Portraits as Visual Repositories
Aug 27, 2024 – Feb 27, 2025
Portraits as Visual Repositories invited submissions for images and projects that explore portraits as events that are driven by the relationships between the subject, the photographer and the viewer.
Top Prize Winners
First Place – Mara Zaslove
Second Place – Lauren Crew
Third Place – Honey J Walker
Honorable Mentions
Meredith Andrews, Sarah Barker, Paul Blieden, Krystal Boney, Carla Bowman-Smith, Larry Brownstein, Cecily M. Caceu, Ellen J. Craft, Fran Forman, Lisa Franklin, Judit German-Heins, Mallory Kates, Paul Kessel, Ray Koh, Bruce MacDonald, Andy Mattern, Meara McDonald, Michael McFadden, Anna Sophia Moltke, Alexander Nguyen, Rollence Patugan, Lauren J. Piper, Allison Plass, B. Proud, Mark Reynolds, Holly Roberts, Michele Zousmer
Juror
Asha Iman Veal is the Curator of interdisciplinary and lens-based art at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago (MOCP) and Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).
Virtual Opening Reception
Tuesday, August 27, 2024, 6-7pm PST online via Zoom. RSVP HERE
Exhibition Run Dates
August 27, 2024 – February 27, 2025 (Virtual)
Gallery
About
Portraits as Visual Repositories highlights images and projects that consider the relationships between one’s image and what it might reveal (or conceal) about their world, regarding portraits as an archive or a depository of the subject’s life, identity and points of views.
Can portraits be a visual repository for the lives, experiences, emotions and perspectives of photographed subjects? Can the arranging of oneself for a portrait be considered a performance? And what does that performance might reveal about the viewpoint of the photographer? Considering the relationships between one’s image and what it might reveal (or conceal) about their world, this show regards portraits as an archive or a depository of the subject’s life, identity and points of views.
Juror
Asha Iman Veal is Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, where she recently presented the large-scale exhibitions Beautiful Diaspora / You Are Not the Lesser Part (2022) and LOVE: Still Not the Lesser (2023). She has curated significant exhibitions such as RAISIN (vol 1) at the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Veal is frequently invited as a guest lecturer or panelist at various cultural institutions, both local and international, including GRAIN Projects UK, Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has also served as a distinguished jury reviewer for awards and residencies such as the East African Photography Awards, Earth Photo Award by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society, Terra Foundation/American Academy in Rome, Visual Studies Workshop NY, University of Chicago Arts + Public Life, and Arts Work Fund Chicago. She has been an invited portfolio reviewer and crit panelist for the FORMAT International Photography Festival UK, Rencontres d’Arles France, FotoFest Houston, Belfast Photo Festival, University of Chicago Department of Visual Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, Chicago Artist Coalition, and others.
She serves on the board of Filter Photo (Chicago) and was recently a board member of Experimental Sound Studio and Audible Gallery. She is active in the ORACLE Conference of International Photography Curators, and the Independent Curators International – Curatorial Forum and Chicago Assembly (2023 cohorts). Veal holds a BA from New York University Gallatin School, an MFA from The New School, and an MA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Juror Statement
Embracing the constantly evolving, artistic practice of photography openly and with curiosity, is key to exploring the full range of possibilities this artform presents. By bringing the artistic community together, the venerable Los Angeles Center of Photography fosters vibrant engagements that can’t be ignored. What their fantastic community of artists builds from these resources—how they embrace and leverage them—matters within the Southern California region and beyond.
It has been a privilege to review the diverse images and practices for the LACP online exhibition, Portraits as Visual Repositories. The term repository itself implies an accumulation of meaningful accumulation of significant depth and quantity that has developed through dedication and time. Beyond the individual countenances and expressions captured in each portrait, the overall collection—comprising awardees and honorable mentions—offers profound social and interpretive insights.
The thirty portraits and artists featured each make a powerful statement, and collectively they provide a captivating, kaleidoscopic view of the contemporary human condition. Particularly in the works of awardees Mara Zaslove, Lauren Crew, Honey J Walker, and Fran Forman, we see how bodies seek and convey strength, confidence, joy—and an intangible magic—as our physical forms evolve over time and in various spaces. Several of the images also showcase a subtle performativity alongside un-posed moments, capturing the essence of the human experience.
As a photo curator, I have long been captivated by the artistic range and intention inherent in portraiture. The depth, embedded meaning, and multiple layers of this practice continue to inspire me.
– Asha Iman Veal, August 2024 Chicago
Price Sheet and Instructions for Purchasing Artwork
Download/view price sheet HERE.
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