#14th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers

[mcmessner]

14th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers I am very excited to be in Barcelona to participate in the group exhibition at FotoNostrum Gallery honoring recipients of the 14th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers as well as the 14th Pollux Awards.

[randomunknownartist]

CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF 1

The images from Conversations with Myself, are multi-layered visual dialogues that intimately explore Jo Ann Chaus’s relationships, between and within herself, others and the world.

Inspired by a collection of found and inherited garments and objects, varied locations and good light, she conjures up cinematic tableaus that draw on memory and cultural iconography using herself as the main subject and performs what appears to be a moment captured in time, living in both the present and the past simultaneously.

The collection, a selection from a larger body of work, represent the sense of a self she explores and the bridge she has been constructing between the past and the present, personally and collectively, as she searched to understand her current state of existence as influenced by her family, heritage, society, personal desires and motivations, challenges, hurdles and relationships she recognizes and value, as she accessed many deep, authentic, raw places buried within.

These images instigate if and to what degree the terrain has shifted, as we collectively consider each scenario from the perspective of ourselves, male and female, our mothers, and our daughters

JO ANN CHAUS

Jo Ann is a visual artist based in the New York metropolitan area who explores the complexity of her identity as a woman, wife, mother and independent individual. She drew from her personal history, cultural mores, and traditional constructs and influenced by her background in fashion, interest in psychology, and the nature of human relationships. She is an alumnus of ICP, has self-published a monograph, Sweetie & Hansom, based on her family of origin, and is completing Conversations with Myself, which explores her identity and her relationship with herself.

In 2016 Jo Ann self-published “Sweetie & Hansom”, a 60 image book with the original text, about her parents, siblings and husband. She continues to create images for “Conversations with Myself”, her work of self-portraiture that uses light, location, and a curated collection of props and garments to build a bridge between the present and the past in this 75+ body of work referencing women, family and identity.

Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and she holds special recognitions and awards:  Critical Mass 200, 2019, PDN Emerging Photographer FALL 2019 Winner, Winner 13th Pollux Awards non-professional category, Klompching 2019 Fresh! Finalist, Candela Unbound8! Juried exhibition, 14th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards Honorable Mention, Juror’s Choice South East Center for Photography Portrait Exhibition 2019, Permanent collection at the Center for Creative Photography, Tuscon, AZ, Qualities of Light Exhibition.

www.joannchaus.com

https://www.instagram.com/joannchaus

[gemmasianpowellphotography]

Pre Production - Inspiration

15.02.2021

Raina Stinson

Raina Stinson is an international award winning commercial and fine art photographer.  She is an American, currently based in the south of France.  She is known for creating evocative images that speak to, and often parody, the cultural norms of gender, femininity, and family. Her personal authenticity, empathic connection with people, and intentional use of light and color produce highly stylized, powerful and thought provoking imagery.

Raina has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, and has exhibited around the world. Raina was a recipient of the  6th Julia Margaret Cameron International Award for Women Photographers and was awarded first place for the single image category in the international LensCulture Exposure Awards 2014 . Her work has been exhibited at the 2014 3rd International Biennial in Malaga, Spain, the 2015 Photo London, London, UK,  the prestigious 2016 Foto Biennial in Berlin, Germany, and the 2020 14th Julia Margaret Cameron and Pollux Exhibition, in Barcelona, Spain.

Both images compliment the subject matter and the use of light painting. I like the viewpoint of each image and contrasting backdrops. 

https://www.rainastinsonphotography.com/

David Travis

A landscape and travel photographer based in Staffordshire. He holds the LRPS distinction from the Royal Photographic Society and his images have featured in Amateur Photographer, My Modern Met, PetaPixel, Bored Panda and 121clicks. Some of David's landscape images were exhibited at the Nicholson Art Gallery in 2019. Quote - I like the satisfaction of getting it right in camera but I also enjoy working on images in Photoshop, especially creating composites. 

http://davidtravisphotography.com/about/index.html

I really like this set up and where the light falls on the glasses and wine bottle. The backdrop adds a subtle texture to the image creating atmosphere. 

Harold Ross

Harold Ross is an American fine art photographer, best known for his fine art photography work using light painting photography techniques. 

I particularly like this image as it shows the beauty in the flowers. Although they are wilting and withered, the way the light catches the petals illuminates and almost brings them back to life. The fact the stems stand tall shows strength. 

Similar with this image above. It is dark and mysterious yet elegant. The leaves are not life like any more yet seem like pieces of armour - relentless, determined and bold. The view point of the image I like too. 

Peter Zentjens

Peter has always been keen on expressing himself visually, capturing the beauty of the things seen in the mind's eye or in real life. Through the years he has specialized in still life photography and watercolour paintings.

When it comes to still life photography Peter specialises in work with a vintage, nostalgic look and feel often with a twist. For these photographs to really work, he developed not just his own style, but also his own technique of painting with light. This technique, which he says he honed into perfection over the years, allows him to create the exact right mood and feel that he want to convey. 

I like the nostalgic feel to this one, an old teddy with history and meaning agains books. The way the light drops at the angle is subtle and adds to the mood and tone of the image. 

I also admire this image above. Old, vintage, and like the positioning of the flower buds and petals the viewpoint is important within the image too getting close to scale. 

https://www.zgallery-art.com/

Alessandro Puccinelli

An Italian photographer born in 1969, who started his career as an assistant in advertising photography when he moved to Australia in 1993. He returned to Italy few years later and focused on commercial photography and personal work. In commercial, Alessandro specializes in industrial photography, like photo reporter, capturing the productive processes of a business, from metalworking and on all the way to food and drinks.

From the moment when he was 16 and discovered the joy of surfing a strong link with the sea was born and that still today profoundly influences his life choices, both professionally and personally. The presence of the sea in his daily life represents something extremely important to him onto which he project fear, dreams, hope and receiving in return inner strength and mental clarity.

The greatest inspiration for Alessandro, reflected in his personal works, are paintings of James William Turner, Romanticism artist, known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings.

Alessandro recognizes the sea as his homeland. It's force and vastness makes him feel vulnerable but indicates a pathway to him, an example to follow and the point of arrival.

Still life is another area of photography that fascinates Alessandro and has opened the photographic door for him. He began to study objects with an ever deeper eye, to search for an inner sense that could bridge both the surface simplicity and the initial perception. He divides his time between Tuscany, Lisbon and the southern coast of Portugal, where spend time alone in his motorhome hideaway in search of intimacy with the ocean.

I love how abstract this image is. We know what it is and the brand logo is so distinctive. It is the every day object we would see out on our daily walk or commute. It is visually strong. 

Dead Flowers. The light in this image is harsher on one side but softer on the right side. The colour and tonality of the image is quite dark and sombre. 

https://www.alessandropuccinelli.com/

[mcmessner]

14th Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers