- courtesy Perspective Gallery
- The winning entry: “Catrina with Prey” by Jill Flyer
The Perspective Gallery may be a small collective of 19 photographers located in Evanston, but it’s had no shortage of interest in Lens, its annual juried photography exhibition, now in its fifth year. Lens 2015 received submissions from more than 180 entrants, says gallery board member Chris Schneberger, about one-tenth of which were from overseas.
Each year, the gallery appoints a different outside juror. Lens 2015 was judged by Paul Berlanger, director of the Stephen Daiter Gallery. Last month he sorted through a pile of online submissions—each entrant could submit up to five pieces of work—and selected 30 pieces to appear in the final exhibition. At the opening on March 7, Berlanger viewed the works again, this time in person, and chose Jill Flyer of Lake Chapala, Mexico, winner of the $300 Juror’s Award for “Catrina with Prey.”
Berlanger has said in a statement that he “look[s] for a work that has been thought out, designed and executed well—something where the shooter took what was in front of him or her and—through the lens—created something more from what was seen than what was seen. An end product greater than the sum of its parts.”
That’s vague enough to mean just about anything, which, says Schneberger, is part of the fun of creating the exhibition. Many of the contributors are up-and-coming photographers whose work he’s never seen before.
“We get a wide range of work,” Schneberger says. “Documentary street photography, creative imagery, black and white, colors, close-ups of flowers, some really conceptual stuff. You never know what the juror is going to appreciate. The great thing for me is to be with the juror and see how he views the work.”
The gallery will host an artists discussion on March 19 at 7 PM.