Since 2009 The New England Portfolio Reviews (NEPR) have been co-produced by the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA and the Photographic Resource Center (PRC), Cambridge, MA. The annual weekend event brings reviewers and photographers from New England and beyond together for two days of discussion, networking, and gaining fresh perspective on one’s work. Due to the pandemic, this year NEPR has been redeveloped as an online event to be held on August 1st and 2nd with a keynote lecture by Cristina de Middel on July 31st at 7pm.

NEPR serves photographers who are just embarking on their careers and those who have experience and are hoping to reach new audiences. The new online format allows for an expansion of participants in volume and in location including reviewers from as far as Korea and the UK. Of the 80+ participants nine are emerging photographers that have received full scholarships sponsored by Sprint Systems of Photography. We believe that providing professional opportunities to emerging photographers is key to keeping the industry strong and active and we are proud to welcome these nine photographers to NEPR: Nicole Buchanan, Atlanta, GA, 2020 graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence, RI, Granville Carroll, 2020 graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Josiah Gill, BFA candidate at RISD, Sanjé James, BFA candidate at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, Niko Krivanek, BFA candidate at RISD, Vanessa Leroy, BFA candidate at Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt), Harry Scales, 2020 graduate of New England School of Photography, Boston, MA, Tavon Taylor, Washington, DC, BFA candidate at MassArt, and Raymond Thompson, Jr., Morgantown, WV, MFA candidate at West Virginia University.

The lead sponsor for NEPR 2020 is Sprint Systems of Photography, founded in 1973 by Paul Krott. The small Woonsockett, RI company produces liquid photography chemistry for black and white film and silver gelatin prints. They are a strong advocate for photographers, students of photography and the art and process of creating the photograph. Additional sponsors include Panopticon Imaging, a Rockland, MA, photographic shop providing both digital and darkroom services as well as custom framing, digital restorations, along with matting and mounting, and Digital Silver Imaging, in Belmont, MA focusing on the fine art of printing in a digital world as the first and only New England-based photo lab to integrate photographic laser technology and classic black & white printing. We feel honored to have the support of these established members of the Boston area photography community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEPR 2020 Scholarship Awardees’ Bios

Nicole Buchanan is an artist and graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in photography. Upon graduating, Nicole was one of a few to have her work represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston, MA. While Nicole was at school, she was asked by many art galleries and museums to display her work including Harvard, Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Fine Art, Griffin Museum of Photography and more. Nicole is an enthusiastic, young photographer utilizing her skills and experiences to become a leading photographer, exploring innovative ways to invoke emotional insight into cultural and political events that shape our world. She believes that art can bring light to hot topics in a way that inspires real change in the world. Like photographer Gordon Parks, she uses her photography as a weapon to influence, trick, and even change the minds of others.

Granville Carroll is a visual artist currently based in Rochester, NY. Carroll holds an Associate in Arts from Mesa Community College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Arizona State University, and a Master of Fine Arts in photography and related media from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Carroll’s work is influenced by Afrofuturism and spirituality. Carroll reworks the physical world to address the possibility of a world beyond the material by merging images into one. His work addresses issues of representation and identity construction. He questions who we are beyond the constructs of society and labels we define ourselves with. When our physical self dissolves who are we at our core? Carroll activates this space of questioning through the imaginary landscapes and portraits he constructs.

Born in California, raised in North Carolina, Josiah Gill is a photographer who is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design. Before he ever had a camera in his hand he spent most of his time wandering the streets. Getting himself lost and finding his way back. Observing his surroundings and subtleties of human behavior. That interest led him to photographing the unpredictable nature of the street. Documenting the raw nature of the city and its people piqued his curiosity in documentary photography. He wants viewers to understand the struggle of certain groups that he feels are miss represented by others. Josiah experiments with several other methods of photography, such as exposing for highlights, long exposure, landscape, fashion, food, self portraiture, and architecture photography. Using photography as a tool to create a way for people to understand others and the world is one of many of Josiah’s artistic goals.

Sanjé James is a twenty-one year old multimedia artist with a proclivity for photography. She is currently working on her BFA in photography at Lesley Art + Design in Massachusetts. Her work focuses on the influences pop culture has on her generation and how she was influenced by it in her upbringing in the suburbs. By working in collage and video. She challenges the viewer too often reflect on the past and how society is constantly changing how we view the world.

Niko Krivanek is a photographer based in Salt Lake City. A recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design,his senior degree project Dear Sally, Love Mom explores the relationship between him and his incarcerated mother. Krivanek is invested in the truth of the photographic image, questioning the medium’s ability to accurately document the world.

Vanessa Leroy (MassArt ’21) is a 23-year-old photographer searching for new ways of seeing, remembering, and altering the world through photography. She is drawn to image making because of the power it holds to create nuanced representation for marginalized people and uplift their stories. She sees photography as a tool for social justice, and with it she hopes to create worlds that people feel as though they can enter and draw from, as well as provide a look into an experience that they may not personally recognize.

Harry Scales is a Fine Art & Editorial photographer working in New York & Boston recently graduated from the New England School of Photography’s full-time program. Influenced heavily by photographers who’ve made their work on the streets of cities & towns, Harry continues the tradition of exploring man’s relationship with one another amid society’s grapple with time. His most recent completed project, The Clover’s Shadow, explores Boston’s neighborhood’s of color with consideration for Boston’s more commonly recognized Irish identity.

Tavon Taylor is a photography-based artist from Washington, DC. He uses visual narrative as a representation of his lived experience as a queer black adult. Tavon is passionate about therepresentation of black, Indigenous, and people of color within society and in the media. He questions European concepts of beauty while creating detailed and delicate photographs through a black lens. With a strong influence of community and family, Tavon creates images that describe culture, identity, and legacy. While photographically seeking a high-powered experience, he is discovering ways to depict history, representation, and inclusion.

Raymond Thompson Jr. is a freelance photographer and multimedia producer based in Morgantown, WV. He currently works as a Multimedia Producer at West Virginia University. He is also pursing an MFA in photography from West Virginia University. He received his Masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin in journalism and graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a BA is American Studies. He has worked as a freelance photographer for The New York Times, The Intercept, NPR, NBC News, Propublica, WBEZ, Google, Merrell and the Associated Press.