TEXAS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

AT NIGHT

Juror Lance Keimig has selected 50 powerful images for the At Night exhibition. A complete list of the exhibiting artists is below (award winners and honorable mentions in bold). First Place was awarded to Jeffery Maresh, Second Place to Michael Matthews, and Third Place to Efren Lozano. Heartfelt congratulations to all!

Please join us for the At Night Opening Weekend at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas, June 11 and 12, with an opening reception on Friday, and a Saturday symposium featuring Gabriel Biderman, James Evans, and much more. Full details are here!
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JUROR'S REMARKS

It was both an honor and a pleasure to jury At Night for The Texas Photographic Society. The volume and range of images was impressive and I must admit a bit overwhelming. Many people submitted multiple images, and quite a few of those submissions contained distinctive bodies of work that exhibited a clearly articulated vision. Bravo! There were other submissions with multiple outstanding images, but I never would have guessed that they were made by the same person. I could have easily curated a strong group show with 4-5 images from a dozen or so artists. That is a testament to the overall quality of the submissions.

As is often the case in this type of juried show, there are many images that could have easily been included but weren’t due to the amount of space available for the exhibit. Having been on the other side of this jurying process myself, I know how disappointing it can be not to have your best work accepted to an exhibit. Know that the selections I made were based on my own personal tastes, and that I was trying to assemble a group of images that made sense together. A different juror would likely have picked an entirely different show.

There were a surprising number of fantastic lightning images, but I could only include so many without being repetitive. There were quite a few Milky Way images too, but only a couple that really spoke to me. There were also some great images made by existing artificial light in urban environments, including two of the winners. The first prize winner was my favorite example of light painting among all of the entries. It’s a simple, but highly effective image that checked all of my boxes. The images that I responded to most strongly were the ones where light, composition, and subject all worked together to grab my attention and pull me into the image. Congratulations to all of those whose work was accepted, and especially to the winners. If you were not included, please do not take it personally, and please continue to photograph at night, and to enter competitions. Your work is important!

— Lance Keimig
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At Night is made possible through grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts and a partnership with Fujifilm.
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Texas Photographic Society (TPS) is proud to announce our latest call for entry, At Night, in conjunction with the Museum of the Big Bend and McDonald Observatory.

At Night will be a 50-image exhibition juried by renowned night photographer Lance Keimig, held at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas, from June 11 to September 5, 2021.

At Night will spotlight one of our greatest natural resources – the dark sky – while also building awareness about light pollution and its disruption of wildlife and ecological balances when the dark sky is impaired. This call for entry seeks photography that explores all aspects and subjects of urban and rural night photography from twilight to dawn, including astral photos, city lights, wildlife, and landscapes.

Participants in At Night will have an opportunity to have their work in the night photography genre viewed in the broader environmental context of dark skies. At Night will celebrate the full splendor of the night sky, while providing crucial information about light pollution’s increasing threat to plants, humans, nocturnal and migratory wildlife, and our climate, plus its adverse effects on astronomical viewing. A few decades ago, people could see thousands of stars from their front porches. Now, as urban centers continue to grow and spread, that is nearly impossible in many cities and towns as the dark sky rapidly vanishes. Even remote areas like Big Bend, in Far West Texas, are being encroached upon by the glare of industrial and city lights from many miles away.

In addition to the exhibition, an opening reception and symposium weekend with lectures and workshops focused on photography and the dark sky are planned for June 12 & 13 at The Museum of the Big Bend. This venue was chosen for its proximity to Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and Sierra La Rana Development in Alpine - all designated as International Dark Sky Places. Additionally, TPS will partner with McDonald Observatory (producer of the daily NPR radio program Star Date), Big Bend Conservation Alliance, Globe at Night, and Texas Master Naturalist, to provide expert content for the symposium and extensive connections to the local community to expand the audience for the exhibition.

Lance Keimig, respected night photographer, author, and educator, will be the juror for this exhibition. A resident of Bristol, Vermont, Lance has taught night sky photography since 1997, leads workshops and tours around the world, and is the author of the notable book Night Photography - Finding Your Way In The Dark.

For our call, we will accept both color and black-and-white images. All photo-based processes are welcomed, as well as submissions from artists of all levels.

JUROR'S STATEMENT

As the 20th and now 21st centuries progress, night itself is threatened with extinction by an ever increasing number of artificial lights. New York is not the only city that never sleeps, and in large swaths of the developed world, the night sky is so bright that the moon and planets are the only celestial objects that can be seen from the ground. Many people live and die without ever witnessing the glory of the Milky Way arching across the night sky.

The night has been a recurring theme in art for centuries. For artists like Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the night reflected their nightmarish visions of religious apocalypse. For Edward Hopper, the night provided a voyeuristic window into intimate lives that often reflected the isolation of city dwellers.

In literature, music and art, the Nocturne has long been a way to explore the mysteries of human experience. Darkness represents the unknown, and fear of the unknown is an instinctive protective mechanism that connects all animal life.Yet there are those who find solace in darkness––the night was a refuge for Van Gogh, a place to escape from the torments of his mind.

I'm drawn to photographs that reflect a personal connection to location and subject. Be it the natural landscape, a city skyline, dark alleyway, industrial wasteland, or an imaginary place or time. All photographs are a combination of time and light, but long exposures made at night present an opportunity to participate in the making of an image rather than "taking" an image or extracting what already exists. Images that elicit emotions and communicate more than simply a place or moment in time resonate the most with me.

— Lance Keimig

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Please note new submission and shipping deadlines!

2-01-21 Call for entry opens
4-30-21 Deadline for entry (11:59 p.m. MST)
5-14-21 Exhibiting artists announced
5-28-21 Framed works due to Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine, TX
6-11-21 Exhibition opens at Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine, TX
9-05-21 Exhibition closes

AWARDS

First Place = $500
Second Place = $300
Third Place = $200
Up to 5 Honorable Mentions may be awarded.

The juror will select 50 images by 50 artists for the exhibition.

ENTRY FEE

The entry fee for Current TPS Members is $30 for 5 images, plus $6 for each additional image. The Non-Member entry fee is $38 for 5 images, plus $6 for each additional image. You may enter up to 12 images. You do not have to be a member of TPS to enter. However, you may enter the competition, join TPS or renew as a member at the same time and pay the Current TPS Member entry fee of $30.

TPS Member Benefits include member feature opportunities via our Members' Gallery, Member Spotlight, Blog, Members' News, Members' Instagram Takeover, social media accounts and E-Zine, discounted entry fees to most TPS competitions and Members' Only Image Critique Program.

If you are not sure of your TPS member status, please contact TPS at ann@texasphoto.org. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable.

ELIGIBILITY

At Night is open to artists at least 18 years old, of all levels internationally. All 2-D photographic-based work is acceptable including digital, silver and alternative processes. Works exhibited previously in a TPS show are not eligible. Current members of the TPS Board of Directors are permitted to enter but are not eligible for awards.

IMAGE REQUIREMENTS

Please submit digital JPG files only, minimum of 1200 pixels on the longest side and 5 MB maximum. Please remove watermarks from images. For each image you will need to provide the image title and the process (medium) used to make the image/print (Archival Digital Print, Silver Gelatin Print, Platinum/Palladium Print, Wet Plate Collodian, etc.). If your work is selected, please see printing and framing requirements below.

Need help resizing images? You can resize via a Mac or PC computer, or use a number of third-party applications, many of which offer free trials or solutions. Please go here for suggestions.

ABOUT THE JUROR

Lance Keimig

Lance Keimig is a Vermont based photographer who is best known for night photography made at the intersection of the natural and built environments. He is the author of two books, including Night Photography- Finding Your Way In The Dark which has been translated into 7 languages. Keimig is a partner in National Parks at Night, an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving dark skies and our national parks through photographic education (more information here).

He has taught night photography for the past 23 years at the the Houston Center for Photography, Texas Photo Society, Maine Media Workshops, the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, New England School of Photography, The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, for Atlas Obscura, and leads workshops across the country, and international photo tours around the world.

SALES

TPS encourages the sale of exhibited work and will collect a 30% commission from all prints sold during the exhibition. Please indicate the sales price of your print, including frame/finishing. If your finished piece is Not-For-Sale, simply note NFS. If your work is accepted and you do not indicate a sales price, the artwork will be listed as NFS.

IF YOUR WORK IS ACCEPTED

Please note: There is only a two-week week window between the announcement of accepted work (May 14) and the due date at the venue (May 28). We suggest that you plan ahead and have a frame and shipping container ready to go ahead of the announcement date, just in case. (The juror will select 50 images - only one image per accepted artist.)

1. Preparing your work

Due to space limitations in the gallery, the framed (finished piece) must not exceed the size of 20" in the longest dimension.

• Artwork must be ready-to-hang using wire stretched between D-rings on the back. The finished piece must not exceed the size of 20" in the longest dimension. Sawtooth hangers are NOT permitted. If applicable, please use white mats and white or black frames that are gallery quality and complement your work (color mats are NOT acceptable). NO glass please; acrylic only. TPS reserves the right to exclude works from the exhibition that are not gallery-ready and professional, or sized within the above specifications.

• Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, address, telephone number, email address and image title.

Our friends at Frame Destination in Dallas, Texas, have prepared a special archival gallery frame kit for TPS artists that meets standard matting, framing and presentation requirements. The frame kit can be customized to meet various print sizes. TPS Members receive an additional 10% discount (contact Frame Destination customer service to join the TPS club customer group). This affordably priced package can be purchased online here.

2. Shipping

• A prepaid return UPS or FedEX shipping label MUST be provided with your work for prints to be returned to you when the exhibition concludes. Please keep a copy of the prepaid return shipping label and your receipt. Packing “peanuts" are NOT permitted. Please ship prints in a flat box (do not use moving boxes) as the storage space is limited. Prints will be return-shipped in the container in which they were received.

• Please ship framed prints with prepaid return shipping label to one of the addresses below. Shipments must arrive in Alpine by May 28, 2021.

If you plan to ship UPS or FedEx, please use the address below:

Mary Bones - At Night
Museum of the Big Bend
400 N. Harrison Street
Alpine, TX 79832

To ship USPS, please use the following address:
Mary Bones - At NightMuseum of the Big Bend
Box C101
Alpine, TX 79832

For questions regarding shipping, please feel free to contact Mary Bones directly at 432-837-8145 or maryb@sulross.edu.

• After the show concludes in Alpine, your work will be returned to you in its original container.

• TPS and the venues will exercise all due care in handling your artwork but will not be liable for loss, theft, damage or replacement of artwork, nor liable for damage during shipping. Please consider insuring your work.

TPS TERMS AND AGREEMENT

You retain all rights to your images. If your image is selected for the exhibition, you grant Texas Photographic Society (TPS) the right, in perpetuity, to use and display your image, image title and process, your name, city, state and country of residence for TPS publicity and promotion. Permissible use includes the display, reproduction and distribution of said information on the TPS website, in TPS exhibitions, presentations, program promotions, artist features, fundraising initiatives and publications, and on social media networks, without further contact from TPS. Please note that we may have to crop images to meet space/proportion requirements for promotional platforms.

TPS will not be held responsible for loss, theft, damage or replacement, whether caused by the negligence of its officers, members or others. TPS is not liable for damage during shipping. Non or expired members of TPS who pay the Current TPS Member entry fee without joining TPS or renewing at the time of entry, will be disqualified. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable. Works exhibited previously in a TPS show are not eligible. Submission entry and payment signifies understanding and agreement to all of the above terms and conditions.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, please contact TPS Executive Director Ann Shaw at ann@texasphoto.org.