Taemin Ha

"Taemin Ha's intimate, colorful, and sensitive photography is what I usually value most in documentary photography."

Juror: Jonas Cuénin

(Blind Magazine)

instagram.com/taemin_haa

Ania Moussawel

"The sometimes-posed, sometimes-candid photos of her mother, grandmother, and daughter by Ania Moussawel are intimate and filled with emotion. Each one adds a different layer to the complexities that exist within intergenerational living. All the small details quickly add up to a beautiful story: the plastic on the sofa gives us an instant understanding of place; her daughter's small hands on her mother's shoulder, no other part of her visible, one of many embraces included in the series;  the same chair repeated in two photos: one, with her grandmother, one, empty, a poignant memorial to a matriarch.  The series is a touching tribute not only to Moussawel's family, but to matriarchal relationships."

Juror: Leonor Mamanna 

(Bloomberg)

aniamoussawel.com

Francisco Gonzalez Camacho

"As a long-time picture editor for National Geographic magazine, where reporting science with documentary and illustrative photography is my mainstay, Camacho took me to an otherworldly place where my soul could catch a breather. “Reality is suspended, reminding us we are just a small part of nature, united with it,” he wrote in his artist statement. I was dreamingly taken into his world through the portal of light in the opening photograph. I could feel my blood pressure ease as I viewed his meticulous sequence of lovely imagery, and finally to a distant planet in a sky of whiteness."

Juror: Kurt Muchler 

(National Geographic)

frangc.com

Leah Schretenthaler

"There is so much to admire in Leah's practice: first and foremost, an evident respect for indigenous Hawaiian culture and a deep understanding of the rippling effects of settler colonialism, and how it benefits her. Leah's MFA thesis project registered grief - personal and collective - for the loss of land and cultural connection to urban development on the Hawaiian island chain. Aloha from Hawaii is an accomplished second chapter. Equally concise in design and execution, it critiques the promotion and sale of paradise to consumers through idealized photographs on postcards. I admire the fragility of the altered cards as a metaphor for the delicate Hawaiian ecosystem which we've claimed as our own by right of "discovery." "

Juror: Roula Seikaly 

(Humble)

leahschretenthaler.com

Anna Laza

"I like how the artist has transformed the human form into an abstract, high contrast landscape. There are ebbs and flows with interesting angles that makes the viewer guess what they are looking at and it works as a cohesive body of work."

Juror: Tracey Woods 

(The Luupe)

annalaza.com

Jonas Cuénin, Blind Magazine

Jonas Cuénin is a photographer, journalist specializing in photography, and currently working as Director at Blind, an online magazine that tells visual stories about the world, through the coverage of photographic news; and cultural, social, and environmental phenomena. He previously worked as Editor-in-Chief at Camera and L'Œil de la Photographie. For 15 years, he's been trying to make photographers grow in the industry.

Leonor Mamanna, Bloomberg

Leonor Mamanna is the Deputy Photo Director at Bloomberg Businessweek. She has also worked at New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, GQ, Men's Vogue, Money Magazine, and More. She was the photo director of the all-female magazine, Mary Review. Her work in these magazines has won her awards from The Society of Publication Designers, American Photography, Photo District News, American Society of Magazine Editors, Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, POYi, and more. She has served on juries for PDN Photo Annual, Photoville, Latin American Fotografía and ASME.

Kurt Muchler, National Geographic

Kurt Mutchler is an Editor at Large at National Geographic magazine. He was awarded the 2021 Magazine Picture Editor of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). He was awarded Magazine/Media Visual Editor of the Year in Pictures of the Year International (POYi), as well as Magazine Picture Editor of the Year by the NPPA for work in 2018. His work has also been recognized by the Overseas Press Club of America, The Association of Magazine Media, Society for News Design, and The Society for Publication Designers.

Roula Seikaly, Humble

Roula Seikaly is an Oakland-based independent curator, writer, and Co-Director at Humble Arts Foundation. Her practice addresses contemporary photography and new media, social justice efforts in contemporary art, exhibition making, and institutional critique. She has curated exhibitions at venues nationwide, including Photo Center Northwest, Blue Sky Gallery, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, and SF Camerawork. Her writing is published in print and virtually through Photograph, Hyperallergic, BOMB, Aperture, and KQED Arts.  

Tracey Woods, The Luupe

Tracey Woods is the Director of Photography at The Luupe and a freelance creative consultant and producer. Prior to this she was the photo director at Essence Communications. As an artist and photographer, Tracey draws inspiration from beauty in the unexpected. During summer 2020, her signature artwork adorned the windows of Macy’s flagship stores in New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Woods holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from Pratt Institute and earned her Bachelor of Arts in graphic design from Rhode Island College.