The Photographic Resource Center (PRC) at Boston University, which iscelebrating its 30th anniversary, has announced a call for entries for the 12th installment of its annual — and acclaimed — juried exhibition. “The competition has always been about emerging photographers,” says PRC curator Leslie Brown, “but this year especially, we wanted to hit new, new, new.”
BOB O’CONNOR: Near Laugarás, Iceland, 2005, ink jet print (original in color), from the PRC’s 2006 Juried Exhibition. |
And the juror selection for the gallery/resource center, located on the BU stretch of Comm Ave, reflects that desire. Jen Bekman, recently named one of American Photo magazine’s innovators of the year for her eponymous New York City gallery, will judge the competition. “My gallery and my reputation has been that I’m interested in many types of photography,” says Bekman over the phone from New York. “Even though I own a gallery in New York that’s been written about in the New Yorker, I look at all different types of work. I’m a champion of digital photography and of self-taught photographers.”
Bekman will select 10 to 15 people’s work for exhibition, from a pool of an estimated 300 entries. Where most juried shows select a single piece from an artist, the PRC exhibits three to five pieces per person. “One of the things we feel most strongly about,” says Brown, “is that our exhibition is not just one image per person. We want to show selections from series.”
That proves consistent with the way Bekman, who runs her own quarterly photo competition called “Hey, Hot Shot!,” examines work. “I want to see some consistency,” she says, regarding the way she approaches the selection process. “I want to see a theme. I want to see that a person is pursuing an idea, that it’s a project with focus.” It’s crucial, she explains, that she be able to tell each photograph in a batch of submissions was taken by the same person. “My whole approach is having a certain amount of confidence in my point of view, and I tend to appreciate that in other people as well.”
Brown cautions against submitting a “best-of” selection of works. “We want to see you working on an idea,” she says.
Submissions — which should include the entry form (available fordownload at the PRC’s Web site, bu.edu/prc/membersexhibition.htm), 10 slides or jpegs (word to the wise: Bekman prefers looking at jpegs), an image checklist, a résumé, a $25 entry fee, and a statement — must be postmarked on or before February 10. Applicants must also be members of the PRC or join at the time of entry (discounted $30 memberships areavailable).
“Exposure: The Annual PRC Juried Exhibition” will run May 25 through July 1 | prcboston.org | 617.975.0600.
