James Estrin took the lead along with his Lens Blog colleagues David Gonzalez and Whitney Richardson, and Laura Roumanos of United Photo Industries and Photoville, screening and editing thousands of (free) entries down to the chosen photographers who were then assigned one-on-one portfolio reviews with some of the top photography editors, curators, gallerists and book publishers. Estrin noted, “We have looked through over 3500 entrants for the free NY portfolio review sponsored by the NY Times Lens blog and CUNY J School and whittled it down to those accepted. The amount of excellent work was overwhelming…I can firmly say there is wonderful and surprising photography being done all over the world by people of all age, race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. I apologize to those who didn’t get accepted this year. Thank you for sharing your work. It was an honor to look at it so closely. Please try again next year.” Both days were extremely successful with reviewers and photographers making beneficial connections.
On Day Two, of the eight reviews, most were recent student graduates and this was their first portfolio review. I was impressed by the level of work and want to share some of it with L’Oeil de la Photographie readers. Be sure to check out the Photo Portfolio above.
Amiko Wenjia Li was born in 1993 in Shanghai. His works have been exhibited internationally including Aperture Foundation; Filter Photo Festival; Pingyao Photography Festival and Royal Ulster Academy; and featured in numerous publications including American Photography 30; Esquire Russia; Juxtapose Magazine and Lens Magazine China. He is the winner of 2014 Center Project Launch Award Juror’s Choice, and the 133rd Royal Ulster Academy Portrait Prize.
Alejandra Carles-Tolra is a Spanish photographer from Barcelona, Spain, living in the US East Coast. The role surroundings play and the threshold between individual and group identity drive and inform her work as an artist, which has been published and exhibited internationally, including CNN, The Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, Flash Forward Festival and Valid Foto BCN Gallery in Barcelona. She has received several awards and mentions such as 21 New and Emerging Photographers by Lens Culture, Descubrimientos PhotoEspaña 2013 and was a winner of the Biennal D’Art Jove at the Fine Arts Academy of Sabadell in Barcelona.
Esdras Hidalgo, work focuses on exploring the development of visual language systems and the dialogue between individuals and larger societal groups. “COUSINS began when I moved into my uncle’s house in a suburban area of Queens. I began to photograph my cousins to document the periods of development that they were undergoing, as well as to explore how I could push the traditional visual identity of portraiture.”
J. Gray Swartzel, “As an artist and a feminist, I have conducted extensive photographic studies exploring familial history, gender construction, and sexuality with regard to identity fabrication through masquerade. My photographic process has revealed the fluctuating nature of self-representation in relation to perceived identity- the ways in which I present myself and my subjects to the public sphere are in flux and determine the way people respond to me and my work.”
Fernando Palafox, based in Staten Island, NY, is a 2014 graduate of The School of Visual Arts BFA Photography Program. His impressive series, El Otro Mundo: Mexico 2012-2015, explores his family’s past heritage in Mexico, photographing his parents hometowns.
Patricia Voulgaris, an artist from New York, graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2013 with a BFA in Photography. She was chosen as 2014 PDN’s “The Curator” grand prize winner. In “Fragments,” Voulgaris focuses on how memories become abstracted and distorted over time; often fragmental, turning aspects of individual people and places into simple shapes and patterns. Voulgaris reconstructs and deconstructs personal memories in this project, experimenting with negative space, color and abstracted forms.
Claire A. Warden constructed photograph is integral to her arts practice. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including: Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco, the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Soho Photo Gallery in New York, Agripas 12 Gallery in Jerusalem and Galería Valid Foto in Barcelona. She has received a residency through the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists in Léhon, France, Individual Artist Grant Award supported by the Creative Capacity Fund LensCulture’s Top 50 Emerging Talents Award, Photo Boite’s 30Under30 Award and Photobook Melbourne Photoaward finalist. Warden is currently the Artist-in-Residence at Art Intersection in Arizona.
Not shown, but check out their websites below: Liz Calvi “Lost Boys” series, Matthew Borowick and Stephanie Berger Photography.
By Elizabeth Avedon
LINKS:
http://esdrashidalgo.tumblr.com/tagged/people
http://www.fernandopalafox.com
http://www.patriciavoulgaris.com
