Skip to Navigation Skip to Content

The Golden Hours: At Dawn and Dusk

Juror: Eddie Soloway
Exhibition: June 2 - June 25, 2015

Prints of most of these images are available for purchase. Please inquire.
All photographs are the copyright of the individual artists and may not be reproduced without their permission.

Juror's Statement

When sunlight dissolves the black of night, or hours later, when its light gets enveloped by shadows, our hearts open. This magnificent changing of the guard between daytime and nighttime stirs us, compelling us to adventure as well as contemplation. These images are an exciting mix of what people feel and experience during these fleeting hours.

I truly understand the emotional risk of submitting your heartfelt work to the scrutiny of someone else. If a juror selects your piece, he or she is an awesome judge. If your work is not selected, “What do they know?” But if we decide to bring our work into the world, and as we take the step to push our vision in new directions, two good things can happen regardless of whether we win or not. First, we get to show our vision to others, to both friends as we agonize over the selection, and to the viewer if our work is selected. And second, if we are open, we can learn how to get better. There will always be people who just don’t get what we are doing, but there are often times when our vision is rough or our craft not perfected. Putting work next to others is a way to better understand where we are on the creative journey.

I did my best to approach the submitted images with open eyes and an open mind. I love all kinds of photography, way outside the realm of what I personally create. I was looking for images that made me go “WOW,” and especially, a quiet “wow.” I responded to images that resonated about a place or conveyed a feeling. I appreciated images where the craft of photography was supportive and integrated, not overwhelming. Everyone in this show made the first important step in creating the image I saw represented as a digital file. Now the crucial finish occurs where they must rise up to make a beautiful print, the time-honored second half to photography.

- Eddie Soloway

About the Juror

Eddie Soloway explains that he is so completely content surrounded by the natural world that he would be willing to set aside his camera for the opportunity to just be. His commitment to nature is evident in his image-making; his camera is simply the tool he uses to record his devotion. Soloway claims other tools as well: extensive printmaking skills (learned from an apprenticeship in a San Francisco photo lab), pen and pencil to write (he admits that his writing often takes precedence even over making photos!), and teaching (which provides the perfect outlet for inspiring others to use "a natural eye," as he has done with such dedication).

Follow Eddie across landscapes, borders, and seas for one of his renowned seminars or workshops, from Maine Media to Vancouver Photo Workshops. Be inspired by "Eddie Soloway, A Natural Eye" on DVD, the newly released online video series, or "One Thousand Moons," published by Nahmakanta Press, Santa Fe.

Eddie refers to the golden hours as being on "the edge of light." This is the edge that celebrates the transitions of night to day and of day to night, "reveal[ing] the magic of light and color that fleets past us, often unseen." His appreciation for the effects of the golden hours, coupled with a commitment to natural light, makes him the perfect choice for juror of this exhibition.

Call for Entries

The golden hours—the period shortly after dawn and just before dusk, when ambient light is warmer, softer, diffuse. Inside or out, these windows of opportunity can be pure magic through the lens.

Never miss a Call for Entry

ALERTS SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR INBOX