From the introduction to the book “No Alternatives: Contemporary Handcrafted Photographs from Hand+Eye”;
September 26, 2011
No Alternatives
This show contains photographs which comprise a striking cross-section of contemporary photography from around the world. All are by living artists, with most works having been created in the few years or even months. Subjects include relationships, mental illness, fantasy, decay, beauty, symmetry, landscapes, hope, alternative history, social commentary and anthropology, to name a few. Aesthetically they embrace color, monochrome, surrealism, subtlety, “in-your-face” impact and innumerable shades of variance in between.
These photographs represent over one dozen hand-crafted processes. While the creators bore the processes in mind from pre-visualization to final execution, the results are no more (or less) “about” process any more than a watercolor painting is “about” watercolor. These artists have made their chosen process the servant and messenger of their vision.
You are encouraged to put aside any preconceptions you may have about handcrafted photography and to view these images on their own terms. Some of the artists are still students, some have been producing work for decades. Each new image is a piece of paper covered with personal insights, purposefully expressed in the artist’s own photographic vernacular. Within this volume are individual artistic expressions, marriages of meaning and medium, splendid examples of contemporary photography but… there are
No Alternatives
Kevin Logghe, Curator – Hand+Eye
1st Place was awarded to “Continuity” by Dan Herrera.
2nd Place was awarded to “Wallflower” by Susan de Witt
3rd Place was awarded to “Knees” by Robert Shaffer
Congratulations to all of our Juror’s and Curator’s selections and a special thank you to those whose work, while worthy, we were unable to show.
For every work that appears in a show there are dozens of photographers who took the chance of being told “no”. That takes courage which many would-be-artists can never summon up. KL
Where can I find out more about the book? Are both galleries in the book? Is there information about the artists and their profiles?
Thanks – the images look terrific on the screen.
Hi Lillian:
If you look up “No Alternatives” at http://www.blurb.com you will see the preview pages of the book and you can buy it if you like what you see.
and yes, both gallaries are in the book. Enjoy.