For more information about the show visit the
C4FAP website
Juror’s Statement for Illuminate
Illuminate, to supply or brighten with light; to make lucid; throw
light on a subject; to decorate with lights; to enlighten; to make
resplendent or illustrious; to decorate a manuscript with gold or
silver.
The act of illumination, since it’s introduction in the 15th century,
has influenced our way of seeing and subsequently the world throughout
the ages; and so, keeping the definition of ILLUMINATE posted on my
computer screen, I set out on an adventure to journey through the fine
work submitted along this theme to The Center for Fine Art Photography.
There were many images documenting the real world, others imagining a
world far away from this one, inspiring us to imagine places we have
never been, or situations we’ve never experienced before this visual
moment.
A photograph primarily conveys a static image, although by playing
with contrast and depth of field, we may focus more precisely on a
certain object. To bring voice to an image is not a precise physical
quantity which can be measured – rather it is the sum of many often
complex operations that arrive as an expression of a photograph – this
is how I juried ILLUMINATE. In this call for entries, there was no
precise quality I was looking for. I was not looking for truth, but
something more elusive, ethereal, untouchable. I was looking for
personal themes, universal themes, complex or dramatic scenes. I wanted
to experience quiet moments just to reflect on the beauty of the subject
matter, the technique or simply the tonalities of light and shadow.
Sheri Lynn Behr received First Place for her photograph “021-New York,”
from her series, “Watching You” about her interest in surveillance and
privacy. Behr writes, “With a concern about government intrusion into
our personal lives, I continue to find ways to photograph aspects of the
gray area that is surveillance in our modern age. I came to realize
while I was making photographs, I was being photographed as well.”
Honorable Mentions were awarded to photographers Guanyu Xu, Ellen
Jantzen, Rebecca Moseman, and Nadezda Nikolova-Kratzer. I chose Nadezda
Nikolova-Kratzer for her evocative photograph “Cicada II,” also chosen
as Director’s Selection. “In making art, I seek to peer beyond the
surface while embracing mystery – to open doors to forgotten memories;
to glean that which is ethereal and distant yet magnetic and strangely
familiar”. Guanyu Xu was chosen for his photograph “Mirror,” part of his
series, “One Land To Another” and was also chosen as Directors
Honorable Mention. “Born and raised in a conservative family in Beijing,
I use self-portraiture of my death to confront the struggle between
being both a homosexual and a homophobic person”. Ellen Jantzen was
chosen for her photograph “In The Cold Light of Night,” part of her 2015
series, “Unity of Time and Place”. Jantzen writes, “Some say, all time
exists at once; the indefinite continued progress of existence and
events in the past, present, and future are regarded as a whole”. And
Rebecca Moseman was selected for her photograph “Alex’s Chest ” from her
series, “The Summer of Flying Lanterns”. “My boys have always played an
important role in my photography. Their innocence, innate boyhood,
relationship to nature, slow process of maturing have always fascinated
me”.
_Elizabeth Avedon for C4FAP, 2015
