There’s some great work to be seen among the Center Project Award winners. Here are some, but not all, of the projects I loved:

Brian Ulrich Dark Stores, Ghost Boxes, and Dead Malls

Mark Menjivar You Are What You Eat

Damion Berger R.S.V.P. – The End Of Opulence

Peter van Agtmael American Wars

Michael Christopher Brown Journey to Sakhalin

Observations

Now, I wouldn’t be much of a commentator if I didn’t make any obsverations about the mix of photographic projects here. The ones above are quite familiar styles of images, I think – though all done very well. I wouldn’t complain about any of them winning the first prize – All of the projects are very contemporary in their subject matter (some much more than others) and execution. However, the winner was a break from them in a few ways – the project was called JoJo by Cori Chandler-Pepelnjak.

First of all (and I may be wrong here, since I’m unable to find much information on this person) the winner is female. I’m not sure if the judges were looking at the people at all, but there tends to be a gender gap in photography. I wouldn’t suggest this is why they won, but it is interesting to me. I know some female photographers who submitted who I think had much stronger work, and I’m sad that they did not get in, but I hope they will submit again.

The work was also shot digitally, as far as I can tell, and comes from a different vein of photography. It seems, however, to have a lot more in common with cobrasnake and facebook than with the “grand photographic tradition.” This, by itself, isn’t a bad thing at all. I think if shaped in the right way, such a project could be really interesting. I love to see that style of photography and those aspects of youth culture critiqued.

However, what we’ve got here looks like someone simply picked the best shots from someone’s actual facebook profile – maybe the best friend of this 14 year old hipster kid. The artist statement isn’t making me feel any better about this: “These photographs—part of an ongoing documentary project—expose, without fully illuminating, the unconventional and licentious world that is JoJo’s.” Unconventional? This reminds me so strongly of the writing that carles uses to deconstruct the “alternative” lifestyle that I had to send him an email about it.

I struggle to see what is so interesting about these pictures – maybe it’s because I’m in it so deep already – I’m an art school youth, I’ve taken pictures like these and I’ve been in pictures like these. I’ve got a flickr account, a facebook account, and I’m part of a blog culture that’s well aware of last night’s party. Maybe the judges weren’t – maybe this is somehow startlingly new to them. But I just can’t get it. Is this about how “unique” her life is? About how much of the nation’s youth is involved in similar “unique” lives?

If I knew this was a guy photographer, after reading the statement – “Her posture, her sensuality, her indecipherable age, and her idiosyncratic mannerisms and interactions confused me—in a glance I was intrigued” – I’d say it wiffed of pedophelia, or at the very least some Carrollian “innocent adventures” style fascination. (Beth says I’m being disingenuous here – it could easily be a lesbian pedophile).

Cori says “I want the viewer to experience the allure of JoJo and to wrestle with her discord. ”

Wrestle with what? What is the content here?

Because I’ve been staring at these images for about an hour now and so far all I’m getting is – “My parents are (possibly) rich and let me run around the city, I’m hip, but sometimes tired and confronted with vaguly negative aspects of my lifestyle. Also I have a dog. It’s tough being fourteen. Do you like my glasses?”

I have nothing personally against this girl or the photographer – I’m sure they’re very nice – but I just don’t think it’s the most important or well executed project.

This reminds me so much of Brian’s Crisis post – we’re in the middle of a meltdown wrapped around a technological revolution – and yet somehow our focus is still on pretty young things partying in new york city – on photos taken almost celebrating this lifestyle instead of actually examining how this focus impacts society. I could see someone arguing that this is exactly the debate the jury is looking for with their selection… but I just don’t buy it.