TEXAS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY | Shape of Light: an Abstract Photography Exhibition

We are proud to announce that Michael Mulvey has selected 40 images for Texas Photographic Society’s abstract themed juried exhibition The Shape of Light. First Place was awarded to Laurie Peek, Second Place to Michael Banschbach, and Third Place to Diana Borden. Heartfelt congratulations to the selected artists and warmest thanks to everyone who generously shared their work for consideration. A complete list of the exhibiting artists and the Juror's Remarks are below.

The Shape of Light opens on July 19th, 2025 at the Arlington Museum of Art in Arlington, Texas and will continue through August 17th, 2025. A closing reception with the juror will be on August 17th, 2025, from 3-5pm!

JUROR'S REMARKS

Serving as a juror for the Texas Photographic Society’s “Shape of Light” exhibition has been both an honor and a privilege. There was a wide range of submitted works for this show, featuring many photographers, creatives, and artists exploring all the unique aspects of light. The diversity of the image was expressed on many levels, with unique practices and all levels of expertise. In so many of the works, you could tell that each photographer was individually expressing depth, feelings, and often beauty that only wavelengths of light can translate into the poetry within the artist.

As a juror, former photojournalist, practicing artist, and educator, I looked for images that “have more questions than answers!” I believe in intention, and I also believe in, and leave a fathom of space for serendipity. Perhaps serendipity itself lives within the light? We have all been mesmerized by light, often only to find how it is ever fleeting, changing, and does not hesitate to leave with a memory that is possibly not able to be captured. But even when missed, we find peace in knowing it will return. Our curiosity is perhaps forever sparked, and we will again look and look again to see it appear in either a similar way or a new spectacle altogether.

When I was curating the final selection, I felt an overwhelming challenge as the works were so strong. There are, of course, many outstanding photographs that were not included but could have been included on another day, another call, or with a different theme. I congratulate all the photographers who submitted! I hope everyone will continue their creative efforts, made with a camera, lens, or photographic process. Keep expressing yourselves. We need visual communication, and we all need you to share your work within your communities and beyond. Your unique stories, vision, and vulnerabilities give your work further meaning and connect us all.

For the audience: Please spend time with each image. Allow the visual language and the concept of “Shape of Light” to percolate as you enjoy the breadth and depth of these wonderful and creative photographs.

Michael Mulvey - June 2025

VIEW ONLINE GALLERY HERE (coming soon)

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April 29th, 2025 - Call for Entries opens
May 30th, 2025 - Deadline for Entry (11:59 p.m. Mountain Time)
June 10th, 2025 - Selections Announced
July 9th, 2025 - Work Due at the Arlington Museum of Art
July 19, 2025 - Exhibition Opening
August 17, 2025 - Exhibition Closes / Closing Reception
August 18th-25th, 2025 - Work is Shipped Back

AWARDS

First Place = $400 
Second Place = $250 
Third Place = $150
Up to 5 Honorable Mentions may be awarded

ENTRY FEE and TPS MEMBERSHIP

All entries are processed through the CaFE submission site. The entry fee for current TPS Members is $35 for 5 images, plus $5 for each additional image. The Non-Member entry fee is $40 for 5 images, plus $5 for each additional image. You do not have to be a member of TPS to enter. However, if you enter the competition and join TPS or renew as a member at the same time, you can pay the reduced current TPS Member entry fee of $35.

You may enter up to 12 images.

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 discounts to programs and services offered through our partnerships.

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

ELIGIBILITY

The Shape of Light is open to artists internationally, of all levels, who are at least 18 years old at time of entry. 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.

All photography-based work using any process is encouraged. We encourage artists to submit images that communicate through composition, mood, and visual language, instead of focusing on recognizable subject matter. Great abstract images can include objective subject matter, but we are looking for images where that is not the first thing you might notice. For this exhibition, we seek work that embraces experimentation — photographs that challenge perception, prioritize aesthetics over narrative, and transform ordinary or unfamiliar scenes into something unexpected. Whether through close-up detail, intentional distortion, creative use of light, or digital manipulation, the work we are looking for should evoke emotion, provoke thought, and invite viewers to see the world through a different light.

ABOUT THE JUROR

Artist, educator, and journalist Michael Mulvey’s work is rooted in the visualization of sociological practices. His research interests range from capturing the cultural divide along the border with Mexico to the gentrification of West Dallas Neighborhoods, using methods of the documentary, alternative process, and conceptually constructed still lives to create various pathways to access cultural complexities. His practice includes the use of analog and digital devices as well as site-specific installation and photo sculpture. His most recent work features pictograms made in cameraless space on the film of items collected from the land during the gentrification process. They represent the memory of what came before and are now in a permanent visual record formed in historic photographic processes.

Michael earned the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2006 while a staff photographer with The Dallas Morning News. The award was for coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, America's most costly weather event, and the beginning of the global warming trend resulting in extreme energy super storms.

Michael holds an M.F.A in Studio Art from the College of Visual Arts at Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas, and a B.S in Journalism from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. He currently is an Instructor of Photography at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX.

The Shape of Light is made possible through funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the support of our TPS Members

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.) To clarify, you will submit a digital file of your image for the contest application; if your work is selected for the show you will print your image, frame it, and ship it to the exhibition venue.

Please note: TPS calls are conducted through CaFÉ. Applicants will need to create a free account with a portfolio of images, and then apply to each specific call with images from your portfolio. All images you intend to use for each application must be uploaded to your portfolio before you begin your application. Later additions to your application cannot be accommodated.

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.

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: Update for this exhibition, the framed (finished piece) must not exceed the size of 20" in the longest dimension.

1. Artwork must be ready-to-hang using wire stretched between D-rings on the back. The finished piece must not exceed 20" in the longest dimension (including the frame, due to space concerns). Sawtooth hangers are NOT permitted. Please use white mats and/or white or black frames that are gallery quality and complement your work (color mats are NOT desired). Plexiglass must be used with the frame, NO GLASS ALLOWED. Photographs printed on metal are allowed, but must be framed, with the photograph safely recessed from the front of the frame, and packed appropriately. Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, address, telephone number, email address, image title, medium, dimensions and sales price or NFS. TPS reserves the right to exclude works from the exhibition that are not gallery-ready and professional in presentation.

2. Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, image title, email address, medium, and sales price or NFS.

3. 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. Work WITHOUT return shipping will NOT be included in the exhibition and will NOT be returned. Please keep a copy of the prepaid return shipping label and your receipt.

4. Please ship photographs in a sturdy, flat box (do not use moving boxes) with your last name clearly written on the box (not just on the shipper's label). Packing “peanuts" are NOT permitted. Artwork will be return-shipped in the container in which they were received. If shipping and packing materials are insufficient for safe return, the artist may be charged an extra fee for packing materials provided by TPS or the venue. If additional exhibition venues are added, artists will be notified with location, dates, and other pertinent details, and work will be return-shipped from the final venue.

5. Framed prints with a prepaid return shipping label must arrive at Arlington Museum of Art no later than July 9, 2025.

6. TPS and the Arlington Museum of Art will exercise all due care in handling your artwork. However, TPS is not liable for loss, theft, damage or replacement of artwork, nor is TPS liable for damage during shipping. The Arlington Museum of Art does not insure artists' work. 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. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable. Submission entry and payment signifies understanding and agreement to all of the above terms and conditions.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, please contact Chris Ireland at cpireland@texasphoto.org.