Juror's Bio
A Dallas native, Ben Breard is the Founder and Owner of Afterimage Gallery, one of the oldest art galleries in the world devoted to photography. Breard, a graduate of St. Mark’s School of Texas, earned a BS in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago and an MS in Photojournalism from Syracuse University in New York. In a 2017 interview, he shared that his passion for photography began as a hobby as he photographed for his college yearbook. When he started to really view the work of his fellow graduate students, he realized he “was not all that good … that talented or creative,” he noted. “So I thought well, maybe I can sell photographs.”

And so his career as a gallery owner and art dealer (photography specific) began. In his 47 years, Breard has had faithful clientele who understand what they like in a photograph. He has learned that it is the strength of a photographer’s work, his or her creativity and talent, that makes a photograph valuable in the eyes of a gallery. Afterimage is one of the longest running dedicated photography galleries in the world, offering original prints by some of the greatest photographers in history, including Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson, as well as representing renowned contemporary artists such as George Tice and Michael Massaia. Browsing through the treasures of photography in Breard’s gallery is a treat for any photography lover or collector.

Breard’s years of experience and his discerning eye allow him to give advice to up-and-coming photographers. “The main thing young photographers got to know is that they need to shoot all the time, work hard at it,” Breard said. “Some people are naturally talented. It’s amazing. They can produce a strong body of work in just a few years. But those individuals are few and far between. So many people come in here [the gallery] while they are in college, and they have been working for a year. They don’t understand the cost, the time involved. Or they won’t have a style. Their photographs are all over the place. They need to develop a style, work harder at it.” We are thrilled to have Breard’s experienced input for the 30th Black & White Images Competition and Exhibition.

Juror's Bio
Susan kae Grant received an MFA in Photography and Book Arts in 1979 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since 1975 she has produced 13 limited edition handmade books. Her most recent book, Shadowed Memory was created during a 2005 residency at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York. She taught at Wayne State University from 1979-81 and joined the faculty at Texas Woman’s University in 1981, where she is currently Professor and Head of the Photography Area. She is on the staff of the International Center of Photography where she teaches bookmaking workshops. In 2003 and 2005, she was the recipient of the Society for Photographic Education “Freestyle Crystal Apple Award”, as well as “The Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award” in 2004 from the Santa Fe Center for Photography.

Grant has conducted bookmaking workshops, lectured on artists’ books and exhibited her work throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, British Columbia, Africa and Japan. Her works are included in numerous public collections, including The George Eastman House; The J. Paul Getty Museum; The Minneapolis Art Institute; The Tokyo Museum of Photography; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and The Victoria and Albert Museum National Library. She is represented by Conduit Gallery in Dallas, Texas; Verve Gallery of Photography Santa Fe, New Mexico; Modernbook Gallery, Palo Alto, California; Galerie BMG, Woodstock, New York; and Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, LTD, Birmingham, Alabama.

Juror's Bio
Bryan Florentin approaches photography and installation in various ways, often exploring the ontological/phenomenological aspects of images and objects. Recent work deals specifically with the relationship between material reality and photography. An active member of the Society of Photographic Education (SPE), Bryan is currently chair of the South-Central region. He has served on several SPE committees, including peer review, various national and regional conference committees, and an ad hoc committee to define the structure of the LGBTQ caucus. In 2013, he curated the exhibition Materiality and Identity: Garth Amundson, Pierre Gour, and Paho Mann and wrote the catalogue essay. The exhibition was at the Gallery at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) where Bryan is a senior lecturer. He holds an MFA in Photography from the University of North Texas, Denton, and a BA in Art and Performance from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Juror’s Statement
The 430 images submitted for the competition were distributed across eight categories: Animals/Nature, Architecture, Experimental, Landscape/Cityscape, Photo Essay, Photojournalism, Portrait and Still Life. Such a wide range of categories, coupled with a relatively large number of images, resulted in a group of remarkably diverse photographs. Even work that wasn’t chosen in the Experimental category often showed experimentation in terms of how the students approached their subjects and how they think about photography as a medium. Selecting just over 100 images was a challenge, given that the majority of the work submitted was very high in quality. In fact, a number of the students are already producing college-level work. The photographs submitted for this exhibition, whether or not they were selected, often reflect technical skills that range from very good to excellent, even exceptional. The lighting in most of the work is frequently a significant component of the images and usually illustrates a good understanding of the importance of matching quality of light to content. A fair amount of these photographs are conceptually sophisticated, particularly in some of the cinematic/narrative images. It was good to see so many students exploring black and white photography in so many different ways, even at times pushing the boundaries of the definition of black and white. I hope that all of these students continue pursuing photography, and I encourage them to seriously consider studying the medium at universities and colleges as they work to develop their practice and define their photographic vision and voice.

Bryan Florentin
Senior Lecturer
Art, Art History, Design & New Media
UT Arlington