The 2018 Arnold Newman Prize For New Directions in Photographic Portraiture

About the Prize
Arnold Newman had an insatiable fascination with people and the physical world around him. In his work, he constantly explored the boundaries of portraiture and embodied the spirit of artistic innovation. He was also a passionate teacher–he taught at Maine Media Workshops + College every summer for over 30 years, inspiring hundreds of artists and sharing wisdom like, “we make photographs with our hearts and with our minds.” In honor of Arnold’s legacy as both a photographer and mentor, The Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture recognizes excellence in a new generation of photographers by awarding $20,000 to a photographer whose work demonstrates a compelling new vision in the genre of portraiture. The prize, the second largest in the United States, is designed to assist the winner in continuing the pursuit of their work and to serve as a launching pad for the next phase of their careers.

Maine Media Workshops and College and the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation present the Arnold Newman Prize. Established in 2009 the prize is generously funded by the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation and proudly administered by Maine Media Workshops + College.

You can view the 2018 ANP Press Kit here. Please direct any press questions to lbrotz@mainemedia.edu.

2018 Award Winner Viktoria Sorochinski with “Daddy”
2018 Finalist Juul Kraijer with “Muse”
2018 Finalist Francesco Pergolesi with “Heroes”
2018 Finalist Donna Pinckley with “Sticks and Stones”

2018 Arnold Newman Award Winner – Viktoria Sorochinski with “Daddy”

Image Credit, Giuseppe Cozzi

Viktoria Sorochinski is a Ukrainian-born Canadian artist currently working and living in Berlin, Germany. Sorochinski acquired her Masters of Fine Arts from New York University in 2008. In the past ten years she has had nearly 60 exhibitions in 18 countries throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Sorochinski’s work is published and reviewed in over 70 international publications including her monograph “Anna & Eve” published in Germany by Peperoni Books in 2013. She is also a winner and finalist of numerous international competitions, fellowships and awards, such as Leica Oskar Barnack Award, Lucie Award (IPA-Discovery of the Year), LensCulture Exposure Award/Emerging Talent Award, Felix Scholler Award, Visible White Photo Prize (Celeste Prize), Magenta Flash Forward, PDN Photo Annual, J.M.Cameron Award, Voies Off Arles Award, Review Santa Fe, Descubrimientos PHE, BluePrint Fellowship and Canada Council for the Arts Grant among others.

Statement on “Daddy”

“Daddy” is a long term, narrative project that dwells in between documentary and fiction. Notwithstanding the staged quality of this project, it is a true story of a relationship between father and daughter (Andrew and Lucie) whom I first met in New York in 2008 and whom I follow since 9 years. All the scenes in “Daddy” project are inspired by my conversations with Andrew – conflicted young man who has decided to have a child when he was 20 years-old. During these conversations, he has generously shared with me his most concealed thoughts, feelings, fantasies and fears. The young father was going through a complex psychological conflict with himself. His unfulfilled wish to have a son turned into an unexpected reality where he has to bring up a daughter. Dealing with his own childhood memories and unsettling relationship with his own father he is overwhelmed by his weaknesses and fears, struggling with the fact that he has to be the role model for his child. Using a fiction-like, playful approach allowed me to talk about deep personal issues and psychological tensions that would have otherwise stayed behind closed doors.

In addition to the photographs, I have recorded “Daddy’s Confession” 2012 – a video that features the father’s monolog where he reflects on his ambivalent state of mind. viktoria-sorochinski.com

“I’m truly thrilled and honored to be the winner of the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture 2018! The recognition of my work by this prestigious award is one of the greatest achievements in my career as an artist-photographer to date. For many years Arnold Newman’s masterful photographic portraiture has been an inspiration for me. I feel really overwhelmed and thankful to the judges for selecting my project as the winner. I have worked on the series DADDY for nearly 10 years and I care deeply about this work and the subject of father-daughter relationships that it portrays. I am really happy that this work is going to get wide exposure thanks to the Arnold Newman Prize.” – VS

2018 Finalist – Juul Kraijer with “Muse”
Juul Kraijer was born in 1970 in The Netherlands. She lives and works in Rotterdam.

In the twenty years since she graduated from art school, Juul Kraijer’s meticulous, exploratory methods have yielded an authentic, consistent oeuvre of predominantly drawings, and several sculptures and videos. Her work has been shown widely and is in the collection of many mainly European museums.

Recently she has concentrated on making photographs, expanding and deepening her photographic universe with characteristic single-mindedness. juulkraijer.com

2018 Finalist – Francesco Pergolesi with “Heroes”
Francesco Pergolesi was born in Venice in 1975.  After a law degree he decided to dedicate his life entirely to photography and installations. His work explores the territory of memories. Every shot is a theater scene. He lives and works between Rome and Barcelona. He is represented by the Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago. francescopergolesi.com

2018 Finalist Donna Pinckley with “Sticks and Stones”

Image Credit ©Austin Polk

Donna Pinckley was born in Louisiana and has lived in the South all her life. Her work has dealt with the human condition and the intimate relationship between the subject and her audience and has evolved into her current body of work that deals with racism. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Fine Arts in photography from University of Texas at Austin.

She has received Visual Artist Fellowships from the Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA and the Arkansas Arts Council. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in over 200 solo/juried shows and included in several public collections, such as the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana, the University of VeraCruz at Xalapa, VeraCruz, Mexico, and the Photographic Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin.

In 2017, she received the Beth Block Honorarium from the Houston Center for Photography’s Member’s Show and in 2016, she was the first recipient of the Josephine Herrick Photography Award for combining photography with social justice. Also, that year, she was selected for PhotoLucida’s Critical Mass Top 50 exhibition. In both 2015 and 2014, she won Honorable Mention in the Black and White Spider Awards and in 2013, she won third place at The International Photography Awards. She has been published in GEO Germany, Black and White (UK), The Photo Review magazine, Photography Quarterly and the online   publications, www.slate.com and www.theguardian.com and www.huffingtonpost.com. She is currently Professor of Art at the University of Central Arkansas. donnapinckley.com

The Atelier Photography 28 will showcase at the Griffin from September 11 – October 5, 2018. The reception will take place on September 16, 2018 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM after Jennifer Shaw’s talk at 4:00 PM

The Atelier is a course for intermediate and advanced photographers offered by the Griffin Museum of Photography. You are invited to come view the photographs at the Griffin Museum, 67 Shore Road, Winchester, MA 01890.

Photography Atelier Instructor and Photographer Meg Birnbaum shared, “The Photography Atelier has such a long and rich history, I’m honored to be leading this workshop for emerging photographers with Amy Rindskopf assisting. The talent among the 24 members of this group show is varied and inspiring — from our relationship with architecture, memory, color, light and objects, the landscape, borders and boundaries and portraits — the show is very satisfying feast for the eyes and soul.”

The photographers of Photography Atelier 28 include: Edward Boches, Ann Boese, Terry Bleser, Sally Bousquet, Larry Bruns, Lee Cott, Fehmida Chipty, Corinne DiPietro, Jackie Heitchue, Cynthia Johnston, Laura Jolly, Shelby Meyerhoff, Judith Montminy, Jeff Mulliken, Juan Murray, Leslie Myers, Nancy Nichols, Vivian Poey, Larry Raskin, Astrid Reischwitz, Darrell Roak, Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson, Donna Tramontozzi and Maria Verrier.

Ann Boese with ‘Interlude’ explores how the ocean’s edge reminds her of growing up in the Midwest.

Astrid Reischwitz with ‘Spin Club Tapestry’ examines a tradition from her home in Northern Germany where the village women would gather together to talk and stitch textiles for their homes.

Claudia Ruiz-Gustafson with ‘She’ finds inspiration in an ancient poem found in a cave in Egypt that is as relevant today as it was in the first century.

Corinne DiPietro’s long-term project ‘Human Nature‘ captures life in the Victory Gardens in Boston, one of America’s oldest continuously operating World War II community gardens.

Cynthia Johnston went on a road trip ‘Somewhere in the Middle‘ and returned with surprising images of the continuing myths and symbols found in the middle of the US.

Darrell Roak’s project ‘Glimpses of the Past’ is printed in gorgeous black, white and grays. He photographs historical artifacts and places that he feels a personal connection.

Donna Tramontozzi in ‘Becoming Animal’ visits aquariums and places where one can see animals up close although not in their natural habitats. She watches patiently for moments where she can imagine that captivity is forgotten for a moment and behavior is as natural as in the wilds.

Edward Boches ‘Slowly at First’ compassionately photographed the last days of his mother’s life and the families that grieved with him.

Fehmida Chipty in ‘Color and Light’ creates color-rich abstract images by showing us interior architectural spaces and presenting them to us in handsome new ways.

Jackie Heitchue’s self-portraits called ‘Just me’ shows different sides of herself by constructing complicated environments and transforming herself through the use of costumes.

Jeff Mulliken project is about the ‘Elm Street Dam, in Kingston MA.’ which was a significant place for him growing up. Jeff discovered that the dam is to be taken down in the near future so he explored and documented the dam and the roaring power of water as it is now.

 Juan Murray in ‘Anonymity’ adds a new layer of narrative to his work with a local non-profit agency on the subject of homelessness in Massachusetts.

Judith Montminy’s project ‘Inside/Out’ creates compelling parallel worlds through reflections in windows and mirror-like surfaces.

Larry Bruns recorded and abstracted the changing seasons of natural color as reflected in different bodies of water in his body of work called ‘Carpe Diem‘.

In ‘Nature Nurtures‘ Larry Raskin takes weekly healing walks through the woods and photographs the quiet and surprising things he comes across.

The citizens and city of Chelsea, Massachusetts, enthralled Laura Jolly. In particular she was interested in the people who independently fish the waterfront and harbor side. The body of work is called ‘Admirals Hill‘.

In ‘Architecture Never-the-less‘, retired architect Lee Cott sees inherent design in most structures big and small. In this project he considers the creative thought and decision making that went into abandoned roadside vegetable and fruit stands.

Leslie Myers project called ‘It seems that this- the day- returns but counterclockwise’ employs the panoramic image to explore the time, space and motion of particular places.

In ‘Not Forgotten‘ Maria Verrier discovered a box full of her family’s old worn shoes. She set about creating portraits of the shoe’s owners by creating significant environments for the shoes that reflect the person and time.

In the portfolio ‘Stand Here‘, Nancy Nichols creates colorful, evocative images of places and things hoping to inspire the viewer to imagine their own narrative.

Sally Bousquet’s portfolio ‘A Modern Family‘ presents a larger and more emotional slice of a family’s history than the more posed and formal images we become accustomed to seeing on social media.

Shelby Meyerhof in ‘Zoomorphics‘ transforms her appearance using complex and detailed body paint into creatures inspired by what she finds in nature.

Terry Bleser’s six-year project ‘Tree and Door‘ explores a quiet story that built over time. The shared life of the two central figures helped the artist to realize a deeper understanding of her own yearnings and dreams.

Vivian Poey’s ‘Barquito de Papel: we are not butterflies‘ explores migration both personal to the artist and as a timely Trump-era hot button issue. This portfolio is part of long-term explorations into borders and barriers.

Photography Atelier Website

PhotoSynthesis is a collaboration of the Winchester High School and Burlington High School brought to you by the Griffin Museum of Photography.

By creating photographic portraits of themselves and their surroundings, students from Burlington High School and Winchester High School have been exploring their sense of self and place in a unique collaborative program at the Griffin Museum.

In its thirteenth year, the 5-month program connects approximately 20 students – from each school – with each other and with professional photographers. The goal is to increase students’ awareness of the art of photography, as well as how being from different programs and different schools affects their approach to the same project.

The students were given the task of creating a body of work that communicates a sense of self and place.  They were encouraged to explore the importance of props, the environment, facial expression, metaphor, and body language in portrait photography.

Students met in November with David Weinberg, who after a 28-year career as an academic pathologist at a Boston teaching hospital, decided to pursue his longstanding interest in photography on a full-time basis. For many years his research explored the use of digital imaging to detect and classify human disease, so it was entirely natural for him to adopt digital photography for his personal work. In 2006 he obtained a Certificate in Professional Photography from the Center for Digital Imaging and the Arts at Boston University.

His personal work consists mainly of portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, and still life. His photographs are an attempt to deal with the mystery of the visual world, which he sometimes find humorous, sometimes soothing, and often confusing. Although the various series of photographs in his portfolio may at first appear unrelated, they are linked by desire to discover a spiritual connection to the subject. His series, “Palimpsest,” is perhaps most explicit in this regard.

Keiko Hiromi met with students in February and discussed her photography journey especially her project on survivors of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. Keiko Hiromi is a Japanese photographer based in Boston, USA & Tokyo, Japan.   Her work has appeared on NYT, People Magazine, Vanity Fair, El Pais, Der Spiegel, Diamond Weekly (japan), Boston Globe, PRI and ABC news and many more publications around the globe.  Keiko is a regular contributor for Huffington Post Japan.  She is available for assignments world-wide. She has international honors, has exhibited widely and is represented internationally in museum collections internationally.

Students also met with photographer Sam Sweezy to discuss sequencing of images. Sweezy is a professional fineart and commercial photographer and educator who resides in Newton, MA. He has exhibited at major photography venues including the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.

Alison Nordstrom, the former curator of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and photographer Sweezy gathered with students for a one-on-one discussion of their work and a final edit was created for the exhibition at the museum.

“In collaboration and through creative discourse these students have grown,” said Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum. “We are very pleased to be able to share this year’s students’ work. We thank the mentors and teachers for providing a very meaningful experience for the students. We also want to thank the Griffin Foundation and the Murphy Foundation, whose continued commitment to this project made learning possible. To paraphrase Elliot Eisner, the arts enabled these students to have an experience that they could have from no other source.’’