Juror’s Statement                                                                   
by Meredith A. Brown

For over twenty years, fotofoto gallery has been advancing photography, experimental and traditional, and encouraging the artistic development of photographers on Long Island and beyond. This year’s National Photography Exhibition—the 19^th iteration of this juried show—exemplifies that mission. Winnowed down from over five hundred submissions by artists located across the country, the selection of photographs exhibited here represents the best of what contemporary photography has to offer. 

From striking black-and-white images and lush natural scenes to abstracted still lives, conceptual compositions and photographic experimentations with three-dimensionality, this year’s included works presents a wide range of photographic techniques and styles. The three winning photographs and two honorable mentions exemplify the diversity of practices possible within the same medium. Emily Marie Wilson’s Gas Mask and Television in a Chernobyl Schoolroom (2018) compellingly captures the aftermath of nuclear disaster with uncanny beauty. The digital photograph Abstract Red White by Michelle Nickerson uses saturated color and detailed texture to create a striking minimal composition. The quality of Michael Korol’s handmade paper and botanical toning adds an organic beauty to his Sacred Tree Cyanotype. The two photographers who received honorable mentions, Kelly Graham and Kenneth Farrell, each deployed the expansive possibilities of black-and-white photography to create very different but equally compelling portraits of individuals. Taken together, all thirty-three of the works in this exhibition celebrate the boundless potential of photography.