The Photographic Performance was created to feature the works of artist with completed bodies of work and a strong narrative. Brian Van de Wetering’s exhibition The Acting Hand is the first of four performances to be exhibited during 2025. Brian’s exhibition is discussed in this GalleryTalk.

Artist Statement

Death and suffering are reported each night on the evening news. I’ve seen friends, family, and acquaintances taken from this world seemingly at random. I watch on social media as friends and acquaintances struggle with life-changing illnesses. How do we make sense of this? How do we persist in the face of the indifference and randomness of the universe?

As social creatures, we are born with a theory of mind, the ability to attribute intent, emotions, beliefs, and knowledge to ourselves and others. It is no wonder that we are drawn to create order out of this randomness by assigning it some external reason, intent, or plan: The Acting Hand. Whether we blame the devil, god, fate, the stars, kismet, or destiny, we gain comfort from imagining an actor and motivation behind our suffering. With order comes solace. With chaos comes madness.

“As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.”
— King Lear (4.1)

But what of calamity meted out by our own hand or the hands of others? Are we solely responsible? Is it an act of free will or a throw of the dice? In the eye of popular science, addiction becomes a disease, the sociopath is born that way, and the abused becomes the abuser. Who creates the despot, the murderer, the rapist, the junkie?

“…an admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star!”
— King Lear (1.2)

Although I understand intellectually that some events are truly random, I still feel a strong emotional draw to imagine some intent, The Acting Hand, even if only in metaphor. The hand is not just a metaphor but also the central question. In this series of staged vignettes, I’ve brought this invisible hand to life to prompt further reflection on causation, randomness, and free will.

The theme of play is also central to the work. As children and artists, we play God in our make-believe worlds, and we can be cruel and destructive in our play. I’ve depicted events from history, literature, the evening news, and my own personal experience using children’s toys to illustrate our complex relationships with the suffering and misfortune in our lives and the world around us. Heavy stuff to be sure, but there is a thread of dark humor woven into these images that I recognize as one of the ways that I cope with my own fear, worry, and anxiety.

Brian Van de Wetering, 2025

Bio

Brian Van de Wetering is a photographic artist living and working in San Diego. Brian’s interest in the arts began in his youth when he dabbled in acting, lighting design, set design, music, and the visual arts including painting, sculpture, and collage. During college he worked at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater. A degree in computer science and minor in English led to a career in software development while playing in a punk band provided an artistic outlet. But his interest in the visual arts remained unfulfilled.

In 2010, success in the Anza Borrego Foundation’s annual Desert Photo Contest inspired Brian to seriously pursue an artistic practice centered around photography. He continues to develop his unique artistic vision with projects and interests including self-portraiture, the constructed image, conceptual work, street photography, abstraction, surrealism, and humor. He incorporates a wide variety of cameras and techniques in his work including-medium format film, toy cameras, home-built cameras, Polaroids, lumen prints, light painting, found photographs, collage, and sculptural works.

Since 2010, Brian’s work has been featured in many juried exhibitions throughout the United States including at the Southeast Center for Photography, The Los Angeles Center of Photography, the PhotoPlace Gallery in Vermont, and the Praxis Gallery and Photographic Arts Center in Minneapolis among others. His work has been featured by Jonathan Blaustein on aphotoeditor.com and by Aline Smithson on Lenscratch.com. Brian is currently the Technical Director of Lenscratch.com and works as a freelance web developer. Brian continues to play in the Irish punk band he helped found more than 30 years ago.

Directors’ Statement

It was a pleasure to open Brian’s entry. The combination of the humorous with the macabre in the images immediately piqued our interest. At first glance the overall simplicity of the images was soon replaced with an appreciation for the quiet, direct, emotionally pregnant scenes of sophisticated photography catching the literal and metaphorical hand of creation and fate, arriving from Mount Olympus or the ether or the sleeve of a misbehaving Mr. Rogers.

Thank you Brian.

Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully
June, 2025

website: brianvandewetering-photo.com
instagram:  @bwetering

link to online exhibition

The elsewhere exhibition, juried by Kevin Tully, was in the online gallery from April 25 to June 5, 2025.  Kevin selected forty seven images from thirty seven artists for the exhibition. Glen Serbin’s image Dune Study received the Juror’s Award. Anne Walker’s image Threshold received the Director’s Award.

Juror’s Statement

I am very proud of these images. It was very gratifying and pleasing to see all the wonderful, varied styles and interpretations of the theme, Elsewhere. We are always surprised as to how photographers interpret our themes, bringing the suggestions to life. Suggestions, that’s what we hope our theme choices are – prompts tickling the right brain.

There is photography that artfully shows us life and the lithosphere, the one percent of the planet that we live on. Then there is photography that shows us the incorporeal, ethereal moments behind or clothing the material.

Glenn Serbin’s image Dune Study, my Juror’s Award selection, takes sand dunes and makes them sensual — maybe a human form, maybe a cephalopod.

Gail Haile has transformed her image Frozen Moonrise from a winter scene into a winter passage, possibly the snow-covered yellow brick road, illuminated by the lights of the approaching Emerald City.

Susan Isaacson’s image At Silver Lake #6 The Big Fish becomes a long-ago memory of a fisherman.

Honey J Walker ‘s image Messages has us possibly approaching by boat a nighttime city in the rain, a carnival on the shore.

Elsewhere can be where we want to be or where we are in our dreams and creations.

Thank you to all who entered for your thoughtful images.

Kevin Tully
November, 2025

Director’s Statement

So where does your mind go when it had rather be anywhere but where you are … elsewhere?  That was the question posed to artist who submitted images for consideration for this exhibition.

I was deeply moved by Anne Walker’s beautiful image, Threshold, which portrays a delicate, ghostly woman standing within the remains of a window, surrounded by lifeless vines. Anne’s image was chosen for the Director’s Award because it so thoughtfully captures the yearning and searching to find a place beyond the present, searching for her comforting elsewhere.

In Susan Wirt’s image, Gold Dust, a shimmering spirit seeks to escape the confines of the frame. Drawn by the soft glow of the window, the spirit searches for its elsewhere, far from the present.

And in Geoffrey Agrons’ All This Useless Beauty (Rome, Italy), a girl sits, adrift in silent yearning, her gaze wandering far from the chair that holds her, dreaming of distant places.

Thank you to all the artists represented in this exhibition, whose creativity and vision have brought Elsewhere to life. I am especially grateful to Kevin Tully, the esteemed juror, whose vision has helped create this exhibition. For us “elsewhere’ is more than a theme, it is a shared journey.

Amanda Smith
October, 2025

link to online exhibition

link to exhibition catalogue

The Awards Collective was created to feature the works of artist who have received either a Juror’s Award or Director’s Award in ASG’s Online exhibitions.  Bill Polkinhorn’s image il pensatore received the Director’s Award in the she exhibition juried by Polly Gaillard.  Bill’s exhibition Desert Stanzas is discussed in this GalleryTalk.

Artist Statement

I was born and raised in the heart of the desert. My photography is a deeply personal exploration of the landscape that has shaped me. The desert’s grandeur, its elegant sparseness, and its unyielding simplicity inspire my work. In its vast expanses, where heat and desolation reign, there is a profound stillness—a quiet that speaks to the timelessness and eternal nature of the universe.

Through my lens, I seek to capture this delicate balance: the interplay of light and shadow across the flats and hills, the weathered resilience of ancient rock formations, and the fleeting moments where life persists against all odds and, as well, life here in the desert. Each image is an invitation to pause, to feel the weight of the eternal, and to connect with the universe’s enduring presence. My photographs are not just representations of the desert—they are meditations on its ability to reveal both the ephemeral and the infinite. It is my intention to record and to preserve these places in my own imagination, but moreover the exploration of these harsh, yet stunningly beautiful landscapes offer a glimpse into possibly coming to some understanding of the human condition.

Bill Polkinhorn
May, 2025

Bio

I was born and raised in the center of the Mojave Desert which covers most of deep Southern California and  Arizona, where I own and manages Bill Polkinhorn, Inc. a customs brokerage company founded by my grandfather in 1917. I continue to live and work here.  I am married and have 4 grown daughters.   I left the desert for 13 years. 9 of which were spent in college where I earned degrees in zoology, chemistry, English Spanish and psychology.  I returned to the desert and  began working in the family business.   When I was able to return to my interests in photography in approximately 2014, digital photography was the up and coming thing.   I bought a digital camera and began teaching myself how to take pictures.  The desert was my subject and the internet was my instructor.  My first images,  taken during my teenage years were black and white.  I have come around now, once again, mostly to black and white work.  My immediate surroundings – the desert southwest has become my worthy subject – to which I have returned many times – each time – hopefully – with a higher level of consideration and thoughtful restraint.

website: billpolkinhornphotography.com
instagram:  @billpolkinhorn

link to online exhibition

The Awards Collective was created to feature the works of artist who have received a Juror’s Award or Director’s Award in ASG’s Online exhibitions.  Jennifer Wannen’s  image September Reds received the Juror’s Award in the town & country exhibition juried by Michael Kirchoff.  Jennifer’s exhibition Invocations was featured from May 1 to May 31, 2025 and is discussed in our GalleryTalk with Jennifer.

Artist Statement

Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky reflected, “Everything has a secret soul, which is silent more often than it speaks.” As an artist, I gravitate toward subjects that dance on the edge of two worlds—one of ordinary physical reality and one of nonordinary mystical presence. Whether framing a nature scene or setting up a narrative self-portrait, I’m attempting to capture a current of mystery I perceive in that moment. With alternative lenses and composite editing, I’m generally taking an image further from empirical presentation and more into an imaginative space, conjuring multiple layers and realities at play.

My photography practice grew out of spiritual retreat practice, and that retreat mindset has come full circle, infusing itself into my creative focus. My images invite the viewer into an intimate ‘time out of time’ world, ideally making space for their own experience of the sacred in their lives.

Most of the images in “Invocations” came out of a time of close, compounded losses, when grief became a phantom margin to the everyday story. These years opened the aperture to that “secret soul”—both the enchantment and shadows found therein. “Invocations” bears witness to that liminal vision.

Jennifer Wannen
April, 2025

Bio

Jennifer Wannen is a photographer, writer, and interfaith spiritual director in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In her image making, she explores themes of imagination, animism, and mysticism.

Her work has appeared in the PhotoPlace Exhibition Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont, the Southeast Center For Photography in Greenville, South Carolina, A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas, and the Chateau de LaLande in Crozon-sur-Vauvre in France for the Photos de Femmes 2020 seeingWOMEN exhibitions.

website: SoulChapters.com
instagram: @jennifer.wannen

link to online exhibition

The unique: alternative processes exhibition, juried by DorRae Stevens, Kevin Tully and Amanda Smith, was in the online gallery from April 1 to May 31, 2025.  It was also exhibited at Creek Road Homestead Studio from May 3 to May 31, 2025.  The jurors selected thirty six images from thirty one artists for the exhibition. Pat Brown’s hand-sewn exposed binding book Man With Nature and God received the Juror’s Award. Chris Losee’s cyanotype on glass plate image Reflection received the Director’s Award.

link to online exhibition

link to exhibition installation images

The Awards Collective was created to feature the works of artist who have received a Juror’s Award or Director’s Award in ASG’s Online exhibitions.  Bob Tully’s  image The Bu received the Juror’s Award in the light exhibition juried by Laurie Klein.  Bob’s exhibition Low Falls was featured from April 1 to April 30, 2025 and is discussed in our GalleryTalk with Bob.

Artist Statement

In the golden light of the late 1960s and early 70s, nestled deep in the woods near Woodstock, there existed a sanctuary—a place where water met rock, where bodies met earth, and where souls met freedom. This hidden swimming hole Low Falls, fed by a cascading waterfall, was more than just a place to cool off; it was a sacred space where the counterculture spirit flourished, where clothing was optional but authenticity was not.

My work seeks to capture the essence of that era—an untamed, unfiltered celebration of nature, community, and self-expression. Through my lens, I document the fluid connection between human and landscape, the way sun-kissed skin blends with dappled light on water, and the way laughter echoes through the trees like an ancient hymn to the wild. These photographs are not just images; they are echoes of an ethos, a time when we shed societal constraints as easily as we shed our clothes, immersing ourselves in something purer, something real.

To stand at the edge of that waterfall, to witness bodies suspended in motion, caught between earth and sky, is to understand the fleeting, beautiful impermanence of life. My work is an invitation—to remember, to dream, to step back into a time when we belonged to the land, and it belonged to us.

Bob Tully
April, 2025

Bio

I was born in the South Bronx and experienced my early life in the many diverse neighborhoods of New York City. My introduction to the imaginal world of photography materialized in a unique place and time. I witnessed my first photo print slowly appearing in the swirling liquid filled developing pan on a combat base during the Vietnam War. I was so thrilled I immediately knew what I wanted to pursue when I returned back home. I attended the New York Institute of Photography where the majority of the instructors were working professionals. I relocated to California and entered the City College of San Francisco which had an excellent two year photography program. I managed a community rental photo lab underneath North Beach Camera which catered to the local photographers of North Beach. Shortly after I was very fortunate to have a photography studio downtown San Francisco. I then became interested in video and attended the College of Marin to study television production. Again I relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the Entertainment Industry. I was extremely fortunate to be member of five Emmy Award wining camera crews. Before retiring I return to school and attended Santa Monica College to refresh and learn the contemporary techniques of digital world of photography.

website: tullyphoto.com
instagram: @tullyphoto

link to online exhibition

The botanical exhibition, juried by Lee Anne White, was in the online gallery from March 14 to April 24, 2025.  Lee Anne selected forty seven images from forty two artists for the exhibition. Kathleen Furey’s image The Introduction received the Juror’s Award. Honey J Walker’s image Dance of the Water Lilies received the Director’s Award.

Juror’s Statement

Plants are such fascinating subjects. Not only are they beautiful, they may also be fragrant, edible, medicinal or otherwise useful. They create habitats for other plants and creatures, and we build our own homes from trees, as well. They are constantly changing through the days, seasons and years—providing an ever changing view, all while helping us to more openly embrace the natural cycles of life. Whether growing in the wild, a designed landscape or pocket garden, plants help create a strong sense of place. And plants help us to connect both to the natural world and to each other.

The photographers in this show have exhibited a strong sense of curiosity about the botanical world, conveyed a passion for plants and demonstrated unbounded creativity. Haunting is a word that frequently came to mind as I looked over the selections. Some, such as Kathleen Furey’s The Introduction (Juror’s Award), which not only conveys the exquisite nature of dahlia flowers, but imbues them with emotion through gesture and lighting, were hauntingly beautiful. Others were haunting in a more mysterious way and left me wanting to know and see more.

It was an honor and pleasure to serve as the juror of Botanical—to spend extended time immersed in photographs of my favorite subject. That said, making selections was not an easy task. The depth of quality submissions was impressive. I was not able include all of those deserving of inclusion. The photographs in this exhibition not only met all of the standard criteria, they excelled in some unique way. Some were bold and eye-catching; others more subtle, with an emotional tug. Some expressed the complex and often chaotic nature of the landscape; others focused on simplicity and conveying the personality of a single plant. Some were as true to life as a photograph can be; others pushed the boundaries of reality in creative ways. Some were almost scientific in nature; while others were more metaphorical. Digital, film and alternative photographic processes are all represented here.

Anyone can make a photograph of a beautiful plant. To make a beautiful and meaningful photograph of a plant is a different task altogether—requiring keen observation, an artistic eye, a good dose of creativity and a passion for plants. Congratulations to all selected for this exhibition.

Lee Anne White
March, 2025

Directors’ Statement

Why did someone take the first photograph of a flower when they had the flower, the real thing? And, in the 1830’s it was not possible to reproduce a flower in all of its colorful splendor? Henry Fox Talbot is credited with taking one of the first photographs of a flower. He made what he called a “photogenic drawing.” Today we would call it a photogram. The result being the shadow of a flower.

Why did someone take the first photograph of a flower when they had the flower, the real thing? Why do we photograph our loved ones, the Grand Canyon, a magnificent, ancient sequoia when we have them right in front of us, the real thing?

We want to illustrate our memories, to capture a moment, a face, a flower, preserving them so that we can revisit them again and again, unlike us, unchanged.

Gardens and loves can be brief, fleeting things, but they cannot vanish, escape an admirer with a camera. People that photograph flowers, trees, the world of botanicals are paramours, infatuated chroniclers of the natural world. Their sentiments evident in the work, wonderfully evident in this beautiful group of 27 images.

We want to thank Lee Anne White for selecting a beautiful exhibition and thank you to all who entered.

Kevin Tully and Amanda Smith
October, 2025

link to online exhibition

link to exhibition catalogue

The Awards Collective was created to feature the works of artist who have received either a Juror’s Award or Director’s Award in ASG’s Online exhibitions.  Eduardo Fujii’s image The Weight of My Sins received the Director’s Award in the “story” exhibition juried by Kevin Tully.  Eduardo’s exhibition The Uncertain Nature of Reality is discussed in this GalleryTalk.

Artist Statement

For my series The Uncertain Nature of Reality, I explore the logic-defying concepts of quantum mechanics with a loose artistic interpretation instead of scientific accuracy. I have always been interested in science and in particular quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that makes us question fundamental concepts of the world we live in. How sure are we that our perceived reality is actually there? Quantum mechanics, which attempts to model nature at the sub-atomic level, postulates that there is a cause-effect relationship between reality and conscious observation. Because of that, it drew criticism from various scientists, including Albert Einstein, who disliked the “spooky” nature of the theory. My creation process starts with a concept that I have to understand well before attempting to represent. That may require days of reading and research. The more I dig, the more intriguing the theory becomes. The implementation of concepts consists of digitally composing and collaging images of ballet dancers in rehearsal with a variety of textures and painted layers. Concepts include results of experiments that cannot be explained by classical physics lead scientists to theorize that time is not unidirectional. The future can influence actions in the past. Quantum tunneling, superposition, and entanglement are other fascinating concepts of quantum mechanics that defy logic and make us question if this is actually science fiction.

The relevance of this topic today is the fact that we are just a few years away from the next significant technological leap, the advent of quantum computers, which are believed to be able to solve problems too complex for today’s classical computers and to allow machines to outsmart the human brain in a few years. Tech giants such as Google and IBM and top universities have already developed quantum computer prototypes and expect to achieve “quantum supremacy”, a term coined by American theoretical physicist John Preskill to refer to the speedup advantage over classical computers, in the next five years.

In general, I like to capture whatever catches my eye at the moment, from landscapes and seascapes to people on the street and ballet dancers, from wildlife to architecture and still life. What my different bodies of work have in common, however, is my approach to art as an image maker. I prefer to build images instead of documenting what I see, most probably thanks to my background in painting. I approach the building process in layers, adding or subtracting elements and styles as needed. I create collages by superimposing different images and playing with blending modes. It is a fun experience to be surprised by unexpected results, the same way darkroom artists get when making mistakes with varying combinations of photo chemicals. I am keen on using textures extensively to obtain a romantic, painterly effect. My images rarely come straight from the camera. I need to leave part of myself on each image I make by manipulating them and embuing them with my most inner feelings. I always search for beauty in nature, people, and the ordinary things that often go unnoticed or overlooked due to our busy lives.

When I look at a photograph, what stands out to me is its power to stir up emotions. That’s the most important thing. That emotional connection draws people in, whether it’s happiness, calm, warmth, or even fear. It’s the reason they might want to own a print or share it with others. I also appreciate the idea of aesthetics and how I can find and showcase beauty in unexpected places. That makes a photo go from a captured moment to a work of art. Of course, technical things like lighting, composition, and color matter too, but they’re just tools to help create that emotional connection. For me, this blend of emotion and aesthetics shows my photography as an art form, not just a technical skill.

Eduardo Fujii
March, 2025

Bio

Eduardo Fujii is a self-taught fine art photographer based in Monterey, California. At an early age he demonstrated great interest in the arts but it wasn’t until late 2006, however, that he turned to photography as a form of artistic expression. His photography offers hints of the influence of music and painting on his artistic style.

Drawing on his background in painting and classical music, Eduardo creates artworks full of romanticism and symbolism. He approaches a variety of subjects, all having one characteristic in common. They are usually examples of what too often goes unnoticed. By applying a poetic style, he creates intense self-expressive images luring viewers to slow down and take the time to appreciate often-missed beauty in their busy lives. With an almost self-portraiture approach, Eduardo unveils the mysteries of nature. By means of conceptual collages and cinematic effects, he challenges long-held assumptions of what photography means to us. Rather than presenting stark reality, he prefers to fabricate an illusion to let viewers explore their imagination limits.

Eduardo’s work never comes directly from the camera in a recognizable form. It appears as lyric compositions in which dream and reality meet, past and present have no meaning, and the stories he tells are left unfinished. Imagination and self-inspection always play a key role. He creates work through personal therapeutic processes that imprint inner unresolved feelings into abstract representations of reality.

His artworks have colored the cover of Shadow & Light Magazine and the walls of galleries in Carmel, Monterey and Pacific Grove in California, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Johnson City, Texas. He also received various awards from B&W Magazine, Color Magazine, PX3 Prix de la Photographie, Professional Photographer Magazine, Monochrome Awards, and the International Color Awards. In 2017, Eduardo was awarded Photographer of the Year at the 12th Annual Black and White Spider Awards. In the fall of 2023 Eduardo participated in the ”Sacred Encounters” exhibition at the Monterey Museum of Art. A complete list of exhibitions and awards can be found on his website in  About Me.

website: eduardofujii.photograhy
facebook:  eduardofujii.photography

link to online exhibition

The Awards Collective was created to feature the works of artist who have received a Juror’s Award or Director’s Award in ASG’s Online exhibitions.  Stephanie Duprie Routh’s  image Phoenix #33: Gaga Floating in the Metaverse received the Juror’s Award in the open | unmoored exhibition juried by Debra Klomp Ching.  Stephanie’s exhibition Phoenix Rising was featured from March 1 to March 31, 2025 and is discussed in our GalleryTalk with Stephanie.

Artist Statement

Phoenix Rising metaphorically illustrates the many transformations a woman may go through in her lifetime as she adapts to roles both expected of and desired by her. At a young age, I intuitively learned to re-invent myself. Expectations of others and my own beliefs shaped the person I am today. As I travel through different phases of my life, I morph into what is needed. I can be a provider, artist, lover, caretaker, —almost sub-consciously.

For the project Phoenix Rising, I create an image and then intervene with the physicality of the print. I re-photograph the new incarnation. This new re-seeing magnifies the underlying principle found in all my creative endeavors: Same, but different. The images are made all over the world. The initial image, representing the past carried forward, travels elsewhere to represent our journey in life. The print is modified as a testament to women’s adaptability. The rephotographed image is not a replicate but a new work with a different narrative. It may represent a memory, a current state of being, or a wish for the future. The altered second image, representing the expanded self, is left where photographed. Maybe it is found and kept or perhaps discarded. This is a metaphorical bridge illustrating real-life experiences. The undetermined endpoint of the images relates to the many unknown versions I may become of myself. The destination is irrelevant; rather the occurring transformation is the primary focus. This multi-faceted project showcases the re-shaping of women’s personalities as a journey.

Regardless of my path or the role I embody, the bedrock of my personality remains constant: I am the same but an altered version of myself. I carry my past into the present and continually expand who I am. Using other women as stand-ins for myself, the images are phoenixes just like all women are the epitome of the mother of re-invention. We rise, burn to ash, reinvent, rise again, and repeat.

Stephanie Duprie Routh
March, 2025

Bio

Stephanie Duprie Routh, based in Austin, Texas, is an artist who uses photography for narrative storytelling and conceptual art. Her personal work explores ideas of womanhood, the essence of place, and the transitory states of simply being human. As an artist, she uses the visual language of photography to tell stories through layers and interventions, creating new ways of seeing and considering self.

Routh’s award-winning work has been exhibited in the United States, Japan, Italy, Spain, and India, both in galleries and juried shows. She has been published by the RAW Magazine, FRAMES Magazine, PDN Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, Dodho Magazine, The Austin Chronicle, and by several independent photo reviews. She sits on discussion panels and has had interviews by art curators. Her monograph Where the Ocean Drinks the Sky has sold out two editions and is found in hotel rooms. Routh’s second book Daydream in Memories of Youth debuted in 2024 is also installed in hotels.

Her work is held in the permanent collections of The Wittliff Collections, CENTER Image Library and Archive, Texas A&M University, Concordia University, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, The Loren at Lady Bird Lake, and with private collectors. Routh’s work has been recognized by many organizations including awards via Paris Photo Prize, Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, IPA Awards and LensCulture. In 2024, she was nominated to apply for a Leica Oskar Barnack Award.

She travels worldwide for assignments, commissions, and personal projects.

website: stephanieduprierouth.com
instagram: @stephanieduprierouth

link to online exhibiton

The “art + science” exhibition, juried by Linda Alterwitz, was in the online gallery from February 1 to March 31, 2025.  Linda selected thirty nine images from sixteen artists for the exhibition. Eric Zeigler and Aaron Ellison’s image “Polypores, Allerton Park and Retreat Center, Monticello, Illinos – Infrared Light, 2024” received the Juror’s Award. Tim Christensen’s image “Rosalia lameerei” received the Director’s Award.

Juror’s Statement

I would like to thank all of you who submitted to A Smith’s Art + Science Call for Entry. Recently, there have been more and more collaborations between artists and scientists—a natural outcome since both disciplines are interwoven through our everyday experiences. The chosen projects featured in this exhibition address this symbiosis with perspectives that range from personal to global, tranquility to tragedy, as well as from fascination and intrigue.

Trauma, healing and regrowth are central themes repeated throughout the selected images. Recent memories of medical trauma and the global pandemic are made visible in Paul Delpani’s Pandemic Series, offering a visually alluring translation of the DNA/RNA structure of pandemic viruses using microscopic photography.

Elizabeth Kayl’s image of a silhouetted, leafless tree standing alone in a dry field includes dust particles from the film. With the current and ongoing fire crises, the dust feels reminiscent of fire ash floating in the air. Along with an eerie and ambiguous layer of light, this photograph provokes an awareness to climate change and the current environmental challenges.

Laura Bennett creates cyanotypes over botanical prints in her series Garden Apparitions. Her imaginative photographs of women and botany present a playful and contemporary nod toward Anna Atkin’s botanical cyanotypes, especially as it relates to technological experimentation and artistic expression.

Eric Zeigler and Aaron Elison’s black and white infrared photograph presents the remains of a hollowed-out tree stump. The death of this tree is juxtaposed with new life. Not only will the process of its decomposition generate nutrients for the soil, but also fungi grow on its outer bark, offering hope for healing and regrowth.

When artistic and scientific investigations are successfully integrated, it inspires a clarity of vision. Together, these photographs present a unique perspective of the interconnectedness within our world that is bound together by art and science.

Linda Alterwitz
January, 2025

link to online exhibition

link to exhibition catalogue