First Place: Jeff Evans
L.A. Photo Curator: Global Photography Awards - 'Where Photography & Philanthropy Meet' First Place: Jeff Evans (Click on image for larger view)
BUSEY WOODS by Jeff Evans
FIRST PLACE
(Click on image for larger view)

Curator Jeff Alu review: "I appreciate not only that Jeff found this image worthy of photographing, but also the way in which he photographed it. 

The composition is not trying to be clever, and I don’t feel the ego of the photographer at all.  The stairs take center stage and Jeff allows them to exist on their own terms without manipulating them in a way which might otherwise falsely over-heighten their psychological impact. 

Their innocence and simplicity alone increases that impact. I could go into heavy, philosophical interpretations about the image, but I think that would be a mistake.  The power of this image comes from its ability to elicit personal thoughts and emotions from each viewer and the calm, quiet and wordless moment it suggests.  I decline even to talk about compositional aspects, as does it really matter?  I just want to continue looking at the image.

Thank you Jeff for producing what I find to be a truly exceptional photograph.

I would love to know if this is something that you found walking along which made you stop in your tracks, or did you find it and wait for the right time to take the shot?  Also, what were your considerations in the processing of the image and how did you enhance it?"

Jeff Evans: "During a walk with a friend in the spring of 2001 she showed me the steps and I took a photo of her sitting on them. 

A couple years ago I took a photo of the steps in the fall, with leaves on them.  But the photo didn't have any sense of mystery that I associate with the steps. 

So last year I tried photographing them several times during the summer at different times of the day until I got a shot of the light shining through the trees onto the steps.

Using Adobe Lightroom, I increased the contrast of the photo slightly to increase the mystery.  The steps aren't part of a house foundation, like I originally imagined, but part of a load of concrete that was dumped there and the woods grew up around it."

Jeff Evans says of his work, "I photograph ordinary objects and situations that often go unnoticed because they're ordinary and everyday. Once noticed, however, they defy expectations because there’s something out of the ordinary about them.

The photographs are made in an objective documentary style, but have a sense of humor that undermines their objectivity.

I’m interested in seeing with clarity, in elements of surprise, humor, the slightly surreal, and teasing the viewer about what is real and what is not."
 
Jeff Evans' job as a rocket scientist wasn’t as exciting as he expected, so he took some photography classes as a creative outlet.  Soon he was going to exhibits in galleries and museums and had collected 300 photo books.  But he found the best way of learning was taking lots of pictures. 

www.jeffevans.carbonmade.com
 
Artist Resume
 
Selected Shows:
 
2017:
“Topographies”, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS

 “Bending the Truth”, Woody Gaddis Gallery, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK
 
“Around the Block II”, Giertz Gallery, Parkland College, Champaign, IL
“Davis Orton/ Griffin Museum Photobook 2016”, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
 
2016:
 
“INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks”, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
 
“Davis Orton/ Griffin Museum Photobook 2016”, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY
 
“Alumni Exhibition”, Giertz Gallery, Parkland College, Champaign, IL
 
“59th Beloit & Vicinity”, Wright Art Museum, Beloit College, Beloit, WI
 
“Transitional Landscapes”, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
Juror: Natasha Egan, Exec. Director, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
“GALEX 50”, Galesburg Art Center, Galesburg, IL
“Davis Orton/ Griffin Museum Photobook 2015”, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
 
2015:
 
“Davis Orton/ Griffin Museum Photobook 2015”, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY
 
"2nd Open Call Photography Exhibition", Peter Miller Fine Arts, Providence, RI  Juror: Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum of Photography
 
"Cedarhurst Biennial", Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, IL
 
“Hoosier Salon vs. IMOCA”, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis, IN
 
“Sense of Place”, Jan Brandt Gallery, Bloomington, IL
 
"71st Annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibit", Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, IN
 
"58th Beloit and Vicinity", Wright Art Museum, Beloit College, Beloit, WI
 
2014:
 
“Night Contact” digital slideshow, Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton, England
Juror: Anne Bourgeois-Vignon, Creative Content Director, Nowness
 
“Pop Up Shop Show”, Figure One, Champaign, IL
          
“Juxtapose”, Dark Room Gallery, Essex Junction, VT
 
“2014 Rockford Midwestern Biennial”, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
Juror: William Lieberman (Zolla-Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL)
Filter “Enigmatic Object”, Johalla Projects, Chicago, IL
 
 
 
Grants:
           
2014 Awarded an Illinois Arts Council Agency Individual Artist Support
Professional Development Grant
 
Honors:
 
2012 Named an Illinois Artisan by the Illinois State Museum
 
Biennials:
 
"2015 Cedarhurst Biennial", Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, IL
 
“Night Contact” digital slideshow, 2014 Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton, England
Juror: Anne Bourgeois-Vignon, Creative Content Director, Nowness
 
2014 Rockford Midwestern Biennial, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
Juror: William Lieberman (Zolla-Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL)
 
Workshops taken:
 
“Bookbinding for Photographers”, Scott McCarney, Center for Photography at Woodstock, 2016
“Expanded Documentary: The Wonderful and Troubled Relationship of Photography and Realism”, Gregory Halpern, Center for Photography at Woodstock, 2016

“The Photographer/Editor Collaboration: Publishing a Photobook”, Jen Davis & Alan Rapp, Center for Photography at Woodstock, 2015
 
Education:

M.S. Computer Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
 
B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL

jeffevans.carbonmade.com


To view Second Place click on this link:

www.laphotocurator.com/overlooked-and-in-between-curator-jeff-alu/second-place-ana-cordeiro/1