Judgement Day

And A Few Notes On Exhibitions In General

by Les Picker

Yesterday was Judgement Day, in a manner of speaking anyway. The Paper Arts Collective deadline for our first open print contest and exhibition was last week. Yesterday the four judges met in our studio and we took the entire day judging the hundreds of prints that were entered from around the world. 

To say that we were happily surprised by the quality of the entries would be an understatement. In many cases we were stunned by both the technical merit of the images (composition, focus, content) and the print quality (how the image plays on paper, paper choice, resolution, creativity, and more). But that isn't what I want to focus on here. 

The day was, exhausting as we reviewed, eliminated entries, reviewed again, argued, listened, learned, whittled down, raised up in rank, and finally came up with what we collectively felt were absolutely marvelous representatives of the power and glory of the printed image... the ultimate in the art of photography. We do not assume to be infallible and my colleagues insisted that I acknowledge that four other judges might have justifiably selected a completely different winning slate. 

For me the day was about engaging with three other lifelong professional photographers, serious people that I respect, passionate about their craft, willing to give their time to advance our art. It would be hard for me to recall a more fulfilling professional day. It reaffirmed my faith in our art form and those who elevate it by creating prints. 

I was also taken by the remorse we all felt putting aside other worthy prints that surely could have received an award. Such is the nature of curating and, to be frank, I hate that aspect. 

In the coming weeks, beginning right after the winners are announced, we plan to feature photographers whose prints were not selected for a prize, but whose work is meritorious and contains lessons for all photographers who print, whether beginners or experienced.

A Few Notes On Exhibitions

Open Exhibitions might be the most difficult to curate. As a photographic artist they may also be the most difficult to cobble together a submission. An Open exhibition by its nature is multi-artist and multi-genre. The Paper Arts Collective 2021 Open Exhibition as summarized above was exceedingly difficult to curate for the judges. A bias towards subject matter, a love for a genre, and even more there were quite a few photographic series submitted that when viewed as a whole deserve their own exhibition. Those will definitely be some of the first we highlight here. 

Advice when submitting to open exhibitions can be summed simply. Be diverse. Work that's very strong as a series may not be the best submission. The same goes for genre. Try to submit entries across genres. Choosing submissions for open exhibitions is probably the exact opposite you would do for a cohesive portfolio, a solo exhibition, or a story for a publication.

Themed exhibitions are far easier to make choices for both artists and curators. They are also probably more common as they tend to have cohesion. These obviously can be solo or multi-artist. Beyond the given theme, reach out to the organizer or curators and get more information about any particular feel they are looking for. Fine art or editorial or documentary or abstract? Color or Black and White? Think of all the things you'd do if you were curating a solo exhibit and ask if it's not clear in submission guidelines. Example: If it's a wildlife theme ask if it would be beneficial for submissions to be of a particular continent or geography? Carnivores or herbivores? Mammals or Reptiles?

Series exhibitions are a bit rarer but I've seen quite a few multi-artist exhibitions that have both a theme and are looking for multiple images that are part of a series within that theme, specifically from multiple artists. Typically these will have tighter themes in submission guidelines, sometimes within specific geographies or highlighting specific social issues. As above, digging deeper into the stylistic approach and desires of the curators is a good idea. Conceptual or reportage? Studio or environmental? 

Food for thought no matter if you are curating an exhibition or submitting to one. If you have thoughts or tips on your experiences submitting to exhibitions please share them, if you’ve curated an exhibition no matter what the size or venue I’d love to hear the things you’ve looked for when making selections.