Getting your work seen is one of the most challenging tasks, even in the digital era. The problem is all those tremendous photographers out there. They do great work, and we're all trying to get through a narrow portal and depending on the judgement of a person, the juror, who knows nothing at all about us. They have our images to be filtered through the theme of a show, the size of the gallery, how they react to our work on their computer monitor. Maybe others are better photographers than me and they get more acceptances for that good reason, or maybe others deal with rejection better. It's still a disappointment for me, whenever my work isn't accepted. It is easier to take, when I look at the accepted artists and think, " That's great work. I hope I can do as well in the future."
That makes it especially satisfying to get into a competitive gallery like the ASmith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas. Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully run a first-rate operation there. The shows are always outstanding and draw photographers from the US and beyond. And they are great people.
One of my works, "Big Rig," was accepted in "Vistas" at ASmith by Dan Burkholder, and outstanding photographer whose work I admire. He also has some distant personal connections to me. We have never met, but he's about the same age, was raised in Hagerstown, MD and went to college at Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA. I'm living in Annapolis, MD and went to Dickinson College, down the road from Lancaster in Carlisle, PA.
"Big Rig" was shot through the cab windshield of a big rig truck while I was acting as a courier for the National Gallery of Art. We were transporting a 17th-century painting to the museum of art in Quebec City. As you can see in the photo, the trip began in a downpour, and it continued most of the trip. You truly get a different experience of the road in the cab of a long-haul truck. One thing I learned from such trips is; have some respect for the drivers. It's a tough job.
"Big Rig" will be at the ASmith Gallery in "Vistas" from November 3 - December 17, 2017.