© Natalia Engelhardt


© Keliy Anderson-Staley

"The best of contemporary photography amazes us by asking questions, by challenging us, to transform us into different persons," says Jorg M.Colberg. "For me, that is the essence of contemporary photography. I am very excited to see the 16th juried exhibition reflect this."

Colberg served as juror of the exhibition, selecting 60 images for the show from more than 2,000 images submitted by 300 photographers.

The 16th Juried Exhibition is on display in the Main Gallery of the Griffin Museum June 30 through August 29. An opening reception is July 1.

Colberg, founder and editor of Conscientious, a website dedicated to contemporary photography, says the art form has flourished the past few years. "As new talent is pushing into the "scene," those who have been active a while are honing their skills. To a large degree contemporary photography lives from this friction; new voices engaging with older ones against the backdrop of what we would call the photographic canon. The photography I had the task to pick from clearly reflected this."

Colberg said with his selections, "I tried to not only showcase outstanding artists, but also to create a grouping of photography that would raise each and every one of the selected artists a little bit more."

He asked the museum to display the photographs in groups, which each having a theme that might be obvious or hard to define. "I am convinced that having one artist's image interact with another one's will enhance the viewers experience. I hope that after having seen the exhibition they will leave with more questions than answers. `Why have I never seen things this way? Why does this move me so much?"

Colberg chose Natalia Engelhardt, a New York photographer specializing in portraiture, as winner of the $1,000 Arthur Griffin Legacy Award. She also was awarded an exhibition in the Critic's Pick section of the Griffin Museum website.

Keliy Anderson-Staley received the $500 Griffin Award for her series of images, Off the Grid, a study of 30 families living in Maine without electricity, plumbing, or phones.

In addition to the awards, two artists -- Andrea Rosenthal and Andrew M. K. Warren -- were selected to present a 2-person exhibit in the museum's Atelier Gallery. Rosenthal was chosen for her Stations of the Scale, a photographic memoir about her problem with overeating that took 7 1/2 years to complete. It uses text, family materials, and self-portraits to present a visual expression of her inner state.

Warren was chosen for Car Pictures, a series of images of outmoded or damaged automobiles and unusual forms of transportation.

Featured in the Griffin Gallery is the Joan Johnson Exhibition, showcasing the work of local high school seniors. The winner of this year's $1,000 Joan Johnson Scholarship was Jack Nally of Reading Memorial High School.

Opening receptions are July 1, 7-8:30 p.m. The public is invited. Griffin Museum members are invited to a gallery talk with Andrea Rosenthal and Andrew Warren at 6:15 p.m. Please RSVP to 781-729-1158 or photos@griffinmuseum.org.

The Griffin Museum of Photography is open Tuesday through Thursday, 11 am - 5 pm; Friday 11 am - 4 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, noon - 4 pm. The Museum is closed on Monday. Admission is $5 for adults; $2 for seniors. Members and children under 12 are admitted free. Admission is free to all every Thursday. For more information, call 781-729-1158.

Statement by the Juror - Joerg Colberg

Getting invited to judge the Griffin Museum's 16th juried exhibition and to award prizes was an incredible honor, for which I am profoundly grateful. Despite the fact that every day I have to make decisions about what to pick and what not to pick, it never is an easy task. While I believe that the work I selected for this exhibition stands out in a variety of ways, of course it is also based on my own personal preferences and ideas for this show.

Over the past few years, contemporary photography has flourished to an amazing degree. As new talent is pushing into the "scene," those who have been active for a while are honing their skills. To a large degree, contemporary photography lives from this friction: New voices engaging with older ones, against the backdrop of what we could call the photographic canon. The photography that I had the task to pick from clearly reflected this.

With my selection, I tried to not only showcase outstanding artists, but also to create a grouping of photography that would raise each and every one of the selected artists a little bit more. Photography is not being created in a vacuum. Larger societal and cultural trends shape photography just like they shape what we eat, how we dress, what we read... The influence of these trends on an art form like photography are not always as clear as, say, whether we all wear green pants for one Summer; but there is no denying that our art reflects our times. I thus selected artists not only based on the merit of their own work, but also according to how their work would interact with other artists' images.

As a consequence, I asked the Griffin Museum to display the photographs in groups, where each of the group has a "theme," which might be obvious, or which might be hard to define. Some of the artists even find their images in more than one group. Needless to say, this is my own curatorial decision, and it reflects my own reaction to the work.

But I am convinced that having one artist's image interact with another one's will enhance the viewers' experience. I hope that after having seen the exhibition, they will leave with more questions than answers. Yes, you read that right, more questions than answers: "Why have I never seen things this way?" "Why does this move me so much?" etc.

The best of contemporary photography amazes us by asking questions, by challenging us, to transform us into different persons. For me, that is the essence of contemporary photography. I am very excited to see the 16th juried exhibition reflect this.

I decided to highlight the work of two artists, Natalia Engelhardt and Keliy Anderson-Staley, who were awarded the Arthur Griffin Legacy Award and the Griffin Award, respectively. In the 16th juried exhibition, they are primae inter pares. I have no doubt that we will see a lot more from these two outstanding artists.

I congratulate Natalia and Keliy, as well as all the other photographers in this exhibition, for their achievements; and I am looking forward to seeing new work by them in the future.

Jorg M. Colberg, founder and editor
Conscientious vbn, a website dedicated to contemporary photography