It gives me great pleasure to award the 2014 Lenscratch First Prize in Student Photography to the very talented Frances Denny.  Frances’ photographs seem to be everywhere and in fact,  I juried one into the upcoming Griffin Museum exhibition, before I looked at the submissions for the Lenscratch Award. But I am not the only one celebrating Ms. Denny. Take a look at what she has going on at the moment, including attending Review Santa Fe at the end of this week:
-2014 / Aperture, 2014 Aperture Summer Open, a group exhibition curated by Chris Boot in New York, NY (July 17-August TBD).
-2014 / ClampArt, Rhode Island School of Design 2014 MFA Graduate Show, a group exhibition in NY, NY (July 10-19).
-2014 / The Griffin Museum of Photography, 20th Juried Exhibition, a group exhibition curated by Aline Smithson in Winchester, MA (July 10-August 31).
-2014 / Gallery Photographica, San Francisco International Photography Exhibition, a group exhibition curated by Paula Tognarelli in San Francisco, CA (August 2014-dates TBD).
-2014 / The Center for Fine Art Photography, Portfolio Showcase Volume 7, a group exhibition curated by Alexa Becker in Fort Collins, CO (June 6-July 26).

Needless to say that Frances is well on her way to a successful fine art career. She just received her MFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design (’14) and her work has been exhibited in New York, Rhode Island, Maine, Missouri, Colorado, Indiana, Vermont, and Seoul, South Korea. Past editorial clients include Art Review, The Boston Globe, Architectural Digest, Into The Gloss, and Wilder Quarterly, and her work has been featured in Aint-Bad Magazine,A Public Space, ISO, Tonelit, and on Flak Photo. Frances is also a Founding Editor of Scrapped, an annual art journal showcasing the work of emerging artists working in all media. Frances currently spends the majority of her time in Providence, RI and New York City.

Let Virtue Be Your Guide

Let Virtue Be Your Guide (2014) documents the female members of my New England family. The photographs examine a kind of metaphorical inheritance: the values, traditions, and virtues that are passed down from one generation of women to the next. In the images, resemblances and divergences emerge between the generations; a tension between surface and internality, legacy and embodiment. In the pictures, we sense the passage of time, as well as my own struggle with an inherited definition of femininity.