Monday, February 11, 2008

Results were posted... I'm glad to be a part of this!

Humble Arts Foundation in collaboration with Ladies Lotto presents,
“31 Under 31: Young Women in Art Photography” curated by Jon Feinstein and Lumi Tan.

Exhibiting Photographers:
Alana Celii, Amy Elkins, Ahndraya Parlato, Allison Grant, Ashley Lefrak, Alejandra Laviada, Alex Van Clief, Catherine Maloney, Dina Kantor, Dru Donovan, Elaine Stocki, Hannah Whitaker, Helen Maurene Cooper, Jaimie Warren, Jessica Bruah, Jessica Roberts, Ka-Man Tse, Kate and Camilla, Kelly Kleinschrodt, Manya Fox, Marta Labad, Mary Mattingly, Molly Landreth, Nadine Rovner, Rachael Dunville, Reka Reisinger, Sara Padgett Heathcott, Sarah Small, Sarah Sudhoff, Tealia Ellis Ritter, Talia Chetrit

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to hear your defense of the show's premise that the participants have to be under 31, or under any age at all. If you have time. Thanks for sharing.

Amy Elkins said...

Seems this is a heated topic for a lot of folks.. I grew weary of joining in pretty quickly... as blogs and online forums get out of hand pretty fast, words get taken the wrong way, etc. My defense? Photographers come in all ages, races, sexes and sizes. There are more photographers in NYC alone than doctors. Sometimes curators just want/need a theme to narrow those numbers down.

The gist of my opinion is here:

http://amysteinphoto.blogspot.com/2008/01/hey-ladies.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link. Well what about someone like Howard Shatz, he was a physician before becoming a photographer? How old is he? I think the idea of young and emerging is really quite a discount to the ability of viewers to judge for themselves. I think if the photo industry itself didn't count on the enthusiasm of the emerging younger crowd to be part of this scene maybe it wouldn't be a good idea, but the barometers of success are fleeting and some are quite nebulous and seductive in not the greatest of ways. Thanks for your thoughts.

Amy Elkins said...

well.. as said before... I agree. emerging doesn't always equal youth.. but as I also said before, I just think it's a theme for this show. I mean... nobody is saying anything about it being a female only show, and not all emerging photographers are female. yet female photographers need exposure in the photo world that is mostly male dominated. i'm looking forward to seeing the show. i think there are some really fabulous photographers in it. I know if the age bar was lifted there would be fabulous photographers over the age of 31 as well. Perhaps that'll be a theme down the road..

Anonymous said...

Anonymous haters are the best!

Anonymous said...

Hey! Its Adam from Kansas, met you at mardi gras. How are things going? Whats your myspace again? Look up Tonganator.... Lataas

Anonymous said...

A couple of thoughts on Anonymous "Haters";
First off, one of my favorite scenes of the Outer Limits or Twilight Zone, can't remember which, just that it stuck in my head, was the one where one day this guy woke up and all of a sudden everything was going his way. People were exceptionally nice to him, no struggles with anything, prosperity and romance fell in his lap. After a while he became suspicious about why everything was perfect. To his horror he was actually in hell. That being said here is one of my favorite sayings from the Talmud " If you have a mouse, it's the hole's fault." Either accept trolls, haters, whatever you call them as part of blog life, OR isolate your little homogenous mind and keep you thoughts as toys that you only share with a few other narcissistic individuals like yourself. Be glad that someone with a different opinion comes along once in a while or you just may wind up in your own hell. Go ahead strive for your brown shirt mentality, clog up all those holes you have created. Who's the isolationist hater now?

Amy Elkins said...

I'm all for opinions, opposing views, etc. And if you need to do it anonymously that's truly fine. But it seems that there is a lot of negative ricocheting going on and it has nothing to do with my blog or myself. I stated how I felt about the show. I agree with both sides of the argument. But I'm in the show. I'm not a hater. I am open to opinions about the show, but let's keep it aimed at the actual show and not an each other.

imelectric said...

I've been reading responses to 31 Under 31, it's great to see so many cerebral people who actually give a damn about art. Ladies Lotto is a community of women who are focused on building a positive impact within personal and professional lives along with the greater good of society. That's why when we were asked to get involved with the show on various levels, we gladly agreed to lend our talents and efforts to an organization such as Humble, which gives grants to emerging fine art photographers.

As the founder and director of Ladies Lotto, and as a feminist (THE F WORD!) who has dedicated her life to the advancement of egalitarianism (in both my professional and personal lives), I think it is important to empower and enable women to become the biggest and brightest they can be.

There are several reasons behind the show's theme. One reason being, as curator Jon Feinstein has mentioned, simple space constraints. We needed to work within a theme, to help with the show's content. We expected 300 submissions and had over 1,000! Another reason for choosing 31 is that it coincides with the date of 3/1. What better opportunity to acknowledge Women's History Month than to incorporate a show dedicated to emerging female photographers! And how great is it that we are celebrating within the art community! Particularly within the world of fine art photography where few (yet great) women have left their legacy, we hope to usher in a new generation of those leaving their mark and unique perspective.

As for the issue of age, I can understand those who are critical. As a woman fast approaching "cougardom", I recognized that our society is quite age-centric (youth being celebrated - thanks baby boomers & ad industry for creating this priority within our culture). Surely there are women, such as myself, who have started new careers and/or training far after the age appropriate for undergraduate school. For this show, we wanted simply to highlight those ladies who are, essentially, in the beginning stages of their career.

As we cannot make everyone happy, we hope that you can accept (not necessarily agree with) our decision with the show. We also hope that you can come out and celebrate our victory - towards creating awareness for Humble Arts Foundation, Ladies Lotto, Women's History Month and the talented women who will become tomorrow's influential photographers.