The portraits exhibition, juried by Aline Smithson, was in the online gallery from February 13 to March 26, 2026. The juror selected fifty one images from forty nine artist for the exhibition. Francis Crisafio’s Freedom 3 received the Juror’s Award. Daniel Haeker’s image Iryna received the Director’s Award. Gilbert Yu’s image Sophie – Harajuku fashion in Downtown Los Angeles received the Visitors’ Award.
Juror’s Statement
As a portrait photographer, I sometimes feel like a cross between a stalker and a hoarder—at least when it comes to my practice. I lie in wait to capture something essential in my subject, then carry it back to my lair to examine. Those revealed moments are stored away, pulled out and pored over for years to come. Though a photograph may take only seconds to make, I often spend hours, days, even years feeling connected to the person on the other side of the lens. Most of the time, my subjects have no idea how deeply they’ve imprinted themselves on my psyche.
It was a complete pleasure to spend time with faces from all over the world. The privilege of looking closely at so many well-crafted photographs is not an insignificant one. Each image reflects a photographer’s unique point of view and approach to seeing. The photographs selected for this exhibition are those I returned to again and again during the jurying process. Each portrait held a distinct essence—an immediacy, a sense of humor or pathos—and, ultimately, they felt like an arrow to the heart.
As a juror, I look for intention and a high level of excellence, but also for an indescribable quality I think of as presence. A photograph with presence has a unique power: it places the viewer in direct visual and visceral contact with a person who is physically or temporally distant. Photographs ripen over time. As the distance between the moment of exposure and the present grows, the image gains value—not only as a document, but as an aesthetic and emotional object.
Juroring an exhibition is never an easy task, especially when storytelling, intention, and the essence of a human being must be conveyed in a single frame. There were many wall-worthy submissions that came heartbreakingly close, only to be set aside due to the constraints of space. In the end, my role was not only to select individual images, but to shape a cohesive exhibition—one that feels fresh, resonant, and unified by a strong point of view.
Thank you to the artists and to the A Smith Gallery for this opportunity to consider so many great photographs.
Aline Smithson
February, 2026
Directors’ Statement
What makes a portrait unique, stand out? It’s a matter of instants. After one has mastered lighting and settings and positioning, it is the instant clicking the shutter and catching a narrowing of the eyes, an upturned lip, a subtle ironic smile, an unforced frown or tilt of the head, etc., all suggesting something of a particular moment in the life of the subject.
The five in the exhibition that we think best exemplify this are: Francis Crisafio’s image, Freedom 3, that received Aileen’s Juror’s Award, Daniel Haeker’s image, Iryna, that received our Directors’ Award, Rebecca Rothey’s image, Alan Grieving, William Nieberding’s image, Monkey, and Steven Taddei’s image, The Gift. However, this is just part of the story.
There are the others that very creatively create portraits that emerge from the land of story, like: Merete Lien with her image, Double exposed, Stefan Guggenbichler’s image, Jack N, Carolina Baldomá’s image, Untitled: from the series “That Afternoon Was as Blue as an Opaline Glass”, and Dale Niles’ image, Converging Seagulls.
Thank you to Aileen for selecting a wonderful and compelling exhibition. And a big thank you to all who entered.
Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully
July, 2026