Alaska Positive 2002

Juneau photographer Michael Kelly took top honors in Alaska Positive, the biennial statewide photography exhibit sponsored by the Alaska State Museum.

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Alaska Positive 2002 opens Friday with a reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and the museum will remain open until 8 p.m. This fall the museum will continue the First Friday program, offering free admission and extended hours the first Friday of each month.

Photographers could submit as many as four photographs for the competition, and 58 photographers from across the state submitted 208 images for consideration.

Anne Wilkes Tucker, the curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, served as the judge for the show. Tucker, who selected 37 works by 19 photographers, took an unusual approach to reviewing the submissions and selecting the show.

"She insisted upon looking at all the submissions by each photographer. She wanted to see them grouped," said Mark Daughhetee of the state museum. "She wanted to consider the artists' work as a whole."

Daughhetee said Tucker's approach gave her a sense for the individual artist's style and body of work. Theresa Manzanares, also of Juneau, won an honorable mention for her photograph "Another Kiss." The two $100 Recognition Awards went to Ken Kollodge of Fairbanks and Bonnie Landis of Anchorage.

Rather than awarding the image the prize, as judges have done in the past, Tucker actually gave the awards to the body of work by the photographers. Michael Kelly submitted three color photographs, all exploring the theme of reflections on water. They are displayed in a set, and he is considered the Juror's Choice Award artist. His award comes with a $250 cash prize.

"They stand best in a group - they are similar in intent and outcome," Daughhetee said. "The same thing is true of Bonnie Landis, she has these beautiful split-toned gelatin silver prints."

Alaska Positive 2002 represents a mix of the broad spectrum of different photographic media, from some of the earliest processes to the most current. The rapid advancement in digital photography and digital darkrooms in recent years was reflected in an unprecedented number of digital media submitted, Daughhetee said.

"There's a fair balance of different kinds of photographic media," Daughhetee said. "Black and white, color, alternative processes like liquid light on silk - Ron Klein (of Juneau) did some gold-toned prints from a wet plate collodion negative, an old photographic process."

Since 1970, the state museum has sponsored the exhibit to encourage photography as an art form in Alaska. Each year a guest curator selects the images for the show. Two years ago internationally renowned photographer Ralph Gibson selected 65 images from more than 250 submitted.

Daughhetee said the museum has been fortunate over the years to bring top names to Juneau to judge Alaska Positive. Last year Time Magazine named Tucker "America's best museum curator." She is credited with building the photography collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston into one of the best collections in America.

Alaska Positive 2002 will be on display through Feb. 15.