THE SHAPE OF THE FATHER: Laurie Freitag > Shape of the Father-Exhibition #1
Shape of the Father-Exhibition #1
Beth Galton/Entanglements
BEST SERIES
BEST SERIES
Beth Galton/ I Adventurer
Beth Galton/Life with Father
BETH GALTON
So much of who we are is passed from generation to generation—our genes, our behaviors- molded by our parents and grandparents. My mother’s relationship with her mother was fraught with difficulties and these same dynamics were passed onto me. I’ve spent many years contending with these issues by first becoming overly involved in my mother’s life and then ultimately removing myself.
In 2017, my mother and father - who had not lived together for 50 years by that time - died within three days of each other. After my sister and I inherited my mother’s home, we were startled to find the extent to which she had been hoarding. We discovered her journals, copious letters written to family members and never sent, everyday objects and photographs depicting many family scenes that I have no memory of. A profound sadness combined with these surprising discoveries led to my creating this body of work exploring feelings, memories and even buried memories – all brought to the surface through these revelations.
In this series, Memory of Absence, I combined botanicals and natural materials together with the everyday objects and family photographs in order to convey a sense of memory and loss. The organic and volatile botanicals serve as a reminder of the ever-changing nature of memory and emotions—an unstable and profoundly unreliable process, as fragile as scraps of embroidery as complicated and garbled as tangles of magnetic tape. Text plays a key role as well, her words intertwined with mine.
My creative process begins with composing and photographing a still life of the botanicals together with the objects that I have collected and saved from my mother’s home. I then print out the image, create yet another still life by layering more objects with the print and then re-photograph this composition. Thereby giving a further sense of the complex and layered emotions found within family dynamics.
BIO
Beth Galton is a photo-based artist, with an educational background in the natural sciences and three decades of experience as a professional photographer in the editorial and commercial arena. These elements of her history are the lens through which she explores the world.
Conceptually, Beth is drawn to the details of life that are often overlooked. She frequently allows time to affect botanical matter as a method of recording our connection to the cycles of nature. Photographing food as an exploration of what we eat and how we see nourishment is a theme through her body of work. As a lifelong learner, Beth uses current technology to help articulate her message. She loves to harness natural light to capture the compositions by using a large format camera and digital back.
Beth’s fine art and professional work have won numerous accolades and been exhibited extensively throughout her career in the US and Europe. She was previously represented by Marlborough Gallery in NYC. Beth won the prestigious Sony World Photography Award 2024 in Still Life for her London Plane Tree series.
Most recently her work has been exhibited at The Delaware Contemporary Museum, Wilmington DE, Griffin Museum, Winchester MA, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa FL, Montpellier Contemporian, Montpellier France, Soho Photo Gallery, NYC NY, Wave Hill, Riverdale NY, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins CO, the Center for Photographic Art, Carmel CA, Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta GA, Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston MA and was part of ‘The Fence’, a traveling outdoor exhibition shown in seven cities across the country.
Beth lives and works in New York City, where she is moved and inspired by the city every day.
WORK FOR SALE
Life with father
Archival Pigment Print20 x 16 inches
Unframed - $1250
Edition of 10
Signed label
EntanglementsArchival Pigment Print20 x 16 inches
Unframed - $1250
Edition of 10
Signed label
AdventurerArchival Pigment Print20 x 16 inches
Unframed - $1250
Edition of 10
Signed label
Contact:
Beth Galton- beth@bethgalton.com
www.bethgaltonfineart.com
www.instagram.com/ bethgaltonstudio
So much of who we are is passed from generation to generation—our genes, our behaviors- molded by our parents and grandparents. My mother’s relationship with her mother was fraught with difficulties and these same dynamics were passed onto me. I’ve spent many years contending with these issues by first becoming overly involved in my mother’s life and then ultimately removing myself.
In 2017, my mother and father - who had not lived together for 50 years by that time - died within three days of each other. After my sister and I inherited my mother’s home, we were startled to find the extent to which she had been hoarding. We discovered her journals, copious letters written to family members and never sent, everyday objects and photographs depicting many family scenes that I have no memory of. A profound sadness combined with these surprising discoveries led to my creating this body of work exploring feelings, memories and even buried memories – all brought to the surface through these revelations.
In this series, Memory of Absence, I combined botanicals and natural materials together with the everyday objects and family photographs in order to convey a sense of memory and loss. The organic and volatile botanicals serve as a reminder of the ever-changing nature of memory and emotions—an unstable and profoundly unreliable process, as fragile as scraps of embroidery as complicated and garbled as tangles of magnetic tape. Text plays a key role as well, her words intertwined with mine.
My creative process begins with composing and photographing a still life of the botanicals together with the objects that I have collected and saved from my mother’s home. I then print out the image, create yet another still life by layering more objects with the print and then re-photograph this composition. Thereby giving a further sense of the complex and layered emotions found within family dynamics.
BIO
Beth Galton is a photo-based artist, with an educational background in the natural sciences and three decades of experience as a professional photographer in the editorial and commercial arena. These elements of her history are the lens through which she explores the world.
Conceptually, Beth is drawn to the details of life that are often overlooked. She frequently allows time to affect botanical matter as a method of recording our connection to the cycles of nature. Photographing food as an exploration of what we eat and how we see nourishment is a theme through her body of work. As a lifelong learner, Beth uses current technology to help articulate her message. She loves to harness natural light to capture the compositions by using a large format camera and digital back.
Beth’s fine art and professional work have won numerous accolades and been exhibited extensively throughout her career in the US and Europe. She was previously represented by Marlborough Gallery in NYC. Beth won the prestigious Sony World Photography Award 2024 in Still Life for her London Plane Tree series.
Most recently her work has been exhibited at The Delaware Contemporary Museum, Wilmington DE, Griffin Museum, Winchester MA, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa FL, Montpellier Contemporian, Montpellier France, Soho Photo Gallery, NYC NY, Wave Hill, Riverdale NY, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins CO, the Center for Photographic Art, Carmel CA, Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta GA, Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston MA and was part of ‘The Fence’, a traveling outdoor exhibition shown in seven cities across the country.
Beth lives and works in New York City, where she is moved and inspired by the city every day.
WORK FOR SALE
Life with father
Archival Pigment Print20 x 16 inches
Unframed - $1250
Edition of 10
Signed label
EntanglementsArchival Pigment Print20 x 16 inches
Unframed - $1250
Edition of 10
Signed label
AdventurerArchival Pigment Print20 x 16 inches
Unframed - $1250
Edition of 10
Signed label
Contact:
Beth Galton- beth@bethgalton.com
www.bethgaltonfineart.com
www.instagram.com/ bethgaltonstudio
David Wise/Fathers Love
David Wise/ Namesake
David Wise/ Presence at a Distance
DAVID WISE
These photographs explore connection, inheritance, and the universal nature of a father’s love. Presence at a Distance captures a FaceTime call between me and my son after a long shift at work.
Technology allows us to remain present in one another’s lives despite physical separation. Namesake shows my son visiting the grave of my best friend, who died in Afghanistan and whose name my son carries. The image reflects how memory, identity, and responsibility pass from one generation to the next.
Father’s Love, photographed in Afghanistan in 2011, records the moment a young boy tried on a pair of polarized sunglasses as his father watched. Their shared joy required no common language. Together, the photographs show fatherhood as an act of presence, a form of inheritance, and an expression of love that crosses culture, distance, and time.
Bio
David Wise is a Marine Corps veteran, law enforcement supervisor, husband, and father who photographs moments as he encounters them. He is not a professional photographer, but he has carried a camera throughout his travels, military service, and family life to preserve the people and experiences that moved him. He entered this work because the subject of fatherhood, connection, and inheritance held personal meaning for him.
Contact
dave@davidjwise.us
These photographs explore connection, inheritance, and the universal nature of a father’s love. Presence at a Distance captures a FaceTime call between me and my son after a long shift at work.
Technology allows us to remain present in one another’s lives despite physical separation. Namesake shows my son visiting the grave of my best friend, who died in Afghanistan and whose name my son carries. The image reflects how memory, identity, and responsibility pass from one generation to the next.
Father’s Love, photographed in Afghanistan in 2011, records the moment a young boy tried on a pair of polarized sunglasses as his father watched. Their shared joy required no common language. Together, the photographs show fatherhood as an act of presence, a form of inheritance, and an expression of love that crosses culture, distance, and time.
Bio
David Wise is a Marine Corps veteran, law enforcement supervisor, husband, and father who photographs moments as he encounters them. He is not a professional photographer, but he has carried a camera throughout his travels, military service, and family life to preserve the people and experiences that moved him. He entered this work because the subject of fatherhood, connection, and inheritance held personal meaning for him.
Contact
dave@davidjwise.us
Dean Hendler/Fred Camera Case
Dean Hendler/ Fred Smoking
Dean Hendler/ Japan Coke
DEAN HENDLER
Growing up as a second-generation Angeleno, Los Angeles is my constant backdrop and my deepest inspiration. My photography is an act of artistic inquiry, capturing the mood, rhythm, and atmosphere of a changing landscape. This vision was shaped by my father, who taught me to see from the heart and look for the hidden wonders in everyday life.
His presence anchors this series. His legacy is held physically in the still life of his camera case, carrying a photo of him holding his camera alongside a birthday card he gave me. His essence is captured in a candid portrait of him smoking, honoring that familiar habit as a defining piece of who he was.
Our shared history extends past L.A. to our travels in Japan, where a simple frame of Coke bottles became a testament to how new surroundings sharpen our shared curiosity. Whether framing a familiar street or exploring distant horizons, his guidance remains constant. My work focuses not just on what a place looks like, but what it feels like—using shape, color, and light to uncover moments of connection, making every frame a tribute to his lasting influence.
BIO
Dean Hendler is a Los Angeles-based photographic artist whose fine-art practice explores light, atmosphere, and everyday environments. Immersed in image-making since childhood in his father’s darkroom, the UCLA film graduate blends a distinct cinematic sensibility with keen observation.
His work captures a deeply felt sense of place, shaped by a lifelong appreciation for travel, culture, music, and cuisine, and remains finely attuned to the delicate interplay of light, color, and movement. Alongside a two-decade career creating specialized photography for major Hollywood studios, Hendler has consistently cultivated a unique artistic vision, resulting in pieces that are now held in private and public collections worldwide.
His exhibition history includes placing second in the juried showcase The Magic of Light at Art/Space 114 in Downtown Los Angeles. Most recently, Hendler's photography was selected for the 2026 juried exhibition Made in the USA – A Breath of Freedom, at the TAG Gallery on the Miracle Mile.
IMAGES FOR SALE
Fred Camera Case - 11x14
Archival Paper
$550 Unframed
Limited edition of 10
Signed in front
Fred Smoking - 8x10
Archival Paper
$475 Unframed
Limited edition of 10
Signed in front
Japan Coke - 11x14
Archival Paper
$550 Unframed
Limited edition of 10
Signed in front
Contact : Dean Hendler - dhphotos3@gmail.com
www.deanhendler.com
https://www.instagram.com/deanhendlerphotography/
Growing up as a second-generation Angeleno, Los Angeles is my constant backdrop and my deepest inspiration. My photography is an act of artistic inquiry, capturing the mood, rhythm, and atmosphere of a changing landscape. This vision was shaped by my father, who taught me to see from the heart and look for the hidden wonders in everyday life.
His presence anchors this series. His legacy is held physically in the still life of his camera case, carrying a photo of him holding his camera alongside a birthday card he gave me. His essence is captured in a candid portrait of him smoking, honoring that familiar habit as a defining piece of who he was.
Our shared history extends past L.A. to our travels in Japan, where a simple frame of Coke bottles became a testament to how new surroundings sharpen our shared curiosity. Whether framing a familiar street or exploring distant horizons, his guidance remains constant. My work focuses not just on what a place looks like, but what it feels like—using shape, color, and light to uncover moments of connection, making every frame a tribute to his lasting influence.
BIO
Dean Hendler is a Los Angeles-based photographic artist whose fine-art practice explores light, atmosphere, and everyday environments. Immersed in image-making since childhood in his father’s darkroom, the UCLA film graduate blends a distinct cinematic sensibility with keen observation.
His work captures a deeply felt sense of place, shaped by a lifelong appreciation for travel, culture, music, and cuisine, and remains finely attuned to the delicate interplay of light, color, and movement. Alongside a two-decade career creating specialized photography for major Hollywood studios, Hendler has consistently cultivated a unique artistic vision, resulting in pieces that are now held in private and public collections worldwide.
His exhibition history includes placing second in the juried showcase The Magic of Light at Art/Space 114 in Downtown Los Angeles. Most recently, Hendler's photography was selected for the 2026 juried exhibition Made in the USA – A Breath of Freedom, at the TAG Gallery on the Miracle Mile.
IMAGES FOR SALE
Fred Camera Case - 11x14
Archival Paper
$550 Unframed
Limited edition of 10
Signed in front
Fred Smoking - 8x10
Archival Paper
$475 Unframed
Limited edition of 10
Signed in front
Japan Coke - 11x14
Archival Paper
$550 Unframed
Limited edition of 10
Signed in front
Contact : Dean Hendler - dhphotos3@gmail.com
www.deanhendler.com
https://www.instagram.com/deanhendlerphotography/
Jane Gottlieb/ Curtain Call
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
Jane Gottlieb/ Forgotten in the Weeds 1
Jane Gottlieb/ Cherry Red T-Bird
JANE GOTTLIEB
Jane Gottlieb is a photographer living in Southern California, where she was born and raised. In her early twenties, she made her first trip by herself as a young
professional to Europe. The images she took then, and in many subsequent trips, have been a touchstone of her life’s work. She has returned to them again and again in the last decades, changing them progressively to meet her vision as the technology available to her has
advanced.
But Gottlieb’s vision is not like anyone else’s. It is riotous in color, hyper-vibrant in energy, and deeply Californian, shot through with a purely Mexican palette. When she discovered the possibility of hand-painting cibachrome prints, she had the tools to change the world to match
her vision. Printing from her library of color slides, she could brighten them up and give them to new exciting life. The possibility of saturated, unrealistic color was released from Pandora’s box, not to cause trouble but to irritate the eye like a grain of sand in an oyster, producing beautiful pearls of perception.
The first-hand painted Cibachromes were laborious to create but were unlike anything other photographers were doing. With digital technology, this began to change
much more dramatically. She was limited at first by the software and the quality of printing, but in the last decade, these limits have been removed. At the same time, her images and her color have moved further and further into the realm of sharp-toned fantasy.
Jane Gottlieb is a photographer living in Southern California, where she was born and raised. In her early twenties, she made her first trip by herself as a young
professional to Europe. The images she took then, and in many subsequent trips, have been a touchstone of her life’s work. She has returned to them again and again in the last decades, changing them progressively to meet her vision as the technology available to her has
advanced.
But Gottlieb’s vision is not like anyone else’s. It is riotous in color, hyper-vibrant in energy, and deeply Californian, shot through with a purely Mexican palette. When she discovered the possibility of hand-painting cibachrome prints, she had the tools to change the world to match
her vision. Printing from her library of color slides, she could brighten them up and give them to new exciting life. The possibility of saturated, unrealistic color was released from Pandora’s box, not to cause trouble but to irritate the eye like a grain of sand in an oyster, producing beautiful pearls of perception.
The first-hand painted Cibachromes were laborious to create but were unlike anything other photographers were doing. With digital technology, this began to change
much more dramatically. She was limited at first by the software and the quality of printing, but in the last decade, these limits have been removed. At the same time, her images and her color have moved further and further into the realm of sharp-toned fantasy.
Jane Gottlieb/ California Pool 1
Jane Gottlieb/ Zig Zag
Kip Harris/ Father and Son, Jodphur
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
KIP HARRIS
Street photography of Indian Father’s and Children
Harris grew up in a small farming community in Idaho. He holds degrees in English literature from Dartmouth College, in humanities from the University of Chicago, and architecture from the University of Utah. He was a principal of FFKR Architects in Salt Lake City for nearly 30 years.
A serious photographer since the late 80s, Harris has exhibited in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Europe. He has been published in Shots Magazine, All About Photo, Tagree, The Photo Review, Your Daily Photograph, Street Photography Magazine, Dodho Magazine, Black & White Magazine (cover) and a number of other on-line photographic sites.
He has been a resident at the Rural Residence in Contemporary Art in the Val Camonica Valley of Italy and Gracia in Antigua, Guatemala. Place M Gallery in Tokyo presented a solo exhibition of 40 of his works from the “At Work” series in May 2025.
Street photography of Indian Father’s and Children
Harris grew up in a small farming community in Idaho. He holds degrees in English literature from Dartmouth College, in humanities from the University of Chicago, and architecture from the University of Utah. He was a principal of FFKR Architects in Salt Lake City for nearly 30 years.
A serious photographer since the late 80s, Harris has exhibited in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Europe. He has been published in Shots Magazine, All About Photo, Tagree, The Photo Review, Your Daily Photograph, Street Photography Magazine, Dodho Magazine, Black & White Magazine (cover) and a number of other on-line photographic sites.
He has been a resident at the Rural Residence in Contemporary Art in the Val Camonica Valley of Italy and Gracia in Antigua, Guatemala. Place M Gallery in Tokyo presented a solo exhibition of 40 of his works from the “At Work” series in May 2025.
Kip Harris/Chowpaddy Beach
Lynn Buchanan/Memories of Childhood Vacations
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
Lynn Buchanan/The Doll is Only Alive in the Childish Imagination
Lynn Buchanan/The Overwhelm of Working with my Father's Archive
LYNN BUCHANAN
Artist Statement (Please note my artist statement is in the form of a letter to my deceased father)
Dear Dad:
It has been almost nine years since you died. I think about you often, especially given the state of our world. I remember our five-hour phone call when I lived in New York and the planes hit the World Trade Center. You didn’t have the answers, but it was a comfort talking with you when things were not making sense to me. You had one of the most brilliant minds I have ever encountered, and I keep wondering what insights you might offer if you were still here. As I now delve into your writings, the books you annotated, family photos, and the slides you took, I feel like I am meeting you in a different and deeper way.
After New College’s hostile conversion from the liberal arts college you helped found to a Christian religious school, I became obsessed with learning more about your journey. How did you come to have such an open mind? How did you manage to maintain such a zest for life after being orphaned? You must have realized at an early age that life was uncertain. Did that prompt you to cherish it even more? At this pivotal moment in history, when conflicts are looming everywhere, I am searching for ways to stay balanced and keep creating, so as not to live in apathy or fear. Did your ability to hold opposing viewpoints in irreducible tension help you make sense your early faith, the loss of your parents and the turmoil surrounding World War II? Can the philosophy of the hyphen you developed help me and the rest of us now?
I remember typing the pages of the book on the Janus Paradox that you would never publish. Every time you got close to finishing it, your thinking would change and you’d throw them away because you realized that you had not, in fact, arrived at the “Truth.” I couldn’t figure out why you were so preoccupied with identifying what truth was or how aghast you were when metaphors were taken literally. Your struggles make sense to me now that I’m an artist. After reading your dissertation on metaphor I no longer think as literally when I make photographs. The last thing I want is for people to feel they’ve figured everything out when they look at my images. Life is complicated. After reading your Tractatus on education, I wrote my own on creativity and the numinous in nature inspired by your example.
I’m sorry I failed to tell you how much I appreciated all your lessons in critical thinking. For many years, I blamed you for my lack of self-confidence, since I thought it stemmed from your constant critques of my thought processes. Now I’m grateful you taught me to care about truth, to open my eyes to different perspectives, to keep searching for the light in uncertain times, and most importantly to admit when I am wrong without worrying about my ego.
Your earthly body may have left us, but you live on in the thoughts you shared with me and others that have rippled out into the world. I am so grateful for the time that we shared together on this earth.
Love always,
Lynne
Lynne Buchanan is a lens-based artist based in Western North Carolina. Her work explores her intimate connection to the natural world and how her perceptions of biodiversity in the environment influence her philosophy of life. Buchanan’s images examine identity in difference, interconnection, memory, ancestral lines, the history of place, metaphor, meaning, and contextual truth.
Buchanan began her photographic life as an environmental photographer. The ecological issues she witnessed impacted her psychologically and she began creating work that was more emotional, often working in black and white. Buchanan is the recipient of a Master’s Degree in Art History and Museum Studies from George Washington University. She is a self-taught photographer and multi-media artist. Mentors include Clyde Butcher, Jill Enfield, and Pradip Malde.
Buchanan is the author of two books: Florida’s Changing Waters: A Beautiful World in Peril, and The Poetry of Being, for which she received Silver Medals in the Tokyo and Budapest International Photography awards. She has spoken about her work at the Miami Book Fair, The Society for Environmental Journalism and the North American Nature Photography Summit. Buchanan has been recognized as a top 200 artist by Critical Mass and her work has been reviewed in numerous print and on-line publications. Her award-winning photography has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in the collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, LA and The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton, Florida.
Images for Sale
Memories of Childhood Vacations, 16"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$575, unframed
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
The Doll is Only Alive in the Childish Imagination, 18"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Freedom, War, and the Monsters Within, 18"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Douglas Berggren Speaks After Nailing His Tractatus on Education to a Tree, 18"H x 24"WArchival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Ancient Tree with My Tractatus Biophilia Pneuma Kai Asthetiki Inspired by my Father's Tractatus on Education, 42”H x 30"W
$1920
Limited Edition of 5Signed on Back
The Overwhelm of Working with My Father’s Archive, 18"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Contact-
Lynne Buchanan
lynne@lynnebuchanan.com
Artist Statement (Please note my artist statement is in the form of a letter to my deceased father)
Dear Dad:
It has been almost nine years since you died. I think about you often, especially given the state of our world. I remember our five-hour phone call when I lived in New York and the planes hit the World Trade Center. You didn’t have the answers, but it was a comfort talking with you when things were not making sense to me. You had one of the most brilliant minds I have ever encountered, and I keep wondering what insights you might offer if you were still here. As I now delve into your writings, the books you annotated, family photos, and the slides you took, I feel like I am meeting you in a different and deeper way.
After New College’s hostile conversion from the liberal arts college you helped found to a Christian religious school, I became obsessed with learning more about your journey. How did you come to have such an open mind? How did you manage to maintain such a zest for life after being orphaned? You must have realized at an early age that life was uncertain. Did that prompt you to cherish it even more? At this pivotal moment in history, when conflicts are looming everywhere, I am searching for ways to stay balanced and keep creating, so as not to live in apathy or fear. Did your ability to hold opposing viewpoints in irreducible tension help you make sense your early faith, the loss of your parents and the turmoil surrounding World War II? Can the philosophy of the hyphen you developed help me and the rest of us now?
I remember typing the pages of the book on the Janus Paradox that you would never publish. Every time you got close to finishing it, your thinking would change and you’d throw them away because you realized that you had not, in fact, arrived at the “Truth.” I couldn’t figure out why you were so preoccupied with identifying what truth was or how aghast you were when metaphors were taken literally. Your struggles make sense to me now that I’m an artist. After reading your dissertation on metaphor I no longer think as literally when I make photographs. The last thing I want is for people to feel they’ve figured everything out when they look at my images. Life is complicated. After reading your Tractatus on education, I wrote my own on creativity and the numinous in nature inspired by your example.
I’m sorry I failed to tell you how much I appreciated all your lessons in critical thinking. For many years, I blamed you for my lack of self-confidence, since I thought it stemmed from your constant critques of my thought processes. Now I’m grateful you taught me to care about truth, to open my eyes to different perspectives, to keep searching for the light in uncertain times, and most importantly to admit when I am wrong without worrying about my ego.
Your earthly body may have left us, but you live on in the thoughts you shared with me and others that have rippled out into the world. I am so grateful for the time that we shared together on this earth.
Love always,
Lynne
Lynne Buchanan is a lens-based artist based in Western North Carolina. Her work explores her intimate connection to the natural world and how her perceptions of biodiversity in the environment influence her philosophy of life. Buchanan’s images examine identity in difference, interconnection, memory, ancestral lines, the history of place, metaphor, meaning, and contextual truth.
Buchanan began her photographic life as an environmental photographer. The ecological issues she witnessed impacted her psychologically and she began creating work that was more emotional, often working in black and white. Buchanan is the recipient of a Master’s Degree in Art History and Museum Studies from George Washington University. She is a self-taught photographer and multi-media artist. Mentors include Clyde Butcher, Jill Enfield, and Pradip Malde.
Buchanan is the author of two books: Florida’s Changing Waters: A Beautiful World in Peril, and The Poetry of Being, for which she received Silver Medals in the Tokyo and Budapest International Photography awards. She has spoken about her work at the Miami Book Fair, The Society for Environmental Journalism and the North American Nature Photography Summit. Buchanan has been recognized as a top 200 artist by Critical Mass and her work has been reviewed in numerous print and on-line publications. Her award-winning photography has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in the collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, LA and The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton, Florida.
Images for Sale
Memories of Childhood Vacations, 16"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$575, unframed
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
The Doll is Only Alive in the Childish Imagination, 18"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Freedom, War, and the Monsters Within, 18"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Douglas Berggren Speaks After Nailing His Tractatus on Education to a Tree, 18"H x 24"WArchival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Ancient Tree with My Tractatus Biophilia Pneuma Kai Asthetiki Inspired by my Father's Tractatus on Education, 42”H x 30"W
$1920
Limited Edition of 5Signed on Back
The Overwhelm of Working with My Father’s Archive, 18"H x 24"W
Archival Paper
$650
Limited Edition of 10
Signed on Back
Contact-
Lynne Buchanan
lynne@lynnebuchanan.com
Lynn Buchanan/Ancient Tree with My Tractatus on Education to a Tree
Lynn Buchanan/ Douglas Berggren Speaks After Nailing His Tractatu
Lynn Buchanan/Freedom War and the Monsters Within
Never Edit/ Untitled 1
FIRST PLACE
FIRST PLACE
Review by Juror Laurie Freitag
What really struck me about Never Edit's image Untitled 1 was the size of the child and how completely comfortable he is wrapped around his father. We usually see that kind of physical need and closeness with babies or very young children. But this child is older, and there’s no hesitation or self-consciousness at all. He just seems to know that he can climb onto his father, hold onto him and be completely safe there. And the father’s hand on his back makes it feel like this is completely natural between them.
For me, that’s what makes the photograph so moving. It says something about how that need for a parent—and that feeling of safety with them—doesn’t necessarily go
away just because a child gets bigger.
What was it about this particular moment that made you take the photograph?
What made me take the photo was a spontaneous idea, I saw them lying there exhausted after swimming in an outdoor pool and I could literally feel how close they were.
Q&A with Never Edit
Laurie Freitag: “What can you tell me about the relationship between this father and child?”
Never Edit: “I know both of them from that outdoor pool, and also they live in my neighbourhood, we always have a chat when we meet. Occasionally I took photos of them swimming and diving, and one day I took photos of the boy when he jumped from the 3 metre board into the pool. I caught him in the air as if he was flying, and the father had a t shirt printed for the boy of that moment.
They were very close, I think as is often the case the father didn’t have a happy childhood and he did everything for the boy that he himself had wished his father had done for him.”
Laurie Freitag: “The physical closeness between them is such a strong part of the image. What did you see in that moment?”
Never Edit: “They were so at ease with each other, in an innocent honest way, as if they were one, and their closeness moves me to this day.”
Laurie Freitag: “Was the child aware of you taking the photograph?”
Never Edit: “They were not aware that I took this particular photo and I never showed it to them.”
Laurie Freitag: “When you look at this image now, what stands out to you most about their interaction?”
Never Edit: “I came across it in my archive and found it so intense and peaceful in the midst of all their random stuff in the grass. They were so at ease with each other, in an innocent honest way, as if they were one, and their closeness moves me to this day.”
More about Never Edit
"I'm a street photographer drawn to the honesty of everyday life. I work candidly, quietly capturing people as they are - unposed, unaware, and unapologetically themselves. For me, photography isn’t about perfection; it’s about truth. A fleeting glance, a quiet pause, a shared laugh—these are the moments I'm chasing.
Based in Duesseldorf, Germany, I like to travel and roam the streets with a camera and curiosity, blending into the rhythm of the world around me. Each image is a piece of a larger human story: real life, unscripted.
My style is simple and honest, letting the subject speak for itself. No filters, no façades - just moments that feel true."
Images for sale.
www.never-edit.com
www.instagram.com/never.edit
What really struck me about Never Edit's image Untitled 1 was the size of the child and how completely comfortable he is wrapped around his father. We usually see that kind of physical need and closeness with babies or very young children. But this child is older, and there’s no hesitation or self-consciousness at all. He just seems to know that he can climb onto his father, hold onto him and be completely safe there. And the father’s hand on his back makes it feel like this is completely natural between them.
For me, that’s what makes the photograph so moving. It says something about how that need for a parent—and that feeling of safety with them—doesn’t necessarily go
away just because a child gets bigger.
What was it about this particular moment that made you take the photograph?
What made me take the photo was a spontaneous idea, I saw them lying there exhausted after swimming in an outdoor pool and I could literally feel how close they were.
Q&A with Never Edit
Laurie Freitag: “What can you tell me about the relationship between this father and child?”
Never Edit: “I know both of them from that outdoor pool, and also they live in my neighbourhood, we always have a chat when we meet. Occasionally I took photos of them swimming and diving, and one day I took photos of the boy when he jumped from the 3 metre board into the pool. I caught him in the air as if he was flying, and the father had a t shirt printed for the boy of that moment.
They were very close, I think as is often the case the father didn’t have a happy childhood and he did everything for the boy that he himself had wished his father had done for him.”
Laurie Freitag: “The physical closeness between them is such a strong part of the image. What did you see in that moment?”
Never Edit: “They were so at ease with each other, in an innocent honest way, as if they were one, and their closeness moves me to this day.”
Laurie Freitag: “Was the child aware of you taking the photograph?”
Never Edit: “They were not aware that I took this particular photo and I never showed it to them.”
Laurie Freitag: “When you look at this image now, what stands out to you most about their interaction?”
Never Edit: “I came across it in my archive and found it so intense and peaceful in the midst of all their random stuff in the grass. They were so at ease with each other, in an innocent honest way, as if they were one, and their closeness moves me to this day.”
More about Never Edit
"I'm a street photographer drawn to the honesty of everyday life. I work candidly, quietly capturing people as they are - unposed, unaware, and unapologetically themselves. For me, photography isn’t about perfection; it’s about truth. A fleeting glance, a quiet pause, a shared laugh—these are the moments I'm chasing.
Based in Duesseldorf, Germany, I like to travel and roam the streets with a camera and curiosity, blending into the rhythm of the world around me. Each image is a piece of a larger human story: real life, unscripted.
My style is simple and honest, letting the subject speak for itself. No filters, no façades - just moments that feel true."
Images for sale.
www.never-edit.com
www.instagram.com/never.edit
Never Edit/Untitled 2
Never Edit/ Untitled 3
Prescott Moore Lassman/Contrail
HONORABLE MENTION
HONORABLE MENTION
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 recent artist residency in Joshua Tree National Park. I set out to capture images of people enjoying and using the park, and one day while hiking I came across a father and three of his children. He was a single parent out “bouldering” with his very precocious children, and he very graciously offered to let me take photographs of them climbing, which I did for half the afternoon. I gave him my card, and he followed up a few weeks later asking to see some of the photographs. I sent him these (and more), and his reaction nearly broke me. He said: “These are just so sweet. I’m going to cry. I never get photos of me with the kids. Words aren’t sufficient to say how much I appreciate it.” This touching interaction made my month and my residency and reminded me that this is the true power and importance of photography.
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 recent artist residency in Joshua Tree National Park. I set out to capture images of people enjoying and using the park, and one day while hiking I came across a father and three of his children. He was a single parent out “bouldering” with his very precocious children, and he very graciously offered to let me take photographs of them climbing, which I did for half the afternoon. I gave him my card, and he followed up a few weeks later asking to see some of the photographs. I sent him these (and more), and his reaction nearly broke me. He said: “These are just so sweet. I’m going to cry. I never get photos of me with the kids. Words aren’t sufficient to say how much I appreciate it.” This touching interaction made my month and my residency and reminded me that this is the true power and importance of photography.
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 Moore Lassman/Climbing Buddies
Prescott Moore Lassman/Family Climb
Prescott Moore Lassman/ Rest
Prescott Moore Lassman/Rest 2
Samantha Brinkley/BIBBY
Samantha Brinkley/Boot
Samantha Brinkley/BRINKLEY
SAMANTHA BRINKLEY
My current project, “Pumpkin,” is my attempt to navigate grief when the subject of my mourning was never truly known. I use both photographic works and curated archives to achieve this. The photographs I take are narrative in nature, but not linear. It often switches between blunt and subtle, real or manufactured, present and past, and even analog and digital, all to parallel the ways my own grief has shifted and changed throughout my life. I have often said that I feel more like an archeologist than a daughter when it comes to my late father, who died when I was two years old.
The objects I have found to showcase, from artwork to newspaper clippings to diplomas, is almost as much information I have about my father as the audience does. My grandmother, who helped raise me after my father’s passing, is also included as her death became a vessel through which I began exploring the idea of grief. Through combining my personal photographs with the curated objects, I invite the viewer to experience this strange mourning with me, and hopefully contemplate what that means for themselves.
Samantha Brinkley is an emerging photographer based in Rhinebeck, New York. She graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts and a minor in Art History. She practices in both digital and analog photography, with her latest projects including mixed media such as archived materials and video art.
Her work is narrative in nature, focusing on themes of memory, familial cycles, grief, aging, and autonomy. Beyond her photography, she is also a collage artist. Samantha’s work has been exhibited digitally and in-person, with shows spanning from Massachusetts to Rome. She’s proud to show her work most often in the beautiful Hudson Valley.
She has won various awards from Honorable Mention to Best In Show, and is always grateful just to be included. She has previously worked for Musée Magazine and CPW (formerly Center of Photography at Woodstock). You can now find her archiving, reproducing, and restoring photographs at Artcraft Photoworks in Kingston.
My current project, “Pumpkin,” is my attempt to navigate grief when the subject of my mourning was never truly known. I use both photographic works and curated archives to achieve this. The photographs I take are narrative in nature, but not linear. It often switches between blunt and subtle, real or manufactured, present and past, and even analog and digital, all to parallel the ways my own grief has shifted and changed throughout my life. I have often said that I feel more like an archeologist than a daughter when it comes to my late father, who died when I was two years old.
The objects I have found to showcase, from artwork to newspaper clippings to diplomas, is almost as much information I have about my father as the audience does. My grandmother, who helped raise me after my father’s passing, is also included as her death became a vessel through which I began exploring the idea of grief. Through combining my personal photographs with the curated objects, I invite the viewer to experience this strange mourning with me, and hopefully contemplate what that means for themselves.
Samantha Brinkley is an emerging photographer based in Rhinebeck, New York. She graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts and a minor in Art History. She practices in both digital and analog photography, with her latest projects including mixed media such as archived materials and video art.
Her work is narrative in nature, focusing on themes of memory, familial cycles, grief, aging, and autonomy. Beyond her photography, she is also a collage artist. Samantha’s work has been exhibited digitally and in-person, with shows spanning from Massachusetts to Rome. She’s proud to show her work most often in the beautiful Hudson Valley.
She has won various awards from Honorable Mention to Best In Show, and is always grateful just to be included. She has previously worked for Musée Magazine and CPW (formerly Center of Photography at Woodstock). You can now find her archiving, reproducing, and restoring photographs at Artcraft Photoworks in Kingston.
Samantha Brinkley/Dad of the Year
Samantha Brinkley/ Grass Grave
Samantha Brinkley/My Father's Signature, My Mother's Hands
Troy Colby/ Untitled 1
TROY COLBY
Troy was born in rural Kansas in 1975 and currently lives in Topeka, Kansas. His photographic work explores the delicate balance of family and fatherhood, driven by an intellectual and psychological inquiry into the emotional complexities of these intimate relationships. By photographing his own family, Troy seeks to better understand the vulnerability, connection, and evolving nature of fatherhood.
His practice also examines broader social issues surrounding families, rural communities, and individuals whose stories and experiences are often underrepresented.
Troy earned his BFA from the Academy of Art University in 2015 and his MFA in 2019. In 2022, he released his first monograph, The Fragility of Fatherhood, through Too Tired Press. His work has been featured in LensCulture, Black + White Photography Magazine, Lenscratch, Feature Shoot, The Photo Review, Der Greif, and FotoRoom.
Images are for sale:
Hand&Head 12"H x 8" W
Archival paper
$100 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact: Troy Colby, colby.t@sbcglobal.net
Newborn, grandchild 12hx8w
Archival Paper
$100 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact:Troy Colby, colby.t@sbcglobal.net
Empty miscarriage bed 12x8
Archival Paper
100.00 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact Troy Colby, colby.t@sbcglobal.net
Troy was born in rural Kansas in 1975 and currently lives in Topeka, Kansas. His photographic work explores the delicate balance of family and fatherhood, driven by an intellectual and psychological inquiry into the emotional complexities of these intimate relationships. By photographing his own family, Troy seeks to better understand the vulnerability, connection, and evolving nature of fatherhood.
His practice also examines broader social issues surrounding families, rural communities, and individuals whose stories and experiences are often underrepresented.
Troy earned his BFA from the Academy of Art University in 2015 and his MFA in 2019. In 2022, he released his first monograph, The Fragility of Fatherhood, through Too Tired Press. His work has been featured in LensCulture, Black + White Photography Magazine, Lenscratch, Feature Shoot, The Photo Review, Der Greif, and FotoRoom.
Images are for sale:
Hand&Head 12"H x 8" W
Archival paper
$100 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact: Troy Colby, colby.t@sbcglobal.net
Newborn, grandchild 12hx8w
Archival Paper
$100 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact:Troy Colby, colby.t@sbcglobal.net
Empty miscarriage bed 12x8
Archival Paper
100.00 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact Troy Colby, colby.t@sbcglobal.net
Troy Colby/ Untitled 2
Troy Colby/Untitled 3
www.TroyColby.com
www.instagram.com/troycolby/
-----------------------------------------
HOME: The Shape of the Father
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag
FIRST PLACE:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/shape-of-the-father-first-place-never-edit-untitled-1----/1
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/honorable-mentions-lynn-buchanan-memories-of-childhood-vacations-kip-harris-father-and-son-jodphur-jane-gottlieb-curtain-call-prescott-moore-lassman-contrail/1
BEST SERIES:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/best-series-beth-galton/1
GROUP EXHIBITION:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/shape-of-the-father-exhibition-1/1
www.instagram.com/troycolby/
-----------------------------------------
HOME: The Shape of the Father
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag
FIRST PLACE:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/shape-of-the-father-first-place-never-edit-untitled-1----/1
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/honorable-mentions-lynn-buchanan-memories-of-childhood-vacations-kip-harris-father-and-son-jodphur-jane-gottlieb-curtain-call-prescott-moore-lassman-contrail/1
BEST SERIES:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/best-series-beth-galton/1
GROUP EXHIBITION:
https://laphotocurator.com/the-shape-of-the-father-laurie-freitag/shape-of-the-father-exhibition-1/1
