Juror Michael Hawley

 

Juror’s comments regarding the overall show: What a moving thing it is to see a group of people creating real art. We are working our way through such a difficult time in modern history, and what has become abundantly clear to me is that Art always wins. Here, the community presents such beautiful, courageous, thoughtful work; remarkable for its range and unique points of view. I am honored to have been able to participate.

 

Juror’s Awards and Comments

 

BEST IN SHOW – Melissa Goodwin, The Journey Home.

This is a world-class photograph, timeless in both its gaze and composition. The curve of the railing, the slope of the distant shore, the safety of the boat’s rectilinear eaves all cradle the man who stands with his easy lean, gazing into the distance. He is alone, but not lonely. He is solitary, the salt air against his skin.

 

 

BEST IN CATEGORY

 

JOY – Dorene Sykes, Goose Chaser

The composition of this image of a dog turning is brilliant. The photographer has seen far more than the animal and its dance. They have seen the geometry of the moment, the curve of its body, the turn of the rock border and the lines on the ground.

 

BREATH – Kristin Alexander, Florida Springs

Creating images focusing on nature’s beauty is something we have all done. Making a photograph that captures an intangible element of nature is rare to find. This image of what appears to be an Everglades swamp, pulls color and depth and evokes mystery beyond the raking light. 

 

SOLITUDE – Paul M. Murray, Lucky?

Is it possible to be alone in a crowd? The gaze of this young person says you can be. So begins the range of contradictions within the composition of this beautiful photograph. They are sad—no pensive. Taking a breath or ready to run. Maybe lucky? The letters are a little smudged.

 

TRUTH – Ken Alexander, El Musico – Havana, Cuba

His expression lies somewhere between anguish and longing, perhaps reflecting the words of the song he is singing. Creating excellent portraiture is a staggeringly difficult accomplishment. Here the artist has met and passed the mark. The photograph is beautiful in composition and a triumph in printing. 

 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

 

Jay Phyfer, Lumen Print Calla Lily Leaves. With a nod to earlier photographers like Tasker and Atkins, this artist revels in the process of photography as they turn Calla Lily leaves into flames. It’s a remarkable image fusing process and subject.

Megan Coppola, Maine Boathouse has a simplicity to it that lifts the image. The framing is perfect, the muted colors calm the soul.

Julianne Waite, Basketball for One. The scrappiness and frayed edges of our lives call out to us here. This honest photograph under a perfect sky was taken by someone with an excellent and promising eye. What’s next?

Rusty Leffel, Where Is The Freedom. The sign this young woman holds is not the point of this photo. Her look is the victory. Her face stands outside time, her expression weary and fragile. It’s a rare still point.

Clay Tarver, Otter Cliff Arcadia calls back to the storied California photographer Edward Weston. It is nature in its most elemental state. Small stones on solid rock speak to both permanence and transience, and the tonality of this print shows the range possible within a black and white image.

Amy Heller, Alone Multiple is stunning. This was a difficult image to create from a process perspective, but the true victory comes with the choice of image placement. This could be fifty women or as its title suggests, one body. The repeated theme of hands and the shadowed face make the viewer search as if for clues. You can’t look away.

 

 

Juror: Michael Hawley

Michael Hawley is the Chair of the Getty Museum Photographs Council. He is a founding board member and past President of the Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles and is part of the Photography Initiative at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. His eclectic photography collection has been growing since the early 1990s and includes classic twentieth-century works but is ever leaning toward contemporary photography. He has served as a guest curator and as a judge for various photography awards over the past several years.

Michael has a background in the fields of publishing, film, and online media. He is a writer who has been creating content for the Internet since the mid-1990s for outlets from People magazine online to e-commerce sites. He currently creates websites for major studio films and has won numerous awards for this online work.

Michael was raised outside the United States in Australia, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and is a graduate of Stanford University.

All Accepted Works:

Ken	Alexander	Musico – Havana Cuba
Kristin	Alexander	Springs Northern Florida
Greg	Anderson	Let Me See
John	Arnold	Wood End Moonrise
Barry	Beder	On Fire
Gregory	Brown	Tragedy
Pamela	Chmielinski	Limonaia La Malora  (Lemon Garden)
Megan	Coppola	The Boathouse
Julie	DeMello	Encased XV
Hollis	Engley	Summer, Rye Beach
Emily L.	Ferguson	Splash
Melissa	Goodwin	The Journey Home
PJ	Hamel	Season’s End
Barbara	Hampson	The photographer photographing the photographer photographing the old Cape Codder Hotel
Amy	Heller	Alone Multiple
Nancy	Howren	Nature’s Palette II
Lawrence	Kennedy	Blue Above
Carol	Knox	Reenactment
Kenneth	Kolpan	Moon light over Perch Pond
Judy	Laliberte	And They Swam and They Swam
Gregory	Lauer	Caño Harold, Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Rusty	Leffel	A TEST FOR DEMOCRACY:  Where is the Freedom?
David	Long	Pushing Off
Judy	Luborsky	tangerine on wood
Heather	Marin	Unfettered Joy
Scott	Murphy	Sisters
Paul M	Murray	Lucky?
Harold	Naideau	Vase of Flowers
Phillip	Nardozzi	Truro’s Tree Boneyard
Steven	Omlor	We See You
Marilyn	Pageau	Moon Over Reflected Sunset
Althea	Pandiscio	Night Beach
Jay	Phyfer	Calla Lily Leaves
Carol	Radford	Blue on Blue
Lisa	Redburn	The Sands of Time
Philip	Richardson	San Miguel de Allende MX
Lisa Jo	Rudy	Versailles
Linda	Sattel	Peeling wall
Rowland	Scherman	Homage to Someone
Dorene	Sykes	Goose Chaser
Clay	Tarver	Acadia, Otter Cliff
Richard	Tranfaglia	Cabot 1
Julianne	Waite	(no title)
Ann	Worthington	North Rim, AZ
Linda	Zanetti	Pastel Skies