Call for Entry.


 
 

20/20 Photo Festival 2021 Call for Entry Exhibition

Curated by Cynthia Rivera

Selected Artists

Cody Cooper

Joe Clementi

Mark Taylor

Matthew Kamholtz

Monika Lawrence

Nuzhat Ahmad

Patricia McElroy

Paul M. Murray

@ Wanderlife Gallery in South Philadelphia, PA in September 2021


When looking through the submissions, I noticed patterns and parallels emerging within and between each person’s work. There are images and representations of nature reclaiming its space; entangling itself between and around abandoned buildings and cars all man-made objects not meant to last or regenerate the way nature has proven to throughout time. Conversely, there are subtle and not-so-subtle hints of where man andman-made structures have pushed their boundaries and imposed upon nature to a point of detriment.

The images of protests also embodied a feeling of regeneration and reclamation. In a more painful and nostalgic way, these photographs allude to the past; the Civil Rights movement and racial issues that had seemed to have quietly buried themselves only toloudly resurface decades later. For Trevon Martin, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, and Brianna

Taylor, and countless others. Photographically, Civil Rights-era protest images are pertinent to these contemporary images in subject, in sentiment, and in terms of the injustice and segregation they were created in response to. Much that has changed in the U.S. since the ‘50’s and ‘60’s is visually apparent in the photos - what people are wearing, the different races that are now protesting together - but one can also argue that the underlying issues have not changed but instead have reshaped and reformed into more subtle and systemic means of oppressing people who have historically been less gfortunate.

Within all of the images chosen, there is a thread of a past that feels reminisced through regeneration and a growth evidenced by the ability to move ever forward. It is overall the proof of the strength of community and resistance, whether it be in relation to nature or a people.

  • Cynthia Rivera

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