New England Portfolio Reviews ONLINE
April 5-7, 2024, 9am-6pm, both days
For full event information visit:
NEPR April 2024 Reviewers:
Erin Carey, Independent Curator, New England
Erin Carey is an independent curator, artist and educator based in New England; she earned her B.A. in Art History and Criticism from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.F.A. in Studio Arts from Tufts University. Prior to its closure in 2020, Erin served as the Academic Director and Gallery Di-rector at NESOP, curating more than 100 exhibits featuring works by artists from around the U.S and Europe. Her recent curatorial projects include “Ripening Towards the Knife” (2020) and “Let America” (2021) for the Photographic Resource Center. Erin’s photographic work explores the nuances of the American landscape and its vernacular. Her ongoing project, A Spring that Love Remembered, debuted in the summer of 2020 and addresses the landscape of loss and the ex-perience of ecstatic time. Erin works in graduate admissions for the MFA program at Tufts Uni-versity and is a part-time preparator/ art handler at the Addison Gallery of American Art in An-dover. She currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Griffin Museum of Photography
Mia Dalglish, Co-Curator, Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Mia Dalglish has spent her career in both the performing and visual arts worlds. Since 2010, Dalglish has served as Photographic Curator for Pictura, a renowned fine art gallery that specializes in contemporary photography. She is a portfolio reviewer for national and international photography conferences and serves as a judge for international photography competitions. Mia is also the Executive Director for the Fernanda Ghi Dance Company and an Instructor at the Fernanda Ghi Dance Academy. Mia was a manager and instructor at the Argentine tango school, Artango for 7 years. Mia’s unusual combination of movement and visual arts expertise result in unique offering of skills and perspectives.
David DeMelim, Founder and Managing Director, RI Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI
David DeMelim is the founder and managing director of the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts in Providence, RI. David also pursues parallel explorations in printmaking and photography. He earned a BFA from the University of Rhode Island, studying with Bart Parker and Chris Cordes, and has been involved in advancing computer driven printing technology. With a focus on the built landscape and its human connections, DeMelim considers form, weight and proximity in his compositions. He is not interested in capturing a “Kodak moment, but rather a syncopated succession of moments that combine to recall or define an event.” Much of his work explores an image’s ability to fix a memory through the use of multiple layers and paired images.
Ann Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
Ann M. Jastrab is the Executive Director at the Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel, California. CPA strives to advance photography through education, exhibition and publication. These regional traditions—including mastery of craft, the concept of mentorship, and dedication to the photographic arts—evolved out of CPA’s predecessor, the renowned Friends of Photography established in 1967 by iconic artists Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock and Cole Weston. Before CPA, Jastrab was Gallery Manager at Scott Nichols Gallery, San Francisco, CA, and Gallery Director at RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CA. She has curated shows in the Bay Area while also jurying, curating, and organizing exhibitions for other national and international venues. She has reviewed portfolios for organizations such as the Seoul International Photography Festival, Fotofest, Photolucida, GuatePhoto, PhotoNola, Review Santa Fe, Medium, Palm Springs Photo Festival, Filter, PhotoAlliance, and Lishui International Photography Festival in China, she was also a juror for Critical Mass. Jastrab created a thriving artist-in-residence program at RayKo where recent residents Meghann Riepenhoff, Carlos Javier Ortiz, Kathya Marie Landeros, and McNair Evans all received Guggenheim Fellowships. Besides being a curator, Ann Jastrab, MFA, is a fine art photographer, master darkroom printer, and teacher as well.
Arlette Kayafas, Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA
Arlette Kayafas opened Gallery Kayafas in 2003 in Boston’s then new gallery district in the South End. The gallery exhibited photographs from renowned photographers often pairing them with new emerging artists. Kayafas and her husband, Gus, have been collecting photography for more than five decades and the gallery only shows work that she would consider adding to the collection. In 2012, the gallery expanded its programming to include contemporary paintings, installation, works on paper, sculpture, and video while maintaining its focus on photography. Kayafas believes that the work shown in the gallery must engage perceptually while having a rigorous underlying message – the artist’s voice. Arlette selects artists who have strong insights and are committed to articulating them through their work. One of the gallery’s missions is to offer a platform for the artist to be heard and visitors to have an experience which brings about thoughtful attention.
Michael Kirchoff, Analog Forever Magazine, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Kirchoff is a photographic artist, Editor in Chief at Analog Forever Magazine, Founding Editor at Catalyst: Interviews, and Contributing Editor for the column, Traverse, at One Twelve Publishing. Based in Los Angeles, Michael conducts artist interviews, presents features, and curates fine art photography bodies of work from emerging and mid-career photographic artists worldwide for all entities. Previously, Michael also served for over four years as Editor at BLUR Magazine from 2014-2018. In addition, Michael is an independent curator and juror for a number of organizations, as well as a frequent portfolio reviewer. His consulting, training, and overall support of his fellow photographic artist continues with assistance in constructing ones vision to finding exhibition and publishing opportunities. Michael seeks portfolios that demonstrate a cohesive and thoughtfully edited body of work with an emphasis on the creative, either stylistically or thematically. Film-based and analog process work are of particular interest for fine art and documentary photography.
Paul Kopeikin, Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Paul Kopeikin founded his eponymous gallery, Kopeikin Gallery in 1991, an internationally recognized gallery of photography and contemporary art in Los Angeles. Kopeikin Gallery has presented exhibitions by photography’s modern masters such as Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, Walker Evans, Edward Weston, Garry Winogrand, Nicholas Nixon, Harold Eugene Edgerton and contemporary photographers such as Jeffrey Milstein, Chris Jordan, Jill Greenberg, Kahn and Selesnick and Kevin Cooley. Following decades of exploring photography’s history, the gallery program has expanded beyond photography to include painting and works on paper. Kopeikin Gallery is committed to developing and building collections and we pride ourselves on our ability to procure virtually any artwork for our clients, whether or not it’s in our current inventory. In addition to ongoing gallery exhibitions, the gallery participates in art fairs both nationally and internationally.
Bree Lamb, Managing Editor, Fraction Magazine, Albuquerque, NM
Bree Lamb is an artist, educator and editor based in New Mexico. She is Assistant Professor of Photography at New Mexico State University, and holds an MFA from the University of New Mexico. For the last five years, Lamb has been the Managing Editor for Fraction Magazine, an online venue dedicated to fine art, contemporary photography, that brings together diverse bodies of work by established and emerging artists from around the globe. Lamb has served as a portfolio reviewer or juror for Review Santa Fe, Medium Festival of Photography, Mt. Rokko Photography Festival, Denver’s Month of Photography, Photolucida’s Critical Mass and the Society for Photographic Education’s National Conference.
Shana Lopes, Assistant Curator of Photography, SFMoMA, San Francisco, CA
Shana Lopes, PhD, is an Assistant Curator of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has organized exhibitions on cyanotypes, the 1906 earthquake, Atget, Wright Morris, and Eikoh Hosoe. She is the co-curator of Constellations: Photographs in Dialogue, which pairs recent acquisitions with existing work from the collection, and A Living for Us All: Artists and the WPA. Most recently, she organized Sightlines: Photographs from the Collection, on view now. Over the past fifteen years, she has gained curatorial experience at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Caleb Cain Marcus, Design Director, Luminosity Lab, Brooklyn, NY
Caleb Cain Marcus is a Roving Acquisitions Editor for Damiani and runs one of the world’s smallest book design and print studios, Luminosity Lab. Caleb has had six books of his photographs published and is in many museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, the High Museum of Art, Norton Museum of Art, and Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
Ben McBride is Curatorial Assistant in the photography department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where he contributes to all aspects of the department’s exhibition projects. He received his MA in art history from the University of Kansas, and he previously served in the works on paper department at the Spencer Museum of Art. Ben is not looking for materials for exhibition or acquisition, he but looks forward to reviewing diverse photographic projects at any stage of development.
Carol McCusker, Curator of Photography, Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Florida
Carol McCusker is the Curator of Photography at the Harn Museum of Art. For nine years, she was the Curator of Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, where she curated more than thirty-five exhibitions. She was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Diego and the University of California San Diego. McCusker received her B.F.A. in studio art and art history at Massachusetts College of Art, Boston. She then received an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history with an emphasis on the history of photography at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. She was 2010 Juror for the International Center of Photography Infinity Award/New York, and McCusker has received the Beaumont Newhall Award, the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship Award, and two National Endowment for the Arts Awards. Between 2009 and 2011, McCusker was staff writer for Color and Bl & Wh magazines. Writing and curating from photography’s complete history, from William Henry Fox Talbot’s first calotypes to cellphone videos, defines McCusker’s enthusiasm for the medium’s inspiring range and relevancy.
Melanie McWhorter, Independent Photography Consultant, Santa Fe, NM
Melanie McWhorter is an independent photography consultant and bookseller based in Sante Fe. After 2016, McWhorter founded an online bookstore and consulting practice where she would help guide artists on their photobook projects. She holds a B.A in History from Lander University, and a M.A in Environmental Science from Green Mountain College. She has judged for numerous photography competitions such as Review Santa Fe 100, Women Photojournalists of Washington’s Annual Exhibition, Daylight Annual Awards, and Fotografia: Fotofestival di Roma’s Book Prize. Her professional skills in photography have been highlighted in several online and print publications including Lenscratch, PDN, and NPR’s The Picture Show.
C. Meier, Exhibitions Manager at Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, Portland, OR
C. Meier (they/them/theirs) is the Exhibitions Manager at Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, Portland, OR, a non-profit gallery dedicated to exhibiting photographic work from emerging, mid-career, and established artists from the US and abroad. They earned their MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago (2017) and BFA in Studio Art from Pacific Lutheran University (2004). Their art practice explores materiality, reveling in the hybridization of processes including drawing, painting, and photographic methods. Meier has exhibited nationally including Hyde Park Art Center, Mana Contemporary (Chicago), Filter Space, among others. Meier has been heavily influenced by their past roles including Collections Manager/Registrar at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) and Studio Assistant for photographic artist Barbara Kasten. Professional highlights include co-curating the MoCP’s 2017 exhibition re:collection. As a reviewer, C. Meier seeks projects that range in style and content including conceptual, documentary, and process-based work. Meier’s goal is to widen the scope of what Blue Sky has traditionally exhibited in order to support new and exciting approaches to the medium.
Michael Pannier, Founder & Director, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
As Founder and Executive Director of the SE Center for Photography in Greenville, SC, Michael Pannier is a frequent speaker on the business of fine art photography, exhibition curator and juror, and portfolio reviewer. The fine art images of photographer Michael Pannier, whether landscapes of the desert southwest, studio figurative work or conceptual pieces, are sought after and included in collections throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Japan, and India. Working from his Greenville, SC studio, conveniently located between the Charlotte and Atlanta metro areas, he frequently travels to Los Angeles and New York maintaining studio relationships in both locations. Working on personal projects, Michael may be found wandering the streets of major cities or the desolation of the desert southwest. Michael hosts and conducts fine art photography workshops in his studio and on location in Death Valley, the Alabama Hills, and the Owens Valley, and Joshua Tree.
Aline Smithson, Founder/Editor, LENSCRATCH, Los Angeles, CA
Aline Smithson is a Los Angeles based visual artist, editor, and educator. Aline is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lenscratch, a daily journal on photography that has offered exposure to thousands of photographers since 2007. She has been teaching at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, and around the globe, since 2001. In 2012, Aline received the Rising Star Award through the Griffin Museum of Photography for her contributions to the photographic community. In 2014, Aline’s work was selected for the Critical Mass Top 50 and she received the Excellence in Teaching Award from CENTER. In 2015, the Magenta Foundation published her first significant monograph, Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography. In 2016, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum commissioned Aline to a series of portraits for the upcoming Faces of Our Planet Exhibition. In 2018 and 2019, her work was on exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London as a finalist in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. Kris Graves Projects published LOST II: Los Angeles in 2019. She is a dedicated film shooter.
Elin Spring, Founder/Editor, What Will You Remember, NewEngland
Elin Spring is the founder, editor, and head writer of the photography blog, “What Will You Remember?” which includes various art exhibition reviews and artist and curator interviews. Elin earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of Pennsylvania. She contributes to many print and online magazines as well as museum catalogs. Her background in exhibition review has led her to become a juror at photography competitions and a reviewer for portfolios. In 2014, her photography writing was recognized with the Scribe FOCUS Award from the Griffin Museum of Photography. Before the creation of her blog, for over two decades she specialized in professional portraiture in and around Boston.
Dana Stirling, Co-founder and Editor, Float Magazine, Queens, NY
Float Photo Magazine was founded in March 2014 with the goal of sharing and celebrating the photographic work of a versatile international roster of contemporary photographers from young and emerging, to established artists. Float features high quality and creative work with the intention to inspire and push forward the photo community. In addition to our growing online and social platform, Float curates themed online magazine issues for emerging and establish artists to share pages creating a unique visual representation of the selected theme. Float offers artists various opportunities and platforms for exposure – Instagram takeovers, book reviews, artist interviews, curated online magazine issues, online and physical exhibitions and more. Float has collaborated with Littlefield Art Space on the group exhibition ‘Space,’ Subjectively Objective creating together photo publication ‘The Vernacular Of Landscape’ along with an exhibition at Usagi NY, a summer group show at Carrie Able gallery in Brooklyn curated by Damien Anger, a collaboration with Casual Science on a printed publication with an enamel pin set and with the first Rust Belt Biennial in September 2019 at the Sordoni Gallery Wilkes University, PA. Float is open to all and any photographic styles and genres. We are always looking to expand our roaster of artists and give as much opportunity for exposure as possible.
Joanne Junga Yang, Artistic Director, Korea International Photo Festival
Joanne Junga Yang is an artistic director, curator, juror, lecturer, portfolio reviewer and writer in the field of photography, working within a wide range internationally. She is the artistic director of Korea International Photo Festival (KIPF) which has been held at Hangaram Art Museum of Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, South Korea since 2018, and is also the director and curator of Y&G Art Global contemporary project, collaborating with galleries, magazines and private museums on curating and collecting. She has organized and curated a variety of exhibitions on contemporary art and photography, such as Dong Gang International Photography Festival, Seoul Photo Festival and many more. She received The Art and Culture Award for Curating of the Seoul Photo Festival (2011) from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and she was appointed as Director of the International Committee by the Seoul Metropolitan City Government. Joanne is author of many articles on photography, and has interviewed international artists for such diverse magazines as Korea Monthly Photography, PhotoDot, Monthly PhotoArt, Art Now and more. Joanne is most interested in viewing contemporary and developed bodies of work covering diverse issues. She is not interested in reviewing commercial photography.