Personal Narrative

Juror: Ralph Hassenpflug
Gallery exhibition: September 12 - October 5, 2019
Exhibition prints due: August 29, 2019
Opening reception: Saturday, September 14 , 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Workshop with Ralph Hassenpflug: Saturday and Sunday, September 14-15, 2019

Juror's Statement

Personal narrative is a tough subject, since it requires a deep understanding of how our personal existence is connected to the eternal and ongoing narratives of mankind. To show that in a single image is not an easy task, and I am very pleased to see so many good submissions to this call.

Let me start out with a word of caution: My decisions about what to include or exclude from this show are purely personal ones and, I am sure, a different juror would have made different decisions. What I do see in almost all submissions to this show is a genuine attempt at sense-making on the part of the artist. It takes time and patience to achieve that. It also takes the cautious and sparing use of props and editing and “cleverness”. But the joy of achieving a successful image and the joy of seeing it are worth the years of poking around in the dark.

For an image to appeal to me it has to make me want to spin a story around it. It has to incite curiosity and wonder and surprise. It has to incite questions more than give answers.

To touch the viewer and awaken in him a story that's already there, in his heart, we have to tread lightly and stay ambiguous as opposed to obvious in our intent. That is what connects us – the stories we all have in common because we are all human. It is also what can make an image successful.

Thank you for trusting me with your images. It is an honor and a pleasure and I have seen a lot of work that genuinely touched me and made me spin my own stories around them.

          —   Ralph Hassenpflug

Special congratulations to Juror’s Award recipient Jennifer Wannen and to Director’s Award recipient Nadide Goksun. Both are entitled to a portfolio review by Ralph Hassenpflug. Congratulations as well to Honorable Mentions Karen Bauer and Yves Harnois.|

Call for Entries

One of the greatest challenges for any artist is to depict deeply personal details about their lives, perspectives and experiences in the world. Whether an artist expresses these attributes via vast landscapes, captured moments or happenstance findings, the result conveys an authentic universality that connects every viewer on some level. At their best, these connections seem to arise from some collective unconscious that we all share, even across generational, gender and cultural divides.

For Personal Narrative, we seek images that suggest this collective unconscious. All capture methods and processes are welcome.
Images © Ralph Hassenpflug. Click to enlarge.  

We are very pleased that Ralph Hassenpflug will be jurying and curating this exhibition. He will select approximately 35 images for exhibition in the gallery, and 35 for our Online Gallery. The recipients of the Juror’s Award and the Director’s Award will each be entitled to an online  portfolio review by Mr. Hassenpflug

All 75 selected images will be reproduced in the exhibition print catalog and remain permanently on our website, with links to photographer’s URL. Gallery exhibition September 12 to October 5, 2019

Personal Narrative Workshop Sept 14-15

Ralph Hassenpflug will present a two-day Personal Narrative workshop on September 14-15, from 8:30 to about 6pm both days. It’s suitable for all photographers who have command of their equipment. You will need a laptop for editing and a thumb drive or two for transferring images. Cost is $195. 

We’ll begin with a shared review of your work (either a portfolio or “best of”), along with a conversation about what gives your work purpose and meaning. Throughout the workshop, we'll be focused on creating personal, genuine work. Each day there will be 2 or 3 assignments that you will go out and shoot and bring back to class to review and discuss.

As time allows, we’ll touch on all manner of subjects related to personal and professional development.

The workshop will be held at PhotoPlace Gallery, 3 Park Street, Middlebury, Vermont. Please email [email protected] with questions or to reserve your spot.

About the Juror

Ralph Hassenpflug is an internationally acclaimed photographer who has shown his work in New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Berlin, Budapest, Halifax and Moscow, among many other places. His beautiful, dreamlike images to tell the story of his personal journey inward to explore connections, symbols, and mysteries leading to the discovery of our innate capacity for the sacred.

He works out of his studio in Camden, Maine, where he lives with his co-conspirator and muse Kathryn Oliver and his dog Buddy. From his studio he offers archival prints of his work and individual online tutoring for fellow photographers. He also offers photography workshops in the US and Europe. https://www.ralphhassenpflug.com/

His work is represented by Italian Vogue and LensCulture.