FROM YOUR ARCHIVE- Laurie Freitag > Exhibition #3
Exhibition #3
Pieter deKoninck/Dog in Stroller
Pieter deKoninck/Moped President
Pieter deKoninck/Original Hot Dog Stick
PIETER DE KONINCK
"I make honest images of honest subjects. My practice is rooted in the ordinary — met on its own terms, without embellishment or artifice. Within that ordinariness, the enigmatic and the fascinating have a way of surfacing on their own. If anything, the photographs take me rather than the other way around.
The images carry a quiet wit. They are pictures of the pauses between words — that charged silence where meaning hasn't yet been pinned down. Each photograph asks the viewer to participate, to draw their own conclusions. I hold close Rei Kawakubo's conviction that once meaning is explained, it becomes contained — but without explanation, imagination is free to roam.
I work almost exclusively in black and white. Stripping away color allows composition, shape, pattern, and texture to rise to the surface — the architecture of a moment made visible. Photography operates on the same principle as magic: there are hidden things behind everyday appearances. The real reality lives just beneath the surface.
The camera slows you down. It asks you to stop and find the picture rather than sweep through looking for one — returning weight and stillness to subjects the wider world was diluting. A line at a food stand. A proud moped owner showing off his custom ride. A disabled Great Dane being walked in a stroller. These are not dramatic subjects. But they find their gravity in the looking."
"I make honest images of honest subjects. My practice is rooted in the ordinary — met on its own terms, without embellishment or artifice. Within that ordinariness, the enigmatic and the fascinating have a way of surfacing on their own. If anything, the photographs take me rather than the other way around.
The images carry a quiet wit. They are pictures of the pauses between words — that charged silence where meaning hasn't yet been pinned down. Each photograph asks the viewer to participate, to draw their own conclusions. I hold close Rei Kawakubo's conviction that once meaning is explained, it becomes contained — but without explanation, imagination is free to roam.
I work almost exclusively in black and white. Stripping away color allows composition, shape, pattern, and texture to rise to the surface — the architecture of a moment made visible. Photography operates on the same principle as magic: there are hidden things behind everyday appearances. The real reality lives just beneath the surface.
The camera slows you down. It asks you to stop and find the picture rather than sweep through looking for one — returning weight and stillness to subjects the wider world was diluting. A line at a food stand. A proud moped owner showing off his custom ride. A disabled Great Dane being walked in a stroller. These are not dramatic subjects. But they find their gravity in the looking."
Pieter deKoninck/Pier Meltdown
Pieter deKoninck/Young Couple Pacific Park
Prescott Lassman/Leaping Into the Light
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
Prescott Lassman/Balcony View
Prescott Lassman/Benediction in Music
PRESCOTT MOORE LASSMAN
"I am a lens-based artist living in Washington, D.C. working in the areas of documentary, portrait, travel, and "freestyle" photography. Using an intuitive approach, I search for images that resonate, for moments of synchronicity in everyday life.
My work focuses on those odd juxtapositions of elements that are connected not so much by logic or reason but rather by a deeper intrinsic meaning. Because this approach relies on unconscious triggers, my photographs often are richly symbolic, though their meaning is not immediately clear (at least not to me). For me, this is the essence of photography: capturing an image that resonates and then, over the course of months or years, figuring out why.
The photographs submitted here are from my “Come Unto Me” series, which documents a multi-racial and multi-cultural church in Washington, D.C. Four photographs from this series were purchased by the DC government in 2006 for inclusion in its City Hall Art Collection."
Career Highlights-
Artist-in-Residence, Joshua Tree National Park
Resist Exhibition (solo), IA&A Hillyer Gallery
City Hall Art Collection, Washington, DC
DC Art Bank, Washington, DC
Individual Artist Fellowship, DCCAH, Washington, DC
Best of Show, Allegany National Photography Competition and Exhibition
2025 Billboard Show, The Billboard Creative, Los Angeles, CA
First Place, Time and Wisdom of the Land, LA Photo Curator
Finalist, Smithsonian Magazine 22nd Annual Photo Contest
Best of Show, Exposed DC 18th Annual Photography Show
The Photo Review 2023 Competition
Soho Photo National Competition
"I am a lens-based artist living in Washington, D.C. working in the areas of documentary, portrait, travel, and "freestyle" photography. Using an intuitive approach, I search for images that resonate, for moments of synchronicity in everyday life.
My work focuses on those odd juxtapositions of elements that are connected not so much by logic or reason but rather by a deeper intrinsic meaning. Because this approach relies on unconscious triggers, my photographs often are richly symbolic, though their meaning is not immediately clear (at least not to me). For me, this is the essence of photography: capturing an image that resonates and then, over the course of months or years, figuring out why.
The photographs submitted here are from my “Come Unto Me” series, which documents a multi-racial and multi-cultural church in Washington, D.C. Four photographs from this series were purchased by the DC government in 2006 for inclusion in its City Hall Art Collection."
Career Highlights-
Artist-in-Residence, Joshua Tree National Park
Resist Exhibition (solo), IA&A Hillyer Gallery
City Hall Art Collection, Washington, DC
DC Art Bank, Washington, DC
Individual Artist Fellowship, DCCAH, Washington, DC
Best of Show, Allegany National Photography Competition and Exhibition
2025 Billboard Show, The Billboard Creative, Los Angeles, CA
First Place, Time and Wisdom of the Land, LA Photo Curator
Finalist, Smithsonian Magazine 22nd Annual Photo Contest
Best of Show, Exposed DC 18th Annual Photography Show
The Photo Review 2023 Competition
Soho Photo National Competition
Prescott Lassman/Choir Practice
Prescott Lassman/Christmas Angel
Shawn Digity/Dying Wishes
Shawn Digity/Mag Mell
Shawn Digity/Snow-White Suffering
SHAWN DIGITY
"My style is still growing and changing, but I enjoy vibrant colors, dynamic settings, and vivacious actors. Environmental issues and wildlife have become some of the subject-matters I like to chase."
Shawn is an Appalachian-based photographer in the foothills of southeast Ohio. He largely explores rural landscapes but enjoys exploring any type of environment. His photographic journey caught fire in spring 2023 when he bought his first camera after borrowing equipment previously. He fell in love with photography around 2010-2011 during college but didn't take the next step for several more years.
"My style is still growing and changing, but I enjoy vibrant colors, dynamic settings, and vivacious actors. Environmental issues and wildlife have become some of the subject-matters I like to chase."
Shawn is an Appalachian-based photographer in the foothills of southeast Ohio. He largely explores rural landscapes but enjoys exploring any type of environment. His photographic journey caught fire in spring 2023 when he bought his first camera after borrowing equipment previously. He fell in love with photography around 2010-2011 during college but didn't take the next step for several more years.
Shawn Digity/RaspBerries
Shawn Digity/Soigne 2
Street Max/Broadgate 030815
Street Max/Fenchurch Buildings 161018
Street Max/Malthouse150417
STREETMAX
"In the tradition of straight photography, there are no tricks here. There is waiting, often for long periods, for the right organic
distribution of people to form precise compositions.
The rigid compositional style and exact creative execution is key. The intention is to unsettle. The photographer uses a hand held camera. This is not a breach in
control as the camera movement repays the automaton-like movement of its subjects.
The resulting images seem fictitious and constructed but are nevertheless shot in real time. The attempt at rendering an other-worldly street scene creates
tension between appearance and reality.
There is a challenge in how we interpret the photographic evidence and where we place the boundary between artifice and observation.
The images depict non-speaking city dwellers who are spatially arranged as if carefully directed. Acting like preconditioned self-absorbed passersby the city dwellers become anonymous ciphers.
The ciphers have no visible connection to one another except where they are when a photograph is taken. The images are simple recordings of a walking choreography with isolated ciphers in mundane tableaux.
The ciphers’ apparent exact placing emits an unnerving metaphor and a surreal reflection of our own reality/predicament.
This technique may appear bland but it utilizes a visual language which is unique and compelling, reflecting a stark world around us."
StreetMax's street photography has been shown in festivals and group shows internationally. Selected as a Juror’s Pick in LensCulture's Street Photography Awards in 2017, he was also the series winner at
PHoS Athens, and the Best Series winner at Streetfoto, San Francisco that year. In 2019, he won the Street categories of the Neutral Density and Pollux Awards. His work has been shown in galleries in the UK, US, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, Spain and Germany. He was a
top 50 photographer in Photolucida Critical Mass 2023, and a Talent in Fresh Eyes 2024.
His book “Cipher City” will be published in late Spring 2026.
"In the tradition of straight photography, there are no tricks here. There is waiting, often for long periods, for the right organic
distribution of people to form precise compositions.
The rigid compositional style and exact creative execution is key. The intention is to unsettle. The photographer uses a hand held camera. This is not a breach in
control as the camera movement repays the automaton-like movement of its subjects.
The resulting images seem fictitious and constructed but are nevertheless shot in real time. The attempt at rendering an other-worldly street scene creates
tension between appearance and reality.
There is a challenge in how we interpret the photographic evidence and where we place the boundary between artifice and observation.
The images depict non-speaking city dwellers who are spatially arranged as if carefully directed. Acting like preconditioned self-absorbed passersby the city dwellers become anonymous ciphers.
The ciphers have no visible connection to one another except where they are when a photograph is taken. The images are simple recordings of a walking choreography with isolated ciphers in mundane tableaux.
The ciphers’ apparent exact placing emits an unnerving metaphor and a surreal reflection of our own reality/predicament.
This technique may appear bland but it utilizes a visual language which is unique and compelling, reflecting a stark world around us."
StreetMax's street photography has been shown in festivals and group shows internationally. Selected as a Juror’s Pick in LensCulture's Street Photography Awards in 2017, he was also the series winner at
PHoS Athens, and the Best Series winner at Streetfoto, San Francisco that year. In 2019, he won the Street categories of the Neutral Density and Pollux Awards. His work has been shown in galleries in the UK, US, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, Spain and Germany. He was a
top 50 photographer in Photolucida Critical Mass 2023, and a Talent in Fresh Eyes 2024.
His book “Cipher City” will be published in late Spring 2026.
Street Max/More London 240423
Street Max/Trafalgar 270323
Tom Chambers/A View From The Bridge
Tom Chambers/Marwari Stallion
Tom Chambers/Prom Gown #2
TOM CHAMBERS
"Through photomontage I present unspoken stories which illustrate fleeting moments in time and which are intended to evoke a mood in the viewer. These mythical illustrations might address the fragility of childhood or the delicate transition experienced by a child passing into adolescence and then adulthood. Others express the tension in the uncertain coexistence between man and his environment, a delicate balance too often ignored and damaged. Each photomontage is carefully constructed, using both images that have been planned and those that unexpectedly enhance the story. With digital photography I desire to move beyond documentation of the present, and rather seek to fuse reality and fantasy in musing about possibilities of the future.
To create a photomontage I photograph each piece of the final image using a digital camera. Next, I use Photoshop software with a Macintosh computer to combine the pieces, creating the final image. Lastly, this final image is printed with archival pigment inks on cotton rag paper. No AI has been used."
Photographer Tom Chambers completed a B.F.A. in 1985 from The Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, Florida majoring in graphic design with an emphasis in photography. Since 1998 Tom has exhibited photomontage images from twelve photographic series both nationally and internationally in twenty five solo exhibitions and over seventy group exhibitions and art fairs.
Tom has received fellowships from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Tom’s photography is held in the collections of the National Museum of Photography, Bogotá, Colombia; California Sate Polytechnic University; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA; New Mexico Museum of Art, NM; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Bangkok, Thailand; Texas Photographic Society; City of Jacksonville, FL - Art in Public Places; University of Texas; Sir Richard Branson, personal collection; and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Tom’s work has been published in multiple publications and books. "Entropic Kingdom", containing images from five series, was published by Modernbook Editions in 2012. A retrospective book Hearts and Bones, containing images from his first nine series, was published by Unicorn Publishing, London, in 2018.
"Through photomontage I present unspoken stories which illustrate fleeting moments in time and which are intended to evoke a mood in the viewer. These mythical illustrations might address the fragility of childhood or the delicate transition experienced by a child passing into adolescence and then adulthood. Others express the tension in the uncertain coexistence between man and his environment, a delicate balance too often ignored and damaged. Each photomontage is carefully constructed, using both images that have been planned and those that unexpectedly enhance the story. With digital photography I desire to move beyond documentation of the present, and rather seek to fuse reality and fantasy in musing about possibilities of the future.
To create a photomontage I photograph each piece of the final image using a digital camera. Next, I use Photoshop software with a Macintosh computer to combine the pieces, creating the final image. Lastly, this final image is printed with archival pigment inks on cotton rag paper. No AI has been used."
Photographer Tom Chambers completed a B.F.A. in 1985 from The Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, Florida majoring in graphic design with an emphasis in photography. Since 1998 Tom has exhibited photomontage images from twelve photographic series both nationally and internationally in twenty five solo exhibitions and over seventy group exhibitions and art fairs.
Tom has received fellowships from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Tom’s photography is held in the collections of the National Museum of Photography, Bogotá, Colombia; California Sate Polytechnic University; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA; New Mexico Museum of Art, NM; Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Bangkok, Thailand; Texas Photographic Society; City of Jacksonville, FL - Art in Public Places; University of Texas; Sir Richard Branson, personal collection; and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Tom’s work has been published in multiple publications and books. "Entropic Kingdom", containing images from five series, was published by Modernbook Editions in 2012. A retrospective book Hearts and Bones, containing images from his first nine series, was published by Unicorn Publishing, London, in 2018.
Tom Chambers/Sacchrine Perch
Tom Chambers/The Trickster
Vicky Stromee/Abundance
JUROR FAVORITE
JUROR FAVORITE
Vicky Stromee/Dawn moon
Vicky Stromee/Moon Dance
VICKY STROMEE
Artist Statement: "What captures my imagination and what I explore in my art
IMAGES FOR SALE
Envisioning Solitude collection
10x10 inch print on 12x12 paper
Archival paper
$250 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact: Vicky Stromee vstromee@msn.com
Vicky Stromee (1950, Chicago, IL) is a fine art photographer based in the Southwest. Her love of the desert allows her to focus on natural subjects that illustrate transformation. Her work hangs in galleries, hospitals, and private and corporate collections throughout the US.
Artist Statement: "What captures my imagination and what I explore in my art
I am interested in edges and intersections of transformation where one thing moves inexorably to become something else. When is the moment when love fades into anger and resentment; when disillusionment erupts into a violent uprising, when order descends into chaos? And when is the moment when war turns towards peace; unbearable grief shifts towards acceptance; or when pain gives way to relief?
In my practice as a crisis counselor, I witnessed the transformation of the human spirit. I am in awe of resilient clients who pick up the pieces of a broken life and find a regenerated purpose. I am fascinated with the process of discovery. In my photography I seek out places where a close-up view of a known object reveals patterns of color, texture and form. I capture these images and layer them together to create objects of meditation on that transformative process."
Artist bio: How I got interested in photography
I was immersed in the arts from an early age. My father was an amateur photographer and my mother a painter and pianist. At 8, I got my first Brownie camera and began shooting everything I saw. Watching an image magically emerge from the developing tray in my dad's darkroom; spending afternoons lying under the baby grand piano with waves of sound resonating around and through me; texture, pattern, fluidity, and change - these were my earliest influences, and they continue to unfold in my work.
Where I live and my work can be seen
I am fortunate to call the Southwest - a place of incredible natural beauty - my home. I have lived in Tucson, AZ since 1975 when I moved here to pursue a master’s degree in Counseling at the University of Arizona. When I retired from a long career in mental health, I turned my attention full time to photography, ultimately finding my niche in photographing natural subjects. More recently I have begun to create photomontages incorporating these natural objects into both abstract images and scenes of imaginary realism.
My work hangs in galleries, hospitals, and private and corporate collections throughout the US. It has been featured at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Boston; Waxlander Gallery, Santa Fe; PhotoPlace Gallery, Vermont; A Smith Gallery, Texas; Fotonostrum, Barcelona; and Afterimage Gallery in Dallas. Selected images have representation through Cynthia Byrnes Contemporary Art in New York."
Professional Awards Include
- American Society of Media Professionals, Best of Award (2015, 2024)
Critical Mass finalist (2023)
International Photography Award, Honorable Mention (15 Consecutive Years)
Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, Series Category Winner (2024, 2023)
Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, Honorable Mention (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021,2020)
Tokyo International Foto Awards, Gold Award (2023), Bronze (2022), Silver (2019)
Communication Arts Award of Excellence, Photography Annual (2022)
International Color Awards, Honorable Mention (2022, 2025)
“Koo and the Long Dark Night” book images (2022):
Photography Annual, Julia Margaret Cameron, Hand Magazine, Center for Photographic Art, Griffin Museum,Tokyo International Foto Awards
IMAGES FOR SALE
Envisioning Solitude collection
10x10 inch print on 12x12 paper
Archival paper
$250 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact: Vicky Stromee vstromee@msn.com
Vicky Stromee/Moon Eclipsed
Vicky Stromee/Snow moon
Wendy Schreier/Carnie
WENDY SCHREIER
Wendy Schreier is a Chicago based photographer with over 20 years behind the lens, known for capturing weddings with a balance of honesty, artistry, and emotional depth. Her work blends documentary instinct with a refined eye, preserving moments as they unfold while elevating them into something timeless. Beyond weddings, Wendy explores cityscapes, nature, and the quiet intensity of human expression, often drawn to the raw and unfiltered. She has a deep love for film photography, experimenting with multiple camera formats and even expired film to create images with texture, unpredictability, and soul. Whether in black and white or color, her work is grounded in feeling, atmosphere, and the beauty of what is real.
Wendy Schreier is a Chicago based photographer with over 20 years behind the lens, known for capturing weddings with a balance of honesty, artistry, and emotional depth. Her work blends documentary instinct with a refined eye, preserving moments as they unfold while elevating them into something timeless. Beyond weddings, Wendy explores cityscapes, nature, and the quiet intensity of human expression, often drawn to the raw and unfiltered. She has a deep love for film photography, experimenting with multiple camera formats and even expired film to create images with texture, unpredictability, and soul. Whether in black and white or color, her work is grounded in feeling, atmosphere, and the beauty of what is real.
Wendy Schreier/door
Wendy Schreier/lighthouse
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