Opening Reception Re-scheuled for Gallery Night – April 20th!

Due to scheduling conflicts the opening reception for BS @ PS has been rescheduled for Gallery Night, Friday, April 20th from 6 to 9pm.

Mark your calendars)!

Judging Part 4: Best of Categories

In our last post we discovered the finalists for each category. Today we will reveal who took home the Best of Category portion of the awards.

Honorary Mentions (includes cash award, special display of book and one print from project on wall):

Contemporary Portrait:  “Back in the World: Portraits of Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans,” by James Gill.

Travel: “Flores de Guatemala,” by Pam Miller.

From Debras’ notes-
“The winner in the travel category, Pam Miller’s Flores de Guatemala, was a small format book that featured exactly what the title suggested: many closely cropped picture of flowers. It wasn’t the quality of the photographs that attracted the judges’ attention, but the whole package: the concept was simple and direct and the photos were effective enough to add up to something that worked rather well.”

Documentary: “A Working Ranch,” by James Brozek

Fine Art: “Digging,” by John Lusis

 

Wednesday we will reveal the three books that were selected for an extended exhibition of their work!

Judging Part 3: The Finalists!

As mentioned previously our judges culled through the 66 submissions to this years contest and narrowed down the books into a selection of finalists for each category. Each book that received a vote from the juror’s advanced to the “Finalists” stage of the competition. The books that received further recognition have been omitted from this list and will be announced next week… ( The Best of Show, Honorable Mentions, and books receiving a show ).

Fine Art:  “Lambent” by Sarah J. Stankey; “Veil” by Henk Joubert; “States of Matter” by  Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg; “Winter Zen” by Arthur Elkon.

Documentary: “Under MKE” by Robert Burns; “Skyros Carnival” by Dick Blau; “The Face of Food” by Adam J. Horwitz; “Anatomy of an Avenue” by Barbara J. Miner; and “Bomber: A Chance Unwinding” by Lewis Koch.

Contemporary Portrait: “Facets” by Sheila Teruty.

Travel: “A Week in Panama” by Mark A. Stall; “The Promised Land” by Kyle Seis.

Congratulations to all of our finalists! We will announce the category winners Monday.

BS@PS Opening Night Reception!

The BS @ PS opening night reception is slated for Friday, April 6th at The Portrait Society Gallery. The show will run through May 12th, 2012, which means it will also be on display for Gallery Night which takes place on April 2oth this Spring. We are very excited to bring you this exceptional and varied show!

The Portrait Society is located at 207 E. Buffalo (corner of Water & Buffalo in the Third Ward). The gallery is located on the 5th Floor of the historic Marshall Building.

More details to follow. In the meantime, mark your calendars!

Judging Complete! Part 2: Notes from Jurying

Debra took detailed notes of the jurying process and has provided the following discourse. Her notes have been edited in order to conceal any winning titles, which will be announced next week.

Notes from BS @ PS photo book jurors:

Sonja Thomsen, Paul Baker Prindle, Kevin Miyazaki

Overall, the jurors were impressed with the quality and number of submissions, especially considering this was the first show of this nature done by the gallery.  Portrait Society was pleased to see such diverse bodies of work and to find new people to keep our eye on and possibly involve in future shows.

“Less is More”
They said that editing was the crucial element to a successful book project. This means cutting down on the number of images, keeping the theme succinct, making each image count, not wearing out the viewer and overcrowding. Too many images end up becoming overwhelming and reducing the impact. “The power of good images gets deflated if you don’t edit.”

“Don’t try to do too much”
This is similar to the above but the judges noted that some books are too ambitious and do not have a strong enough focus. Stick to a project and make sure that all of the images build that theme. That the parts or individual pages grow into a whole that speaks clearly.

“Typography can kill the Book”
Most photographers are not designers. The style and use of type and captions can really ruin an otherwise effective project. Kevin Miyazaki suggested not using captions with photographs, but listing them in the back of the book. Keep the pages clean. Titles often get in the way. He also suggested that the photographer find a graphic designer to consult with. It is worth it.

“Logo and ‘About the Photographer”
The judges did not think that the biographical information about the artist belonged in the book. At best, there could be a very small paragraph at the end of the book telling who the photographer is.  PAY THE EXTRA fee to have the Blurb or whatever logo removed.

“Think about size and why”
The book format is important, what size are you choosing and why. Sometimes, the smaller format, more inexpensive books might hold together better than the larger, hard covers. It depends on the images and nature of the project. But consider these choices carefully. What really suits the nature of the project?

“Tight concept”
The winner in the travel category was a small format book that featured exactly what the title suggested. It wasn’t the quality of the photographs that attracted the judges’ attention, but the whole package: the concept was simple and direct and the photos were effective enough to add up to something that worked rather well.

“Careful using black or gray paper”
White paper or a white background seems most effective. If you decide to go with black or gray, give it careful consideration.

“Think about cadence”
When putting a book together, think of how the images flow and how the theme builds. Think about the rhythms that are flowing through the pages. If the book starts to lose steam by the end, get rid of pages. Edit.

“When concept, images and format work together”
This is really what happens with a winning book project. The judges’ picked their Juror’s Award because these three factors were working together. This book carefully considered each choice, from scale (small and intimate which matches the subject), tactility (the pages are thick and the paper is soft), terseness (it is a very simple concept that is well executed). The entire book read as a poetic sentence.

Judging Complete! Part 1: Sifting through 66 submissions

Yesterday afternoon Kevin Miyazaki, Sonja Thomsen, and Paul Baker Prindle converged at the Portrait Society Gallery to sift through the 66 submitted photobooks from this years’ BS @ PS Photo Book Show. A huge thank you to all of those who submitted books this year. The competition was stiff and, overall, the quality of work exceeded our expectations. Of the 66 books, one book was chosen as the “Best of Show” winner. Three additional books were chosen as featured projects and will have their work displayed at the gallery during the show. On top of that, one book from each category was selected as an honorable mention (Fine Art, Documentary, Contemporary Portraiture, and Travel).

The judging was not easy. The discussion lasted nearly two and a half hours as the judges deliberated on whose books rose to the top. In the end the jurors donated their individual jurors fee back into the competition and decided to donate that sum to the “Best of Show” winner. It was a fascinating discussion to watch the jurors cull through the books and talk about what caught their eye, and what things were not working. We will post some additional notes from the judging later in the week. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to these judges who took the time out of their busy schedule to help judge and curate this amazing collection of submissions, and on top of that, donating their fee back into the project! We were lucky to have such knowledgeable and generous jurors.

The winners will be notified in the next couple days. We will post more details over the next two weeks.

The tentative schedule for the exhibit is currently the first weekend of April. Stay tuned for more details.

Judge and Jury

A quick note to let you know that the jurying of the books will be today at 3 p.m. We have 66 entries. Thank you all for participating!