AMY HELLER

Time/Motion Study Multiples

"I love motion & 19th century photos of Étienne-Jules Marey & Eadweard Muybridge that inspired me to experiment with moving film stroboscopy technique of shooting motion on film. My new series of reimagined Time/Motion Study Multiples combines analog and digital. Now I am collaging analog images in the digital world, creating new works of art. Through my photographs I examine the idea seeing the unseen: what exists and yet cannot be perceived by the naked eye."

Award-winning artist Amy Heller, originally from Washington, DC, lives year-round on Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her husband. Amy earned her B.A. in Fine Art at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and her M.F.A. in Photography at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC.

She has been an exhibit specialist for Smithsonian Museums and National Gallery of Art, and a photo editor/researcher/curator for U.S. News & World Report, National Geographic, Microsoft, and the Newseum. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally and this includes: Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dimock Gallery at GWU, and many private collections. She received the 22nd  & 26th  Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Awards and Exposure One Awards' 2025 Photographer of the Year "People's Vote Award."

Images for Sale -

Ode to Muybridge Multiple 20”H x 21.5” W
Fine Art Archival Pigment Print
$1500 unframed
Limited Edition of 15
Signed on back

 

Arms Up Multiple 20”H x 22.5”W
Fine Art Archival Pigment Print
$1500 unframed
Limited Edition of 15
Signed on back

 

Alone Multiple 20”H x 26”W
Fine Art Archival Pigment Print
$1500 unframed
Limited Edition of 15
Signed on back

 

Faces and Hands Multiple 20”H x 30”W
Fine Art Archival Pigment Print
$1500 unframed
Limited Edition of 15
Signed on back

 

Arms Up II Multiple 20”H x 21.5”W
Fine Art Archival Pigment Print

$1500 unframed
Limited Edition of 15
Signed on back

 

Double Thrust Multiple 20” H x 15”W
Fine Art Archival Pigment Print
$1500 unframed
Limited Edition of 15
Signed on back

Contact-
Email: amy@amyheller.com
 

www.amyheller.com

www.instagram.com/amyhellerartist

ANN MARIE DONAHUE

Review of winning image by juror Laurie Freitag:

"The first thing that caught my eye about Ann Marie Donahue's image '#5 in Self-Portrait series' was the crooked blind. It immediately creates a sense that something is off balance. Rather than being a minor detail, it becomes an important part of the composition, drawing the viewer into the image and adding a feeling of tension.

The motion blur gives the image a sense of movement and emotion. The figure seems caught between being there and disappearing. The raised hand, open window, and tilted blind create a feeling that something is happening just beyond our understanding.

What I appreciate most is that the photograph doesn’t tell us exactly what to think. Each viewer can bring their own interpretation to it. The image raises questions rather than providing answers, and that is what kept drawing me back to it.

For me, this photograph stood out because it is visually strong, emotionally engaging, and memorable. It lingered in my mind long after I first saw it, which is why I selected it for First Place.

Q&A

Juror Laurie Freitag: "How much planning went into this photograph, and how much was discovered in the moment?"

Ann Marie Donahue: "I created this series 30 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was really focusing on the self-portrait. I was trying different environments, and for this moment, I went indoors and used a large format camera (4x5). I love how the images looked on the larger negatives because the tones and gradients were so smooth and juicy.

For this series, I was playing around with gestures and moments in time. A big inspiration for me was some of Duane Michals's portraits that I saw in the mid-'90s. I loved the atmospheric look and the movement of something that was happening or had just occurred. Where to put your hand, how to move your head: all of that fascinated me."

Freitag: "Did you make many frames of this scene, or was there one image that immediately stood out as the right one?"

Donahue: "I definitely discovered it in the moment. I was trying different poses on purpose. I knew that window was special, and I wanted my portrait to take place there.

Since this was shot with 4x5 film, I was more thoughtful about where I wanted to photograph. I remember being attracted to the light coming into the window. I only made 2 images by the window. With larger film, every frame counts, and I had really thought about what I wanted. I was truly the director of these images."

Freitag: "The photograph has a dreamlike quality. Was that something you were consciously trying to achieve?"

Donahue: "Yes, much of my work has a dreamlike quality to it. I am obsessed with dreams and memories, and at times, you may find me daydreaming ;). The light and movement in this image enhance the dreamlike quality. I wanted to experiment with self-portraiture and the environment.

Going to different locations energized me — I wanted to see how that felt emotionally and on film. How would it feel to me and the viewer? I think it's really important to photograph yourself for myriad reasons: discovering what happens when you play with light, what happens to YOU when you are self-reflecting on film (in this case), and how that large negative interacts with light — how much you can play with tonality, and the fine grain of it all."

Freitag: "Has the meaning of this photograph changed for you over time?"

Donahue: "That's a great question. I recall feeling incredibly free and curious about creating this series. There was a determination and specificity about the moment I wanted to express. It was important to go for it with movement and light. At the time of creation, I was putting this woman in different scenarios in the home: at times she was a ghost, other times she was fleeing something or entering a different dimension. For this image, I was interested in the movement going out of the frame. Today, I see a vulnerability in this woman and some history that I hadn't planned on at the moment the image was made."

Freitag: "What do you notice in this image now that you didn’t see when you first made it?"

Donahue: "The specific angle of my head as I exit the frame is interesting to me, as is my hand on the window. For sure, the uneven blind makes it more intriguing. It seems that there is chaos and peace simultaneously occurring in the image.

Freitag: "When you look at this photograph today, do you see the person you were then, or do you see something different?"

Donahue: "I remember her, and I still have a carefree and inquisitive nature about me. Today, I'm seeing a vulnerability in this woman by the window. All of those versions are still there, and now there is a hesitancy when doing self-portraits. Doubt and fear usually come from not doing something in a long time, so the best way to get over that hesitancy is to simply do it! I've always wanted to continue this series many years later. I am so grateful to receive this award, as it seems like a sign to continue the journey."

More about Ann Marie Donahue:

"I am a photographer whose vision is shaped by analog film. The cinema has influenced my point of view and inspired me to work with different cameras. My images revisit evocative memories through merged landscapes, obscure figures, rustic habitats, and filmic self-portraiture."

IMAGES FOR SALE-

Self-Portrait #5 - 14"H x 11" W
Archival paper (silver-gelatin print)
$600 unframed
Limited edition of 12
Signed on back


Self-Portrait #6 - 14"H x 11" W
Archival paper  (silver-gelatin print)
$600 unframed
Limited edition of 12
Signed on back


Self-Portrait #7 - 14"H x 11" W
Archival paper  (silver-gelatin print)
$600 unframed
Limited edition of 12
Signed on back


#3 in Self-Portrait Series - 11"H x 14" W
Archival paper  (silver-gelatin print)
$600 unframed
Limited edition of 12
Signed on back


#4 in Self-Portrait Series - 14"H x 11" W
Archival paper  (silver-gelatin print)
$600 unframed
Limited edition of 12
Signed on back


#7 in Self-Portrait Series - 11"H x 14" W
Archival paper  (silver-gelatin print)
$600 unframed
Limited edition of 12
Signed on back
Contact: Ann Marie Donahue, ann@annmariedonahue.com

 

www.annmariedonahue.com/
www.instagram.com/annmariedonahue_fine_artist/

CARL SHUBS

"I’m a contemporary fine art photographer and a psychoanalytic psychologist, based in Los Angeles.   I’m drawn to the moments that surround us and that we often overlook in the mundane of everyday living, resulting in several photo genres including street photography and straight photographs with strong graphic or abstract elements.

I want the viewer to reach beyond the obvious, feel an emotion, or think about something differently.  I often explore the border and mystery between what is real and what is not, without crossing that boundary into compositing.

I prefer to shoot whatever catches my eye as I go out into the world, and I call these “found images.”  I’m drawn to singular scenes like a boy in a lingerie shop, a light switch in an art gallery, or something about shapes, patterns, colors, or the unexpected.  My photos are typically candid images, presented without compositing or major Photoshop editing.  

I love when someone thinks an image is set up rather than candid or is made by photographic manipulation when actually it is not.  I’m delighted when people don’t know what they are looking at in a photo but love it anyway."

Throughout Carl Shubs’ 30-year career as a psychoanalytic psychologist practicing in Beverly Hills, CA, he has also been a self-taught contemporary fine art photographer.  His first exhibit was in 2011, as part of a group show at the Museum of Neon and Kinetic Art, in Los Angeles.  That recognition encouraged him to deepen his commitment to photography and to begin showing his work.

His work is held in private collections, and he has exhibited nationally and internationally, including museum exhibits at the Louvre, the National Art Center of Tokyo, The Chiba City Museum of Art (Chiba, Japan), the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, the Nagasaki-ken Fine Art Museum and the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum (Japan).  He has been in many juried exhibitions (including over 20 yearly between 2016 –2024).

His acclaimed jurors and curators have included Elizabeth Avedon, Andi Campognone, Debra Klomp Ching, Brian Paul Clamp, Shana Nys Dambrot, Chris Davies, Elizabeth Flinsch, Peter Frank, Herair & Lori Garboushian, David Garnick, David Gibson, Greg Gorman, Mark Steven Greenfield, W.M. Hunt, Ann Jastrab, Julienne Johnson, Paul Kopeikin, Walter Maciel, Jim Morphesis, Susan Spiritus, Aline Smithson, Paula Tognarelli, Nick Turpin, and Richard Vogel.

He has won awards and honors. Winner in the 17th Annual International Color Awards (2024), with 2nd Place - Merit of Excellence, for my photograph “Gunpowder on Sunset” in the Amateur category (i.e., not primary source of income).

His work has been published in such prestigious publications as YourDailyPhotograph, Lenscratch, F-Stop Magazine, the hardcover books Best of Photography 2015, by Photographer’s Forum, and California Love: A Visual Mixtape, curated by Michael Rababy.

He is proud to have curated a combination solo exhibit and group show that included seventeen amazing artists who work in a variety of media.  He has also been invited to be curator for L.A. Photo Curator’s online exhibition “Street Shooting.”

IMAGES FOR SALE

www.carlshubsphotography.com
www.instagram.com/carlshubsphotography
www.facebook.com/carlshubsphotographer
 

www.carlshubsphotography.com
www.instagram.com/carlshubsphotography
www.facebook.com/carlshubsphotographer
 

CHERYL CLEGG

"From my viewfinder:  this selection of photographs represents some of the work I produced while in college, as well as at the beginning of my professional career and a hint of life behind the camera with children in the house.

For a time (mid 1980’s) I strictly made photographs with my 4x5 Toyo view camera.  The view camera forced me to slow down and look at light and work with my subjects before I was able to take the photo.  Then as I started my professional commercial career, I continued to explore ways of seeing of techniques with medium and large format cameras.  With time moving forward and family in tow, the camera has always been by my side to capture some timeless moments of our adventures.  Seen here is our youngest(of 5 kids), Abbie enjoying her watermelon on a summer afternoon.

Time marches on, the camera still at my side and the photos the archives continue to grow."

Cheryl Clegg grew up in NJ, attended the Rochester Institute of Technology, receiving a BFA in Photographic Illustration and moved to Boston to start her commercial photography career. Fast forward over 30 years, Cheryl’s work has appeared in numerous, publications, billboards and annual reports as well as exhibiting in numerous group exhibitions.

Cheryl was named a 2020 Critical Mass finalist for her series, Downeast Harborside, a visual story about the lobster fishing village of Corea, Maine.

Personal projects include The Faces of the Rasin Foundation Haiti, Amelia’s Spirit, Downeast Harborside & Sue’s Fight to Breathe as well as The Endangered Lobstermen project.

 

www.cleggphoto.com 
www.instagram.com/cherylcleggphoto

DIANA H. BLOOMFIELD

"Photographs, for me, have always been about the past.  Even when I photograph to make a statement about the present, or to comment on the future, the image itself- the one I've just made simply by opening and closing a shutter- is cemented in the past.  My work focuses on the intersection of the past and my memory of it.  

Memories, which remain fugitive and ever-shifting, are always subject to interpretation.  The interpretive nature of both memory and imagery lends itself to a narrative, which is the form most of my work follows.

These particular images are of my now 38-year old daughter,  Annalee, and are selections from my Figurative series, a much larger and ongoing body of work which I began in 1999.  As extended metaphorical portraits, each has a story to tell, either singly or as a whole. They speak to movement and gesture, meant to suggest the essence of a person, or simply a brief moment in time. 

I choose to print in 19th century printing processes, because I love the one-of-a-kind hand-made quality those processes offer. I printed these images in gum dichromate, which involves CMYK separation negatives, and the many multiple layerings of watercolor pigment, gum arabic, and dichromate.  This process, in particular,  I find the most creative and interpretive, offering infinite possibilities and frequently veering off into whole new magical worlds. The hand-applied (brushed) multiple repeated layerings offer both a richness and a softness, where all the hard, clearly defined edges disappear.  The more layers added, the richer the colors become, while the image itself grows softer. The inevitable slight mis-registrations of the negatives suggest movement, ambiguity, and remove all the sharp clarity— much the way we see and remember."

A fine art photographer for over 40 years, Diana specializes in 19th-century photographic printing techniques, including gum bichromate, platinum/palladium, and cyanotype.  Her process of choice is gum bichromate, loved for its intuitive, interpretive, and endlessly creative qualities.  

Diana is a five-time Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist (top 200)  She is also the 2021 Denis Roussel Award recipient, sponsored by Rfotofolio and juried by Christopher James.  

Her images and one-of-a-kind handmade artist books are exhibited internationally and included in numerous books and publications.

Her art is also in a number of public and private collections, including the Norton Museum of Art, located in West Palm  Beach, Florida; The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, in the Bronx, New York; the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and in North Carolina State University’s Gregg Museum of Art &  Design in Raleigh, North Carolina.  

A native North Carolinian, Diana lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.  She teaches workshops throughout the United States, including at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado; Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina; Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine; Santa Fe Workshops in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and at Mountain Intaglio in Asheville, North Carolina.  Diana is represented by The Cardinal Gallery, located in Toronto, Canada.

 

www.dhbloomfield.com
www.instagram.com/dhbloomfieldphoto_dinahlee
https://www.facebook.com/dianahbloomfield/

DONNA BASSIN

“The overriding desire of most children is to get at and see the soul of their toys.”
Baudelaire

“It may indeed be questioned whether we have any memories at all from our childhood; memories relating to our childhood may be all that we possess.”
Freud

"Miniature worlds of dolls constructed through my own undirected play within the rooms of a dollhouse were photographed. I started with a dollhouse that I had in my psychoanalytic consulting room. Later, I experimented with moving beyond the sanctuary of the dollhouse, playing with dolls on Edward Hopper’s beach in Truro and in birdhouses in my backyard. I treat the dolls not just as playthings but rather as subjects with their own life history and secrets. The secrets of the past “play us” as well until they are revealed. 

Play performs childhood ways of being. Play exists between daydreaming and purposeful action. Playful manipulation of and within miniature worlds allows for the temporary re-possession of experiences once too overwhelming to witness. The scale of representation was then also toyed with. The large-scale images of miniature worlds and dolls resize the adult viewer in relation to their childhood past. Now the adult in us is put in its place, not easily allowed to distance from the sizeable psychic presence of our childhood past. The change in scale also comments on our more adult ideas of psychic reality by reconfiguring our ideas about memory and reality."

Donna Bassin is a Brooklyn-born, New Jersey–based photographer, filmmaker, writer, and clinical psychologist whose work is rooted in decades of experience as a trauma therapist.

Through long-term projects, she examines post-traumatic stress, racism, social injustice, moral injury, and environmental destruction, exploring how images can witness rupture while promoting ethical repair.

Originally trained in art therapy at Pratt Institute, Bassin later earned a PhD in clinical psychology and pursued psychoanalytic training.

Her early work as a handmade clay artist shaped her understanding that trauma leaves marks—on bodies, minds, and the materials we touch and shape. Her photographs reflect those marks: images are burned, torn, sutured, and sometimes reinforced with gold tape, inspired by the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi. These interventions do not conceal damage; they make loss visible, emphasizing that repair begins with acknowledgment.

Collaboration and community are central to her work. She has worked with military veterans to transform their uniforms into handmade paper, culminating in the installation “By Our Own Hand” at the Montclair Art Museum. These projects extend her studio practice into collective acts of mourning, testimony, and healing. Bassin has conceived and directed two award-winning documentaries, “Leave No Soldier” and “The Mourning After."

She has exhibited solo shows at museums, including “The Afterlife of Dolls” at the Montclair Art Museum, “Portraits of the Precarious Earth” at the Newport Art Museum, and “Interwoven: Rupture and Repair” at the Morris Museum. Her photographs, essays, and interviews have appeared on New Jersey PBS’s State of the Arts, “Childhood,” Rhode Island PBS’s ART, Inc.’s “The Art of Repair,” and in publications such as The Pictorial List, Tricycle, Lenscratch, Analog Forever, and Overlapse’s “Stir the Pot.”

Bassin received a 2024 Puffin Foundation Artist Grant, a 2021 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship, and was named a Critical Mass Top 50 Photographer and Finalist (2022–2024). Her work is held in public and private collections and has been exhibited internationally, including in Japan and Portugal.

Images for Sale-

Dollhouse: Listening to Laurie - 19"H x 13"W
Archival pigment print
$750 unframed
AP
Signed on back

Contact: Donna Bassin, dibassin@gmail.com

 
Dollhouse: Olivia.2 - 19"H x 13"W
Archival pigment print
$750 unframed
AP
Signed on back

 
Dollhouse: Red Chairs.2 - 13"H x 19"W
Archival pigment print
$750 unframed
AP
Signed on back

 
Dollhouse: The House that Ezra Built.Jane Sees the Light - 13"H x 19"W
Archival pigment print
$750 unframed
AP
Signed on back

 
Dollhouse: The Wringer- 13"H x 19"W
Archival pigment print
$750 unframed
AP
Signed on back

 
Dollhouse: Window - 19"H x 13"W
Archival pigment print
$750 unframed
AP
Signed on back

 

www.donnabassin.com
www.instagram.com/p1nhole.donnabassin
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