Personal Selection

Members Show 2001



November 9 - December 21, 2001

Reception: Saturday, November 10, 2001, 5:30 - 8:30 PM

"...creative expression has no tangible boundaries and is limitless in content..."

Ansel Adams

This year's members’ show is a very special exhibit.  Instead of having a juror, we are calling it “Personal Selection” and allowing members to select their own best 1 or 2 prints for exhibit.

The divergent techniques and themes of the annual members’ show echo the breadth and range of photography itself. Ninety-seven prints fill the gallery walls almost salon style. They flow from expansive landscapes to figure studies, gelatin silver to digital, pinhole to Polaroid, color and black and white and in between. As the Board had hoped, many members are exhibiting their work for the first time at the gallery. 

The show is a tangible illustration of the range of photography as a medium for communication and expression. But more importantly the exhibit indicates the talent and divergent interests of our members. The show is serious, fun, traditional, experimental, and inspirational. 

Selecting Work: The pick of the litter 

by Rebecca Gregg

The Members' Show is coming soon. It's always a strong, varied and interesting show and this year we're hoping to be the venue for show veterans as well as members who have never shown before.

As photographers you have work, but how do you decide which print to show? Editing one's own work is a tricky task because there is the constant balancing act between being too attached and therefore failing to see the flaws, or on the other hand, too harsh on details and failing to see the strengths of the whole picture.

Writers are aided in the task of editing by specialists: Editors. Photographers usually rely on family and friends for this role. Print Night on the 1st Wednesday of every month is a great resource for getting feedback on your prints or slides. Of course, getting too many opinions can lead to more confusion if the views differ widely and the photographer wasn't clear about the images before asking for outside advice in the first place.

The first step in the editing or selection process is to think about the characteristics of your work ...it's strengths, weaknesses, and okayness before and after feedback from others. Next when editing, separate yourself from the thrill of the new. Often we fall in love with our brand new, latest prints and overlook the comfort, pleasure, durability and even style of the old. Take time. Make several different prints to choose from and allow time to distance your emotional response. But remember to listen to your emotions about a print. Which do you like? Which grabs you most? Remember too that photography as other art forms has a strong sense of craft.

There are general photographic standards regarding print quality and exhibit presentation. These are quite wide and more varied than sometimes thought. Still the craft of photography is often categorized by general stylistic standards. Use these as goals or guideposts but always remember that your printing style is as individual as your handwriting. Though you're using the same ballpoint pen that millions of other use, your signature will be different.

Perhaps the hardest part of exhibiting in a group show is the limitation on the number of prints you can show. Selecting one or two prints to show puts the newly exhibiting photographer in the category of a proud parent of many showing off just one child. Rather than proud parent, it's probably better to think of yourself as a show dog breeder, and that the prints you are showing are simply part of a large litter, most very fine show quality, some harder to train, some with great personalities, and a runt or two now and then.

All images shown are copyrighted by the artist.

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