PhotoEx Juried Photography Exhibit 2021

Theme: “Balance”

50 local and national photographers submitted 181 images with 75 final works chosen.

This year’s PhotoEx juror was Owen Biddle, who is an educator of photography with almost 40 years of experience teaching in this medium. Visit his local photography school at: biddlephotoschool.com

Watch the October 9th, 2021 Virtual Gallery Opening here.

Scroll down for Official Selections, the Michael J. Berman Award, and a gallery of all finalists.

Purchasing information is below the gallery.

First Place

**Scot J. Wittman** – *Jump Rock – $485*
I chose this picture because for me it told the strangest story. Everything in it is most imaginative and unexpected. Like a genie emerging from an uncorked bottle, the dancing, twisting man in the last light of the day, suggests the enigmatic nature of light and time. Then there is the scene itself, a barren desert, stretching for miles, with a pile of rocks adjacent to the man. Even these foreground rocks seem half animate, suggesting a lion or a snarling dog. The picture seems to belong to the world of Don Juan, trickster and shape-changer.

Second Place

**Ellen Rosenberg** – *Music all around us –* *$500*
I don’t know why this photograph is made up of two pictures – the dancing, beautiful tree and the saxophone player – but I am intrigued. The theme is balance. The two pictures enhance each other. If the saxophone player or the tree was the cover of a book I would pick it up and turn the pages. I chose this one because of the maker’s imagination and both pictures are good.

Third Place

**Andrea Tan** – *Cormorant Fisherman – $100*
The picture of the fisherman is a study of the past. Flanked by trained cormorants, the man’s yellow net balances perfectly with the shape of his hat. His gesture of holding it makes it seem like an hourglass with the sand escaping the three birds perched, resting as if on springs. I think that the decisive moment is not too much to say, or as Jay Maisel’s books says, color, light and gesture.

Honorable Mention

**Charles Miller** – *Use your soul for something – $75*
The dancer seems to find an unlikely place, perhaps a dream. The heavy, locked door shows damage, and perhaps the ground is wet and dark. Whether iPhone picture or alternative process, it suggests the rough music of time. I like the light leaks which shine above her like a star.

The Michael J Berman Award

The Michael J Berman Award honors the passing of our long-time Treasurer and PhotoEx Committee Chair. The committee has chosen one of the finalists that best represents the image excellence that Mike found so compelling in his own photographic career.