Open Call 2018

Juror: Douglas Beasley
Gallery exhibition: October 3 - November 3, 2018

Juror’s Statement 

My usual approach to judging a photo exhibit or competition is to try to find a broad range of types of photography that fit the theme with a high level of execution. I am personally less interested in, say, photo manipulation or travelogues but do try and find the ‘best’ (subjective to my taste) examples of these I can find to represent as many genres of photography as possible. But without a theme I quickly realized I needed something more to hold the body of work together. I decided to be less inclusive and cater more to the whims of my personal taste. I am interested in photography that has strong emotional connection with the subject over pretty photos or spectacular subject matter. My hope was that this would create a more cohesive body of work.

There were many, many excellent images not chosen. There are more good photographs than there is space to include them. Good and even great images get cut for the benefit of the whole, or even worse, get overlooked in the flurry of seeing so many images at once. We put so much of who we are into our photography and often give way too much power to others to judge our efforts and results. In the end it is only my opinion, not fact. If your photos were not chosen it is your task to figure out if your images are not of sufficient quality or vision to make the cut. If they are, then you can safely assume the judge (in this case me) is a big fat idiot who didn’t see the obvious merits of your work and made a bad decision!

         —  Douglas Beasley

About the Juror

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
     — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, from The Little Prince

Douglas Beasley’s personal vision explores the spiritual and emotional aspects of people and place and is concerned with how the sacred is recognized and expressed in everyday life.  

Doug currently works on fine-art based commercial projects around the world. Much of his personal work is supported by grants and commissions and is widely exhibited and collected. In 2010 he had a permanent installation at the Castillo D’Albertis Cultural Museum on Sacred Places of North America. He has been published internationally and featured in numerous photo magazines such as Zoom, The Sun, B&W, PDN, Shots and PhotoVision. His most recent book, Zen and the Art of Photography, is a collection of Doug’s writing.

As founder and director of Vision Quest Photo Workshops, Doug provides workshops that emphasize personal expression and creative vision over the mechanics of camera use. His workshops are held at art and cultural centers across the US and around the world as well as private workshops at the Trade River Retreat Center, his cabin/retreat center in Northwest Wisconsin.

Doug has recently become the owner and publisher of Shots magazine, a quarterly independent journal of fine-art photography, now in it’s 32nd year of publication. Shots has long been his favorite photo magazine.

Doug continues to explore the notion of what is sacred in his photography and in his life. He lives in a small passive solar home surrounded by rocks and trees in Saint Paul, MN and when not out traveling the world he can be found tending his Japanese gardens or enjoying a strong cup of coffee while listening to loud music. Personal heroes include Jimi Hendrix, the Dalai Lama and whoever invented the espresso machine.

Visit Doug Beasley's website.

The Call for Entries

We want to know how you see the world. Show us photographs you love - portrait, landscape, macro, still life, journalistic, narrative, abstract - anything goes in this open call for submissions. Any and all capture methods, processes and subject matter are welcome. 

We are very pleased to welcome Doug Beasley as juror for Open Call 2018. He’ll select up to 35 images for exhibition in our Middlebury, Vermont gallery, and up to 40 more for our permanent online gallery. The recipients of the Juror’s Award and Director’s Award will each be entitled to a portfolio review with Doug.