Juror's Statement:

A door, a mirror, a window, a reflection, a chamber… it’s hard to define a portal. A passage, a hiding place, a place of transport, of transition, of time, of loss, of being lost. Of being found. Of being unfindable. Of disappearing.

I’m moving through these pictures like I’m on a journey, pouring into the subway, squeezing through towers of books, walking through grand gateways (even the grandest, the St. Louis Arch, like I’ve never seen it, with a thousand lights), ducking under doorways, burying myself in the long grass, trying to see my reflection in dirty glass, not recognizing myself in a mirror, seeing a wedding dress like the one I almost wore, rubbing graphite with bare hands to reveal what… a word, a message, a rubbing, figures from the past. Or the future. I’m not sure.

It’s never easy, whittling down hundreds, thousands, of images to just a handful, but the photographs that I selected for this exhibition made me think of being on a voyage, of traveling, of discovery, of mystery. They leave me with more questions than answers. They offer me light and dreams and pique my curiosity. They instill in me a sense of wonder, and I often wish I’d been there, seen the scene, witnessed the miracle, wiped my hand across the surfaces, breathed the air, paused just long enough to see what is often missed.

Congratulations to all the artists. Thank you for taking me with you on this adventure and sharing your vision with me.

         -Ann Jastrab

The director’s award goes to Edward Osborn for their image Infinity

This image transforms architectural space into something both ambiguous and contemplative. Through light, shadow, and perspective, it suggests a portal without explicitly defining one, hovering between a window, a mirror, and a passage. It leaves me questioning what I am seeing, and that uncertainty becomes its quiet strength.

         -Zach Hoffman, PhotoPlace Gallery Director

Call for Entries:

A portal suggests passage. It invites us to look through, step beyond, or imagine what lies on the other side.

For Portals: New Perspectives, we invite photographs that explore openings, thresholds, and points of transition. Windows, doorways, mirrors, gates, archways, reflections, and frames within frames may serve as literal portals, while shifts in light, shadow, or perspective can transform familiar spaces into something unexpected.

We also welcome more interpretive approaches. A portal might represent change, movement, memory, or emotional transition. Whether urban or rural, interior or exterior, documentary or conceptual, show us how photography opens new ways of seeing.

We are honored to have Ann Jastrab as juror for Portals: New Perspectives. She will select up to 35 images for exhibition in our Middlebury, Vermont gallery and another 40 images for our Online Gallery. All 75 images will be reproduced in the exhibition catalog and remain permanently on our website, and are promoted on social media with links to photographers' URLs.

About the Juror:

Ann M. Jastrab is the Executive Director at the Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel, California. CPA strives to advance photography through education, exhibition and publication. These regional traditions—including mastery of craft, the concept of mentorship, and dedication to the photographic arts—evolved out of CPA's predecessor, the renowned Friends of Photography established in 1967. While respecting these West Coast traditions, CPA is also at the vanguard of the future of photographic imagery.

Before coming onboard at CPA, Ann worked as the gallery director at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco for 10 years until their closure in 2017. While being a champion of artists, she created a thriving artist-in-residence program at RayKo where multiple residents received Guggenheim Fellowships. Ann was also the gallery manager at Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco where she incorporated contemporary artists with the legends of photography.