This past Friday evening I attended the opening reception for the 2018 Photo Review Photography Competition Exhibition at the University of the Arts in downtown Philadelphia.  It was a wonderful experience, short of one unfortunate misstep that was self-inflicted. After I left the event I entered the alternate universe one travels to when their car is towed away and impounded in unfamiliar surroundings after dark.  Strange places, a little disconcerting, some interesting helpful and not so helpful people and very expensive!  In short, I don’t recommend the experience.  I did make it home the same evening so I guess things could have been worse. This having been said the show was wonderful and I feel privileged to have been part of it.

If you happen to be in the area I encourage you to see what a nicely displayed show in a beautifully intimate gallery space looks like. The show was presented in the University’s Sol Mednick Gallery.  Just the right size to host the fifteen print show, with ample space between photographs.  And it was gratifying to see a show where the prints are hung at the proper viewing height!  There is nothing worse than having your work shoved close together with too many other prints in a pseudo salon presentation with poor lighting.  Here it was just the opposite.  Well lit, glass outer walls, clean white walls on the inside, very tall ceilings and a few places to sit in the middle. In other words … just about perfect!

I also got a chance to chat with Stephen Perloff, Editor of The Photo Review, and Anne Leighton Massoni the Director of the Photography Program and Associate Professor at the University of the Arts. All and all a splendid time!

So what about the photographs? If I remember correctly about eight or nine out of the fifteen were color and I think mine and one other were the only ones not digitally produced. As you might guess, my photograph was smaller than all but one.  The subjects and styles were diverse as one might expect from a show without a theme, but all were very fine images. Not all pictures I would have made, but that doesn’t matter to me. An key takeaway was that in a mostly digital and excessively photoshopped world, these prints were all tastefully executed … and I think that is important. While I can still usually spot a digital print from long range, it is gratifying to see a show where prints have been tastefully made despite the ease of going over the edge. This tendency can be seen all too often in shows and on the Internet.

So one can learn quite a bit by attending this exhibit, whether you resonate with all the subject matter or not … from what makes a well seen image, to tasteful printing, and finally to proper display and the environment in which to enjoy good work.