Sunday, March 16, 2008

31 Under 31 - Young Women in Art Photography


(Tealia Ellis Ritter My dream is to be an artist, Milan, Illinois, 2007 — from the series The Live Creature)

At the beginning of the year, the
Humble Arts Foundation put out a call for submissions to an exhibition - 31 Under 31 - Young Women in Art Photography - aimed in part at emerging photographers. The exhibition opened at the beginning of the month (and by all accounts the opening was packed) and is showing at the Gallery at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn.


(Ahndraya Parlato Untitled, 2007 — from the series Inscape)

It's a little hard to find the photographs online right now (I hope Humble is going to put more of it up eventually?), but thanks to Flak Photo it is possible to view a few (halfway down the page). I'm also familiar with the work of several of the photographers.


(Alejandra Laviada - Stacking, Mexico City, Mexico — from the series Juarez #56 )

I must say, having recently looked at Photo District News' 30 Under 30 selection, that with a couple of exceptions the 31 women blow that selection out of the water. Now I realise that the criteria were a little different, but it struck me that the PDN choices were rather disappointing. They went with what was safe - and derivative - young photographers following in the tracks of the trends of the last 3 or 4 years. You could pretty much pick out your Amy Stein clone, or your Todd Deutsch clone or your Anders Peterson clone or you Philip-Lorca diCorcia clone etc.


(Jessica Bruah - Untitled #13 — from the series Stories)

Whereas from what I've seen, the Humble managed to find an exciting group of young photographers who seem much more focussed on finding their own way. I don't know, maybe that extra year helped... (never trust a photographer under 30 :-) ) - or maybe it was that they chose all women. But I also think it has a lot to do with the Humble Arts Foundation's own vision.


(Jaimie Warren - Untitled (Naoko/Squid Teeth), 2007)

"Lumi Tan, Director of Zach Feuer Gallery in NYC, and Jon Feinstein, Curatorial Director of Humble Arts Foundation co-curated the exhibition. "While it is impossible to capture the full breadth of international talent by female photographers in one exhibition," say Tan and Feinstein, "we feel that the diversity of subjects and intent are a clear representation of the wide range of skill and creativity that is flourishing today. By allowing the works to be culled from an open call, we hope to give exposure to unknown photographers while simultaneously showcasing more familiar names in contemporary photography.""

(Mary Mattingly -The Hunt, New York, New York)

The exhibition includes photographs by Amy Elkins, Ashley Lefrak, Dru Donovan, Elaine Stocki, Helen Maurene Cooper, Ka-Man Tse, Mary Mattingly, Ahndraya Parlato, Alejandra Laviada, Alana Celii, Alex Van Clief, Allison Grant, Catharine Maloney, Dina Kantor, Hannah Whittaker, Jessica Bruah, Jessica Roberts, Jaimie Warren, Kate and Camilla, Kelly Kleinschrodt, Marta Labad, Manya Fox, Molly Landreth, Nadine Rovner, Rachael Dunville, Reka Reisinger, Sara Padgett, Sarah Small, Sarah Sudhoff, Talia Chetrit and Tealia Ellis Ritter.

I think now it's time for the Humble to do "45 and over - Mid-Career Old Fart Photographers"



(Ashley Lefrak - Headless Horse, 2007 — from the series American Documents)

7 comments:

Mel Trittin said...

Well posted concerning the former and the latter. Thanks.

f:lux said...

So if you're between the fresh-faced age of 31 and farty ol' 45, fucked as usual... ;)

jonfeinstein@gmail.com said...

f:lux: This was the only Humble show with an age restriction. We offer twice-annual grants to emerging photographers and a minimum of 4 physical shows per year with no age restrictions whatsoever. You're only getting "f*cked" if you narrow your focus. Don't let one age restriction get you down!
Best,
Jon Feinstein
Curatorial Director
Humble Art Foundation

f:lux said...

Hello, I didn't mean to be in any way rude, either to the author of this blog or about Humble Art's '31 under 31' initiative - it just struck me at the end of the above post that between the age restricted competitions cited (real and not) there was a gap that, coincidentally, I happen to fall into. Plus I have a strange sense of humour perhaps?

Thinking about the whole age restriction thing again though, I can understand the reasons for such to an extent, yet at the same time I find them a bit out of synch with actual experience. I mean, we all tend to be living longer and longer, in the time we have can in one lead several distinct lives (in terms of career changes say) and, either way, it takes some people much longer to decide what it is they want to dedicate themselves to than others.

Take me. I feel I was lucky to have found photography so quickly and early on in life. Unfortunately, where working up to entering competitions has been concerned I have been much, much slower... mais, c'est la vie!

cheers, Lucy

jonfeinstein@gmail.com said...

Hi Lucy,
I completely understand where you're coming from. I, in turn, meant no disrespect. Do you have a link to a website/ some work? Please feel free to drop me a line.
Thanks,
Jon

Unknown said...

I love that 2nd photo down, with the one eye peeping out!

Anonymous said...

Good Job! :)