2021 Daylight Photo Awards Jury Highlights
Published on 07/27/2021
Congratulations to the following special selections chosen by our wonderful jury.
Jenny Kim
"The images in Making My Way to the Shore feel profoundly personal, while successfully providing multiple entry points into the work for the viewer, regardless of their individual experiences. The mix of types of imagery and subject matter used in the work brings a nuanced and refreshing perspective on the concepts of womanhood and fertility. I especially love the use of natural landscapes (Mound and Death Valley) in the mix with Jenny's self portraiture."
Juror: Amanda Webster (The New York Times)
www.jennyskim.com
"Adrian Martinez Chavez's photographs bring us into the world of his family, who were one of the first Mexican-American families to move to the town of Enfield, Connecticut in the late 1980s. The images depict two environments: the family home, called Casablanca, where, in the past, multiple generations lived together, and the restaurant that Chavez's father bought two decades ago after years of working in other restaurant kitchens. Each vignette has a hint of narrative: His mother getting a pedicure from a female relative on the front porch; his father sorting through paperwork in his restaurant kitchen; an American flag hanging from the family home on the fourth of July. These quiet moments, caught in black-and-white, are carefully constructed -- the details tell us everything."
Juror: Joanna Milter (The New Yorker)
www.adrianmartinezchavez.com
""Champion" by Prarthna Singh stood out for being both surprising and very straight-forward in its approach. With a mix of exceptional portraits and subtle detail shots, Singh does a great job of delivering on her intent of exploring "the intersection of gender and femininity with the idea of nation-building." It is more than a simple portrait project and much more nuanced that a typical documentary body of work. The mix of color and black and white works particularly well in this project, giving it contours and depth that kept drawing me back. The strength of the female athletes presented in the portraits is complex, yet unmistakable. Overall it hit all the marks in terms of a great project idea, exceptional photography and then delivering well on the stated purpose of the work."
Juror: Mark Murrmann
(Mother Jones)
www.prarthnasingh.com
"The intimate, light-infused spaces in this beautiful body of work by Sarah Pabst weave together the physical and emotional aspects of solitude, loss, and renewal in a profoundly evocative way. The effect was immediate upon first viewing these images, and deepened each time I revisited them which made this portfolio a stand-out among the many strong entries to this year's contest."
Juror: Alexa Keefe
(National Geographic)
"Tommy Keith’s series, To Hold This Mystery, stood out among many strong entries to this year’s Daylight Photo Awards. Inspired by the mystical qualities of life, Keith makes photographs that transform otherwise ordinary scenes into enigmatic images that challenge our perception of the world around us. Though rich in visual information, the images remain difficult to decipher—they flicker between the ordinary and the unknowable, and it is in this state of limbo that Keith’s images come to life. His formal sensibilities are astute and his photographs are made with a level of care and intention that speak to his skill as an image-maker. I feel grateful to have been introduced to Tommy Keith’s work and look forward to following it in the future."
Juror: Kai Caemmerer
(SFO Museum)
www.tommykeith.net
