Thursday, September 29, 2022

Multiple Exposures Gallery Photography Exhibition

In the last 30 years or so I have been honored with the task of jurying a show for Multiple Exposures Gallery three or four times, starting when it was called Factory Photoworks back in the 1990s.

See the show that I've just juried for MEG here.

These shows have always had one thing in common: they are exceptionally difficult to jury because of the exceptional quality of nearly every entry.  When essentially every entry presented to me or any other juror showcases the enviable talent roster that MEG possesses, it makes the selection process a combination that not only celebrates photographic skill, but also a wide array of other artistic vectors that influence the difference between a good photo and a great photo.

Issues such as composition, employment of light, range of tones, subject matter, and most human of all, the juror's own agenda and subjectivity, all come to play to deliver a final set of works for a show.

Over the same range of years I have juried and curated hundreds of art shows, and thus this next statement comes with the backing of all that experience and exposure to art (pun intended): This MEG exhibition is one of the best photography shows that I have ever juried!

And photographic history has come in full circle for me when it comes to jurying a show. I recall in the 90s when digital photography was still excluded from some exhibitions and only traditional darkroom or pinhole photography was allowed. How provincial must that look now when we're about to see an all digital show where powerful photographs and talented photographers flex their artistic muscles to show that it is the art of photography which delivers results, not just the means to create the photograph.

Many years ago I wrote in an essay for some magazine or newspaper about the DC area region, and in that essay I noted that MEG was one of the key artistic jewels which make up the tapestry of the Greater Washington region's visual arts footprint; this show will once again prove that, and I congratulate every single one of you selected for this show!