Merit
Ryan Zoghlin
Lacus Plasticus
“The work of portfolio 5 – 3D incorporates sculpture and photography. Fashioning portholes and cyanotypes together in unison as beautiful objects the artist spells out a message “to save our planet”. While some will look no farther than the beauty of these art pieces, others will see deeper at the call for change.” Paula Tognarelli
Work of Merit
Diana Bloomfield
Murmurations / Chlorophyll Figurative / The Old Garden
“I chose this portfolio because of the many examples of books this artist has made. The books are all presented as objects. And sometimes there are objects within objects. The subjects of these books are images of moments that provide respite like birds on a wire or a murmuration of starlings that fill the sky or images of the natural world made from alternative processes. ” Paula Tognarelli
Selections from Jennifer Schlesinger
“There were some really wonderful submissions for this award, including familiar as well as work that was newly introduced to me. It was exciting to see so many photographers making new work during the time of our pandemic. In my selections, however, I also wanted to wait to see how some of that work will develop in due time. I was reluctant to choose such a prestigious award as this for work that was so new, still being worked on, and needed the proper time to formulate. I’m sure another juror may have approached that idea differently. For me, I think hindsight will be 20/20 (no pun intended!) and that time-lapse will be important in viewing work created during this pandemic and I look forward to seeing how such work matures, gets edited, and lives to be relevant even one year from now.
It was a tough choice to narrow the selections down to the those I did which is why I also included some merit winners. When it came to the 2D work, I chose two works which were documentary in their approach but presented quite differently. One of the two submissions I gave a top choice award to titled, The Talk by Michael Darough created in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, is timely, relevant and powerful – it is atypical ‘portrait’ photography used to tell us a story of the subject typically rendered via frontal angle perspective. This for me led me to imagine deeply the stories that lay beneath the images, asking even more questions of the photographer – always a good sign to me when I want to know more and have a dialogue with the work. The other submission, The Travelers, is a series that I have seen over many years and in fact when I saw this work finally published into a book format this past year, I thought that it was very well earned and I wanted to give it kudos via this award. The images relay an intimate story of this group of young Irish travelers and the photos are playful while also giving us a real insight into this fascinating cultural group through impactful photography.
The 3D work by Melanie Walker I chose for the top award, not only fit the bill for the literal theme of three dimensional photography, but succeeded in giving a major impact of creating a visceral experience for me, the viewer. Three dimensionality installation work should, in its holistic success, be able to transport the viewer to a sensatory experience. This work does that, and it made me long for the time when we can see artwork in person again to really feel art in the way it was meant to be experienced (i.e. not only a computer screen). In fact, jurying this show made me ultimately really miss seeing photography in person and I impatiently await the time when this pandemic is over, and when we can go out to museums and galleries, and interact through art with one another again. Thank you again for the opportunity to jury this work.” Jennifer Schlesinger
Michael Darough
The Talk
Jamie Johnson
Growing Up Travelling
Work of Merit
Wendi Schneider
The Patina Collection
Work of Merit
Tom Chambers
Tales of Heroines
Work of Merit
Greenland
Steve Giovinco
Three-dimensional Work
Melanie Walker
Ghost Forest/Leaves of Absence
Nomadic Dreamer
Work of Merit
Diana Bloomfield
Murmurations / Chlorophyll Figurative / The Old Garden
Ryan Zoghlin
Lacus Plasticus
Lisa Nebenzahl
stillScapes
The Rfotofolio Selections
To recognize the creative work and the gifted photographers who created it we have chosen these outstanding portfolios. It was a difficult choice. These images for different reasons have stayed with us and we found ourselves coming back to them time and again.
Please click on an image to see it larger.
Our Stories
Spaces
Nature
Three-dimensional Work
To learn more about the photographers please click on their name.
To learn more about our 2020 jurors please click on their name.
Special thanks to our sponsors for your awards.
It’s a real privilege to be included with some of the remarkable work in this year’s selection. Thanks to rfotofolio for all you do.
Thank you.