PAST JURIED COMPETITION

2012 Annual Juried Competition and Exhibition

Rachel Bee Porter, Berette Macaulay, Linda Kuo, and Vanessa Marsh

Baxter St at CCNY is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of the winners of the 2012 National Photography Competition, juried by Elisabeth Biondi, independent curator and former visuals editor at The New Yorker, and photographer Martine Fougeron. First Place Winner Rachel Bee Porter, Second Place Winner Berette Macaulay and Third Place Winners Linda Kuo and Vanessa Marsh present four distinct perspectives and together reflect myriad directions of contemporary photography.

Rachel Bee Porter – First Place Winner Berette Macaulay – Second Place Winner Vanessa Marsh – Third Place Winner(Tied) Linda Kuo – Third Place Winner(Tied)

Plus work from the twelve Honorable Mention artists:
Noah David Bau
Sheri Lynn Behr
Alejandra Carles-Tolrá
Chuck and Chelsea (by Louise Kim and Michelle Yoon)
Dareen Hussein
John Munshour
Jim Pearson
Alice Rodriguez
Jeremy Sachs-Michaels
Nicolas Silberfaden
Alic Trossman
Jackie Weisberg

Rachel Bee Porter’s series The Joy of Cooking comments on the frustrations of trying to attain the perfect lifestyle by showing smashed cakes on elaborately set tables. Neue Rootz, Berette Macaulay’s group portraits of her own multicultural family, address shifting ideas about community and family, while also connecting generations. The exotic animals in Linda Kuo’s Displaced photographs illuminate the harm inflicted on wild animal species housed in urban dwellings. Vanessa Marsh’s Constellation series comprises original photogram negatives from films as well as personal history, which are combined in multiple layers, merging memories and landscapes.

After viewing almost 300 entries, Elisabeth Biondi and Martine Fougeron made the following observations: “Gone are the days where ‘pure‘ photography ruled. During the judging we observed constructed still life, cut outs, collages, mini sculptures, digitally reframed photographs, in addition to more traditional photography. Portraiture, of course, was ever present – classical and contemporary; single and group portraits; color and black and white. We were delighted to smile at the wit in certain pictures. In fact, our winner Rachel Porter’s The Joy of Cooking cakes, combined humor, sculptural assemblage, formal composition and a relevant political statement.”