Critical Mass Jury 2014: By Category

Image: Emer Gillespie, 2013 Critical Mass Top 50
Each year, we assemble a jury of 200+ top photography professionals to weigh in on Critical Mass. The jurors lend their expertise, passion, and informed opinion to the process, and choose our Top 50 photographers from a field of 200 finalists. While there are (substantial) awards involved in Critical Mass, the primary focus is exposure: getting photographers’ work in front of the decision makers in the field. It’s not easy to get work “out there,” into the hands of people who can offer exhibitions, publications, and other opportunities. We designed Critical Mass to facilitate these important connections. When inviting jurors, we make a great effort to choose people from all sides of the industry. We want to make sure that photographers gain exposure across multiple platforms. To this end, we invite gallerists, dealers, museum curators, book publishers, agents, editorial professionals, nonprofit and photo center curators/directors, new media producers, photo festival leaders, and others who are poised to offer career-building opportunities. We thought it would be nice to break down the jury by specialty, to clearly show what a diverse and well-positioned group it is (see below).

“I’ve been amazed by how many high-placed gatekeepers I meet who are familiar with my work. Introductions are much more fruitful when I am talking with someone who has spent time with my images as a CM judge.”

-Noah David Bau

“My Critical Mass experience has been wonderful. Not only has it raised the profile of my work, it has opened doors.”
-Kirk Crippens

“I have so much excellent new work on the radar that I might not have seen without Critical Mass.”
-Lisa Woodward (juror), Pictura Gallery

 

“Through the Critical Mass jurying process, I lost count of how many unique and exciting portfolios I discovered for the first time. I’ve already begun the process of contacting artists.”
-Gregory Eddi Jones (juror), In the In-Between

 

Read more success stories.
Still considering entering Critical Mass? The deadline is just a week away!

GALLERIES & DEALERS
Peggy Sue Amison (East Wing, Dubai), Claudia James Bartlett (Cohen Gallery & Photo L.A.), Lars Boering (LUX Photo Gallery), Ed Carey (Gallery 291), Joseph Carroll (Carroll & Sons Gallery), Brie Castell (Castell Photography Gallery), Julie Castellano (Edwynn Houk Gallery), Brian Clamp (ClampArt), Kathleen Clark (Spot Photo Works), Debra Klomp Ching (Klompching Gallery), Daniel Cooney (Daniel Cooney Fine Art), Elizabeth Corden & Jan Potts (Corden|Potts Gallery), Karen Davis (Davis Orton Gallery), Arnika Dawkins (Arnika Dawkins Gallery), Jennifer DeCarlo (jdc Fine Art), Crista Dix (wall space Gallery), Michael Foley (Foley Gallery), Gail Gibson (G. Gibson Gallery), Yumi Goto (Reminders Photography Stronghold), Michael & Chelsea Granger (LightBox Photographic Gallery), Charles Guice (Charles Guice Contemporary), Leslie Hammons (Weinstein Gallery), Jennifer Schlesinger Hanson (Verve Gallery of Photography), Charles A. Hartman (Charles A. Hartman Fine Art), Elizabeth Houston (Hous Projects), Lisa Janes (Alibi Fine Art), Eric J. Keller (Soulcatcher Studio), Anne Kelly (photo-eye Gallery), Tanya Kiang (Gallery of Photography, Ireland), Kat Kiernan (Kiernan Gallery/ Don’t Take Pictures Magazine), Paul Kopeikin (Kopeikin Gallery), Olivia Lahs-Gonzales (The Sheldon Art Galleries), Dina Mitrani (Dina Mitrani Gallery), Susan Nalband (555 Gallery), Jens Erdman Rasmussen (Peter Lav Gallery), Dana Salvo (Clark Gallery), Danny Sanchez (Modernbook Gallery), Tina Schelhorn (Galerie Lichtblick), Martha Schneider (Schneider Gallery), Randall Scott (Randall Scott Projects), Mark Sink (Gallery Sink), Todd Tubutis & Christina Spielvogel (Blue Sky Gallery), Susan Spiritus (Susan Spiritus Gallery), Gordon Stettinius (Candela Books + Gallery), Claire Sykes (Circuit Gallery), Corinne Tapia (Sous Les Etoiles Gallery), Lisa Woodward (Pictura Gallery)

MUSEUMS
Alexandra Athanasiadou (Thessaloniki Museum of Photography), Fabian Goncalves Borrega (Art Museum of the Americas), Natasha Egan (Museum of Contemporary Photography), Luke Erickson (Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography), Jens Friis (Museet for Fotokunst Brandts/KATALOG), Kristen Gresh (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Lisa Hostetler (George Eastman House), Jessica Johnston (George Eastman House), Arif Khan (Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences), Cathy Kimball (San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art), Stu Levy (Portland Art Museum Photography Council/Photolucida), Eric Lutz (Saint Louis Art Museum), Paul Martineau (J. Paul Getty Museum), Walter Mason (Haggerty Museum of Art), Richard McCabe (Ogden Museum of Southern Art), Carol McCusker (Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art), Jessica McDonald (Harry Ransom Center), Kevin Miller (Southeast Museum of Photography), Chantel Paul (Museum of Photographic Arts), Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (Finnish Museum of Photography), Eve Schillo (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Rebecca Senf (Phoenix Art Museum & Center for Creative Photography), Dan Silverstein (Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art), Karen Sinsheimer (Santa Barbara Museum of Art), Sujong Song (The Photography Museum, Seoul), Lisa J. Sutcliffe (Milwaukee Art Museum), Paula Tognarelli (Griffin Museum of Photography), Katherine Ware (New Mexico Museum of Art), Tim Wride (Norton Museum of Art), Yuko Yamaji (Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts), Del Zogg (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

BOOK PUBLISHERS & AGENTS
Andrea Albertini (Damiani Editore), Sara Bader & Jennifer Lippert (Princeton Architectural Press), Alexa Becker (Kehrer Verlag Publishers), Mary Bisbee-Beek (Schilt Publishing), Maggie Blanchard (Twin Palms Publishers), Paul Buckley (Penguin Books), Tony Cederteg (Libraryman), Bridget Coaker (Troika Editions), Luca Desienna (Gomma Books, Ltd.), Mary Goodwin (Waltz Books), Nick Haymes (Little Big Man Books & Gallery), Michael Itkoff (Daylight Books & Daylight Digital), John Jenkins (Decode Books), Dewi Lewis (Dewi Lewis Publishing), Melanie McWhorter (photo-eye Books & Prints), Aron Mörel (Mörel Books), Robert Morton (Robert Morton Books), Chris Pichler (Nazraeli Press), Bill Schwab (North Light Press), Hannes Wanderer (Peperoni Books & 25Books)

EDITORIAL
Anna Alexander (Wired), Daphné Anglès (New York Times, Paris Bureau), Jacqueline Bates (California Sunday Magazine), Susan Burnstine (Black and White Photography Magazine), Darren Ching (Photo District News), Stacey D. Clarkson (Harper’s Magazine), Stacey McCarroll Cutshaw (Exposure, SPE), Anna G. Dickson (Huffington Post), Christophe Dillinger (Square Magazine), Sarah Kobos (ABC News & Getty Images), Elizabeth Krist (National Geographic Society), Krista Prestek (GQ), Arianna Rinaldo (OjodePez Magazine/Cortona On The Move International Photo Festival), Conor Risch (Photo District News), Lizabeth Ronk (Life.com/Time Magazine), David Rosenberg (Slate Magazine: Behold Blog), Brian Storm (MediaStorm), Patricia Nagy Travieso (ELLE Magazine International Editions), Erik Vroons (GUP Magazine), Jill Waterman (PDNedu & ASMP Bulletin), Amy Wolff (PDN), Jonathan Woods (Time Magazine)

NONPROFITS & PHOTO CENTERS
Kyohei Abe (Detroit Center for Creative Photography), Suzanne Buljan (Australian Center for Photography), Alessandra Capodacqua (Fondazione Studio Marangoni), Linda Connor (Photo Alliance), Bevin Bering Dubrowski (Houston Center for Photography), Roy Flukinger (Harry Ransom Center), Harris Fogel (Sol Mednik Gallery & Gallery 1401), Sarah Fuller (Banff Centre), Hamidah Glasgow (Center for Fine Art Photography), Tom Griggs (Fototazo), Divya Rao Heffley (Hillman Photography Initiative), Stephanie Heimann (Fovea Exhibitions), Tricia Hoffman (Newspace Center for Photography), Jason Houston (Blue Earth Alliance), Tsuyoshi Ito (Project Basho & Onward), Ann Jastrab (RayKo Photo Center), Laura Valenti Jelen (Photolucida), Rupert Jenkins (Colorado Photographic Arts Center), Joni Kabana (Photolucida), Shane Lavalette (Light Work), Ryan Libre (Documentary Arts Asia), Celina Lunsford (Fotografie Forum Frankfurt), Lesley Meyer (Annenberg Space for Photography), Laura Moya (Photolucida), Ann Pallesen (Photographic Center Northwest), Mary Anne Redding (Santa Fe University of Art & Design), Miriam Romais (En Foco), Ariel Shanberg (The Center for Photography at Woodstock), J.D. Talasek (National Academy of Sciences), Clint Wilour (Galveston Arts Center), Jules Wright (The Wapping Project, Bankside)

ONLINE & NEW MEDIA PLATFORMS
Andy Adams (Flak Photo), Daniel Augschoell (Ahorn Magazine), Elizabeth Avedon (L’Oeil de la Photographie), Nathalie Belayche (Food for Your Eyes, Paris), Pete Brook (Prison Photography & Wired.com), Daniel Echevarria (One, One Thousand), Jon Feinstein (Humble Arts Foundation & Shutterstock), Taj Forer (Daylight Magazine), David Andrew Frey (Culturehall), Gergory Eddi Jones (In the In-Between), Christy Karpinski (F-Stop Magazine), Rachel Nusbaum (Lonely Planet/Diomedia/Getty Images), Rixon Reed (Photo-Eye & Art Photographer Index), Heidi Romano (Unless You Will), Pieter Wisse (500 Photographers), Alice Yoo & Eugene Kim (My Modern Metropolis), Alison Zavos (Feature Shoot)

PHOTO FESTIVAL EXHIBITION VENUES
Tuula Alajoki (Backlight Photo Festival), Sam Barzilay (United Photo Industries/Photoville), Carlos Carvalho (FestFoto International Festival of Photography, Brazil), Irina Chmyreva (Photovisa & Russian Academy of Fine Arts), Hugues Dugas (Le Mois de la Photo å Montréal), Clara Hickey (Belfast Exposed Photography), Victoria Hindley (LOOK3), Hélène Joye-Cagnard (Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography), Mindaugas Kavaliauskas (Kaunas Photo & F Galerija), Christophe Laloi (Voies Off Festival, Rencontres d’Arles), Silvia Mangialardi (Encuentros Abiertos – Festival de la Luz), Jeff Moorfoot (Ballarat International Foto Biennale), Laura Pressley (Center), Irma Puttonen (Photographic Centre Nykyaika/Backlight Photo Festival), Philippe Serenon (PhotoMed Mediterranean Photography Festival), JJ Estrada Toledo & Clara de Tezanos (La Fototeca & GuatePhoto)

OTHER
Regina Anzenberger (Anzenberger Agency), Elisabeth Biondi (Independent Curator), Leslie K. Brown (Independent Curator), Bridget Coaker (Troika Editions), Alyssa Coppelman (Independent Photo Editor), Eugénie Frerichs (Wieden + Kennedy), Stephanie Gonot (Redeye Represents), W.M. Hunt (Collection Dancing Bear), Dennis Kiel (Independent Curator & Consultant), Frank Konhaus (Cassilhaus), Michelle Lamuniere (Skinner Auctioneers & Appraisers), Alexandra Le Faou (Foto+Synthesis), Yan Li (Beijing High Noon Fine Art & People’s Photography), Nadja Masri (Independent Photo Editor), Larissa Leclair (Indie Photobook Library), Rodrigo Orrantia (DMB Creatives / Lucid-ly), Joaquim Paiva (Collector), Madeline Yale Preston (Independent Curator), Lauren Steel (Reportage by Getty Images), Jennifer Stoots (Stoots, Fine Art Appraising), Mary Virginia Swanson (M.V. Swanson & Associates), Francine Weiss (Independent Curator)