The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum held an open photography competition with submissions from photographers from across the United States and around the world. With its open theme, photographers and image makers delivered a diverse selection of creative works from a variety of genres. Hall of Fame Inductee, Joyce Tenneson was tasked with judging these exemplary works.
In her selection of images for this exhibition Joyce was impressed with quality and variety of work submitted. She also took special note of photographers who submitted not only strong individual works but those who offered collections of images that demonstrated a strong sense of cohesion in their themes and artistic perspective. These carefully considered bodies of work often prove to be the most successful in exemplifying and illuminating an artist’s unique vision and perspective.
IPHF congratulates the award winners and exhibiting photographers.
Joyce Tenneson: Haunting, ethereal, mystical, – all of these words describe the photographic style of Joyce Tenneson. Her photos command a complex and intense emotional response from the viewer, which has made Tenneson one of the leading photographers of her generation. Vicki Goldberg, critic and author, writes of Tenneson: “Tenneson possesses a unique vision which makes her photographs immediately recognizable.”
Grand Prize
Barbara Brundage
Soquel, CA USA
When Covid first hit, I had to abandon my travel photography plans. Instead, I set up a home studio and started shooting flowers. I posed cut flowers with various backgrounds and reflective surfaces. Light painting techniques made the images more dramatic. I experimented with different types of light sources, light movements and timing, and under/over exposures. Then I moved my floral photography underwater, into an aquarium. I inject inks and paints to swirl around the flowers, creating drama and atmosphere. There is a 1 to 2 minute window where I can get a clear shot before the water becomes too murky. This makes for a quick, tense, energetic shooting session. It is very much like painting in the water itself, where I apply the paint and with how much force. Sometimes I get nothing, and sometimes I get magic! I call this new series, Submerged.
First Prize
Elena Magidson
Savannah, GA USA
Blessed are the Pure is a collection of pieces that reflect a personal past experience of being treated poorly by a romantic partner for not being a virgin when we started dating. This collection explores the meaning of purity and how society holds unfair expectations for women’s sexual activity. By using various photographs shaped into dresses, I use symbols of femininity to comment on what it means to be pure. I use an experimental process called an emulsion lift to create one-of-a-kind pieces that take multiple days to complete. While my photograph is wet, I am able to form each image into the shape of a dress right after lifting the emulsion.
Second Prize
Morgan Ford Willingham
Waco, TX USA
My investigation of motherhood considers how influential nature versus nurture is and the roles of mother and daughter. The images individually and collectively allude to intimate daily circumstances, the historical and cultural influences that shape the identities of each, and the art historical context of motherhood, femininity, and women’s identity. Due to the deeply personal depictions, this work presents visual narratives that attest to selfhood, uncertainty, and parallels that are threaded between mother and daughter. This innate bond and the distinct identities are ever evolving with depictions alternating between the observer and the observed, as the child matures into a fully realized sense of self. Extending past the snapshot, these images record the growth of the individual and deepening intimate connection through lived experiences within the familial unit.
Second Prize
Ruth A. Keitz
Los Fresnos, TX USA
The Seal Rock, Oregon series is based on the last visit I had with a dear friend who has since passed away. It captures bittersweet memories and the sights and sounds of the Oregon coast and the Pacific Ocean.
