Last week and this week, Lenscratch will be celebrating the 2014 CENTER Award Winners. We are thrilled to align with such a wonderful organization that honors, supports, and provides opportunities to gifted and committed photographers. For 20 years, CENTER has launched careers, provided incredible exposure and inspired photographers to create work that excites and challenges the photographic dialogue.

Today we celebrate Ryan Zoghlin‘s Gallerist’s Choice 3rd Place Award starting with juror, Steffi Schulze’s, statement.
GALLERIST’S CHOICE: Juror’s Statement

JUROR STEFFI SCHULZE, Gallery Management, Camera Work, Germany

First of all, I would like to express my thanks to all applicants for their diverse portfolios and for the opportunity to assess and evaluate the work. I am very impressed by the variety and diversity of the presented photographs.

Almost all of the submitted portfolios convinced with professionalism, creativity and technical knowledge. Corresponding to that, it was not an easy decision to choose three winners. Single images or whole stories needed to be able to leave a strong impression and catch your eye or your emotion.

For me, it is of utmost importance to see continuity, a personal handwriting, and images with a personal touch. Individual pictures aroused my interest directly, but the further photographs within the portfolio didn’t convince quite as much. In some portfolios, the idea behind the image or the story was terrific but the final result respectively the photograph was unfortunately not that persuasive to go for the next round.

Creativity, craftsmanship, continuity and ability are the important factors, which I saw in most of the submitted portfolios.

In particular I was impressed by those portfolios, which documented either a political or a private story and presented a balanced mix between portraits and still life.

Finally I decided for the three portfolios by Jeanine Michna Bale, Barbara Hazen and Ryan Zoghlin – although are very different, they were touching in a very special way. In my opinion they are outstanding, because of the dramaturgy of light, the composition and the preservation of old photographic techniques that merge with modern aesthetics.

— Steffi Schulze, Gallery Management, Camera Work, Germany

Project Statement: “Aerotones Too” / “Talisman”

Purpose;
To be carried close to oneself, in a pocket or purse, for protection, courage and good
luck. To take ones mind off of the more stressful parts of ones day. To create
sentimental value as apposed to monetary.

After gaining a solid technical background in photographic illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology, Ryan Zoghlin decided to explore photography as an art form at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received his BFA in photography and sculpture in 1991. From his own constructed landscapes, to documentation of travels through Asia, Eastern Europe and Hawaii, Ryan’s portfolio is a study in diversity. Though his subject matter is varied, the intensity and thought put into each project is the same.

While a majority of his recent work has been produced as digital prints from both color negatives and digital files, most of Ryan’s work is done traditionally in a personal darkroom he has maintained for the last 25 years. He regularly uses alternative processes such as kallitypes, ambrotypes, cyanotypes, and orotones. His work in orotones has been included in the Getty Conservation Institute’s Research on the Conservation of Photographs project. Ryan’s work is also in the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston and has been included in the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s Midwest Photographers Project, where it was available “…as a resource for students, researchers, curators, historians, and the general public.” A recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship and a Buhl Foundation Grant, Ryan’s work has been featured in publications including Black & White Magazine, Photography Quarterly, Camera Arts Magazine, Diffusion and Photo District News 2007 and 2008 Photo Annuals. He has shown three times in Evanston Art Center’s Vicinity Biennial and in the Rockford Museum of Arts Regional Exhibition.

Ryan is currently represented by Meter Gallery in New York, NY, Photoeye Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, and John Cleary Gallery in Houston, TX and regularly exhibits around Chicago. Based in Chicago, Ryan works both in studio and on location, locally and abroad. He accepts commissioned assignments, and his images are available as stock or fine art prints.