Leading up to my September article, Into the Fog, for Shadow and Light magazine was the arduous task of selecting the images to submit to ArtsThrive 2025 at the Albuquerque Museum. I worry that I vest too much psychic energy in choosing work for any juried show. Perhaps I want it too much. Choosing is the hard part. I know that I have in my vast stores of photographs ones that will be accepted and that will sell. But which ones are they? Damned if I know.
In my winnowing, there’s that word again, I’ve sought order in the process by selecting the portfolios from which my images will be chosen.
Further, in the search for cohesion, all four of my submissions will be from a
single portfolio. In principle, they belong together as if hung on a gallery
wall.
While I have a nine portfolios, I have chosen five to consider. The other four, while worthy, aren't a fit for a Southwestern show, like The Fog Series which is too coastal and might not sell, or like Monumental Heads because portraits don't unless they're of a loved one. In no particular order the nominees are below. Visualize that each of these are examples of the theme and style of the four images submission.
Under a Big Sky
 |
| Book Cliffs, Grand Junction, Colorado |
At the Edge of What’s Left
 |
| Presbyterian Church, Taiban, New Mexico |
Found Art
 |
| Found Art, Rinconada, New Mexico |
Sketches of Winter
 |
| Lines of Defence, Brazos Pass, New Mexico |
The Last Shepherd
 |
| Winter Dance, Taos San Luis Valley, Colorado |
Based on these single images which theme would you choose?
Next week you'll see the portfolio and the four photographs I submitted.
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1 comment:
Curating one's own images for a gallery show, a book, or an article always seems to require an inordinate amount of time, and, as you say, psychic energy. But, in my mind, it is an absolutely necessary process. Not only as a memory jogger for those of us who have tens of thousands of photographs, but as an exercise in comparison. For your purposes in the selection of four that are cohesive as being somewhat Southwestern, the only one in the group I would not include is the Lines of Defence, Brazos Pass. The winner in the group is Book Cliffs in the Under a Big Sky category, which would be my choice for the your next theme. I know the judges will be bowled over by it too. Good luck!
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