Juror's Statement
There is this: the feeling when you step out onto the winter ice for the first time. And if it’s silent, you can hear the sound of the ice, near and far. Emboldening. Exhilarating. And, at the same time, terrifying. There were pictures in the Life of Water submissions that brought me back to my northeastern roots, the lake effect snow suddenly coming down and burying the neighborhood, ice as thin as glass, or thick enough to last for the entire season’s hockey games on the lake, frost like tendrils, like jewels, like a crown, like fur, ice encrusted branches and snow defying gravity on rooftops. It’s all there and I had to stop myself from making this show the winter wonderland show, because the life of water also involves the vast ocean, the sea beneath towering cliffs, the miraculous light on the tide pools and the way water can be opaque or translucent or both or reflect the clearing sunset storms that only the East has with its sudden rains and clouds straight out of a Thomas Cole painting.
The intensity of seeing in this group of photographs and by this group of photographers is astounding: the magic of a hummingbird drinking in mid-air, water droplets turned into magnifying glasses, deer emerging from the fog shrouded forest, anonymous women navigating the monsoon, an endless flock of birds crossing an endless flood plain, swimmers emerging, swimmers disappearing, the moment a reed or a blade of grass breaks the surface of a pond, waves crashing above and below us (where these cameras are, I’m unsure, but I’m mesmerized). It’s a magical set of images, both the gallery and the online selections. With a great many images to look at, it was extremely difficult to whittle the images down to just 75. I had to leave many pictures behind that spoke to me and called to me, but all of these water pictures, chosen or not, were wonderful to view and experience as I try to recall the last time I saw rain. Congratulations to all the artists and thank you to PhotoPlace Gallery for inviting me to jury The Life of Water exhibition.
— Ann Jastrab
Call for Entries
Water: A source of beauty and wonder. An environment for a staggering variety of life. A magnet for imagination, recreation, meditation, fear, wonder. Ever various in its sources and forms: Fog, mist, spray, ice, oceans and rivers, lakes and streams, rain, sleet, and snow.
For this exhibit we seek photographs that capture the way water catches light, cuts through the earth, falls from the sky, changes form, and sustains or threatens life.
We are very pleased that Ann Jastrab will be jurying and curating this exhibition. She will select approximately 35 images for exhibition in the gallery, and 40 for our Online Gallery. All 75 selected images will be reproduced in the exhibition print catalog and remain permanently on our website, with links to photographer’s URL.
Information about our printing service and free matting and framing here.
Banner image: Steve McBride
Home page thumbnail: Tawna Brown
Click image below to enlarge
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 by iconic artists Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock and Cole Weston. While respecting these West Coast traditions, CPA is also at the vanguard of the future of photographic imagery.
Before coming to CPA, Ann was the gallery manager at Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco where she incorporated contemporary artists with the legends photography. Ann also worked as the gallery director at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco for 10 years until their closure in 2017. Ann has curated many shows in the Bay Area while simultaneously jurying, curating, and organizing numerous exhibitions for other national and international venues outside of San Francisco. Besides being a curator, Ann Jastrab, MFA, is a fine art photographer, master darkroom printer, and educator as well.
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