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The Poetry of the Ordinary
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: Sarah Sudhoff
Prints due: February 20, 2020
Exhibition: March 5 – March 28, 2020
Juror's Statement
Thank you to all the artists who submitted work to The Poetry of the Ordinary. It was truly an honor and pleasure to review so many wonderful photographs. I thank you for your dedication to the medium, participation in our community, and for sharing the way in which you see and feel the world.
Thank you also to PhotoPlace Gallery for entrusting me to jury the The Poetry of the Ordinary exhibition. It was an extremely challenging endeavor to whittle down from a very large number images representing a full spectrum of ordinary moments, to the selected images included in the Gallery and Online exhibitions.
I approach any jurying assignment with serious consideration of content, composition and craft at the forefront of my mind. For this exhibition, my intention was to create a cohesive, thoughtful and engaging exhibition encapsulating the rhythms of our ordinary lives.
I first reviewed all the submissions without assigning value. The images that resonated with me most and stirred an emotion whether it was laughter, joy, peace, longing, or contemplation, I went back to first and selected. In the next phase, I chose images which lingered in my mind and I found myself excited to see again and again. In the final phase, I included the selection of images which were playful, unique or risky interpretations of the theme.
For the Juror’s Award, I selected an image that embodies for me a domestic, decisive moment: a young girl, balanced on the edge of the pink bathroom sink, reaching for the faucet. While this image captures a simple moment in the life of this child, her parents are witnessing their daughter’s growing independence. In addition, the artist submitted an entire portfolio of images which all had a strong sense of composition, attention to light and unique points of view. I only wish I could have included more of her work. For the Director’s Award, I chose a wonderful image of a flowing plastic green curtain and green balloons. The image immediately registered for me a sense of wonder and playfulness. The simple gesture of wind activated the photograph.
Congratulations to the three artists selected as Honorable Mentions. Their images all had a strong sense of intention, unique perspective, and a thoughtful use of color and light.
I hope this selection of images causes you to slow down and soak in what we all might unconsciously take for granted — the spill of light across a surface, our shared desire to connect with someone, the found or constructed still life, and the spaces in which we all want to move through and experience ever so slowly.
— Sarah Sudhoff
Call for Entries
“Joy comes to us in moments — ordinary moments. We risk missing out on joy when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary." —Brené Brown
As photographers, we have developed skill in seeing beneath the surface of our subjects, and often find in them the beauty, poignancy, and poetry that exist in ordinary moments. For this exhibition, we seek the simple poetic elegance of the ordinary. All captures and processes are welcome.
Click image to enlarge.
We are honored that Sarah Sudhoff will be the juror for The Poetry of the Ordinary. She will select 35 images for exhibition in our Middlebury, Vermont gallery and another 35 for our Online Gallery. All 70 images will be reproduced in the exhibition catalog. The recipients of the Juror’s Award and the Director’s Award will each be entitled to an online portfolio review by the juror.
Information about our printing service and free matting and framing here.
About the Juror
Sarah Sudhoff is a visual artist and educator, and the Executive Director of the Texas Photographic Society. She was previously the photo editor of Texas Monthly and Time magazines, Executive Director of Houston Center for Photography, and owner of Capsule Gallery in Houston. Sudhoff holds an M.F.A. in Photography from Parsons School of Design and a B.A. in Journalism and Photography from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught photography at Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches; Trinity University, San Antonio and the Art Institute of San Antonio.
Sudhoff’s work interweaves themes of gender, science, and personal
experience through photographs — staged and found — as well as through performance, installation, and small-scale sculpture. Artist grants from The Louis
Comfort Tiffany Foundation (2013) and the Houston Arts Alliance (2019 & 2017) have furthered her career. Her artwork has been included in exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad, including recent exhibitions and performances at Health Museum Houston, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver; Texas Vignette, Dallas; Satellite Art Show, Austin; Experimental Action, Houston; Cindy Lisica Gallery, Houston; Galveston Arts Center, Galveston; Pioneer Works, Brooklyn; Gray Duck Gallery, Austin; Filter Photo Festival and Roots & Culture, Chicago; and the DongGang International Photo Festival in South Korea. She has participated in artist residencies at Artpace, San Antonio, and the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, Bloomington, IN.
Sarah Sudhoff's website