Rather than choose the photographs for this show with a single theme or organizing principle in mind, I instead selected the most diverse group of good pictures from the overwhelmingly strong submissions. In looking at the dramatically different works that process produced, it is difficult to make a unifying statement about them, except that what they all have in common is that they are good pictures—well seen, composed, thought through, and executed—basically, the artist is firing on all cylinders. There are some threads, however, that weave through the prints gathered here. There are pictures of place that ground; there are figure studies that interrogate; there are lyrical pictures that elate; there are puzzling pictures that challenge; there are informational pictures that teach; there are experiments with photographic process that push; there are pictures of animals, both wild and domestic, that delight; and there are portraits that confront. Some pictures fit within multiple threads, and as I laid them out, I played with how juxtapositions might impact how a viewer could see each artwork. I hope the result allows you to enjoy each work individually and to imagine how these threads create a fabric.
