Cruisin' by Casey Kelbaugh

Check out the current issue of Photo District News to see Spring 2006 Hot Shot Casey Kelbaugh's favorited photograph Cruisin'. Casey's image, featured in all of its full-page glory, won the Best of Category for Snapshots in PDN's World in Focus: the ultimate travel photography contest. The shot, taken in Belize, also won an Altpick award last year.

See Casey's image and the other selected photographs in the online gallery here.

At this very moment Casey, camera in hand, is in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti capturing more potential award-winning shots. We wish him luck. Our Hot Shot Alums continue to make us proud. What fun and excitement will the Winter 2007 group bring? We expect nothing but the best.

Untitled by Kirby Pilcher

My, how time does fly. You've had a week to become acquainted with our sizzling new set of Hot Shots. If you haven't checked out the HHS! work on flickr, I suggest you do so right now. Here at the jb we are pulling ourselves from the daze of excitement that usually follows the breaking news, and frantically beginning preparation for what I am positive will be yet another wild and crazy showcase. An unusual quirk of this bunch, they've managed to scatter themselves across the globe. Our Hot Shots hail from Oregon, Michigan, Sweden, Washington, California, London, Minnesota, and New York. And you can expect to see their sweet smiling faces when you come support their work opening night.

Be there: Wednesda,y March 7th from 6-8 PM.

As always, more fun to follow.

The Bute Street Goldfish, Kowloon, Hong Kong by Ka-Man Tse

Oh yes, it is here! The time has come to announce the 10 photographers selected for the Winter 2007 Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! Here we go, the winners are:

Holly Andres
Colin Blakely
Jeffrey Krolick
Juho Kuva
Molly Landreth
Brad Moore
Kirby Pilcher
Ben Roberts
Mickey Smith
Ka-Man Tse

And now the fun begins! Pencil it in: the showcase soiree in honor of our new Hot Shots is Wednesday March 7 from 6-8pm. Make sure to see the work and support the winners. The show will be up from March 8-11, 2007 and what a show it promises to be!

Special thanks to our fantastic group of panelists—Anthony LaSala, Leslie Martin, Joerg Colberg, Amit Gupta, Eileen Gittens, Jenni Holder, Youngna Park, Christine Collins, and the Ultras, to Jeff Kirsch and Jesse Chan-Norris for all their hard work and commitment to the jb, and, of course, a gigantic thank you goes out to all of the participants for sharing their work with us.

Our panelists were faced with what promised to be the impossible, narrowing it down to a final ten proved just as difficult as expected. With so many fantastic entries coming our way, some honorable mentions are necessary:

Sarah Claire Ahlers, Alejandro Cartagena, Hin Chua, Jill Frank, Nicole Hatanaka, Shane Lavalette, Seth Lower, Jason Reblando, Paula Rebsom, Beth Riemer, Caroline Shepard, Michael Simon, Mandy Sue Springer, Will Steacy, Monika Sziladi, Daniel Traub, Andrea Wallace, Keith Kin Yan, Christopher Young

What a round, congratulations to all! Stay tuned to the HHS! Blog for more news, fun facts, and other tidbits of info for your entertainment.

Fiona by Holly Andres

Holly Andres

Currently residing in Portland, OR

Website: http://hollyandres.com

Work Statement:
The re-occurring themes in my work explore the experiences in my life that have impacted and constructed my identity. I am interested in revisiting, recreating and preserving that history, but am especially fascinated with the interweaving of fact and fiction, and finding a place in which autobiography and fictitious narration come together.

The photographs that I'm submitting are from a series titled, Stories From a Short Street, which is an on-going project inspired by childhood experiences. For this series I have created a fictitious group of siblings that are loosely based on the archetypes of my own family. Each image is constructed to enact a specific moment, convey identity through space, and depict a psychological portrait.

My photo process has been informed and influenced by my early training in traditional painting, my interest in religious Renaissance art, and my nostalgia for childhood television programs such as the After School Specials and Little House on the Prairie.

Bio:
I was born in 1977, the youngest daughter of ten children in rural western Montana. My older siblings voted to name me Holly; born just two days before Christmas my mom told me I was the best Christmas gift ever received. Growing up in a large family, money was scarce and since we didn't have many toys, we entertained ourselves through imaginative storytelling and art making. Organizations like the community church and 4-H gave me my first outlets for creative projects such as photography.

A full-tuition scholarship moved me to the Art Institute of Seattle were I studied architecture and illustration. I received a BFA in painting from the University of Montana, but it was while pursuing my graduate work at Portland State University, that I discovered my love for film-making and photography.

Selected 2006 Exhibitions and Film Festivals include the following:

+ 2006 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum
+ Annual National Juried Exhibition at Newspace Center for Photography
+ Current Photography: New Directions, Clark College
+ POW! (Pictures of Women), Quality Pictures Contemporary Art
+ Private Contemplations/Private Conversations, Salem Art Association
+ 31st Annual NW Film + Video Festival (Honorable Mention)
+ Portland International Film Festival
+ Portland Experimental Film Festival (Gearhead Filmmaker's Grant)
+ Perpetual Art Machine in New York

Confrontation with the Monster We've Collectively Created by Colin Blakely

Colin Blakely

Currently residing in: Ann Arbor, MI

Website: http://www.colinblakely.com

Work Statement:
As I have gotten older, I have turned more and more towards the familiar for inspiration and subject matter in my photographs.

In the most basic sense, this project is about the 400 and 500 blocks of Keech Avenue, an examination of my immediate surroundings. Bordered on one side by Michigan Stadium and by Almendinger Park on the other, both entities play an important role in the identity of the neighborhood.

My photographs depict this street and the people that inhabit it—both the ones that live here and the ones that visit. Some I know quite well, others are complete strangers. Overall, the work tells the story of a community that is holding on to a vanishing way of life. It is about a group of people living quite literally in Middle America—geographically, economically, politically—at a time when our notions concerning what this means are quickly changing. Having shunned the constant call of the suburbs, we live in a small neighborhood close to downtown. Here, the passing of time is defined as much by the rituals we collectively participate in as by the months on a calendar. This work is a celebration of and possibly a eulogy to our way of life.

Bio:
I was born in Brooklyn, NY, but moved to Houston, TX earlier on in my childhood, and remained there until college. My earliest memories concerning my interest in photography center around my mother and her ongoing endeavors as a serious amateur photographer. My first real explorations in photography began as one of two yearbook photographers for my high school. I don't know when my interest turned into an obsession, as it snuck up on me over the years. Sometime towards the end of college I stopped being able to imagine doing anything with my life that did not involve photography. After receiving a BA from Williams College in Massachusetts I went on to teach middle school for several years before returning for an MFA from the University of New Mexico. Currently, I am a professor of photography at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI.

Oregon Caves 10-24-06 9 by Winter 2007 Hot Shot Jeffrey Krolick

Jeffrey Krolick

Currently residing in: Ashland, OR

Website: http://www.jeffkrolick.net

Work Statement:
I completed a State University of New York campus-wide MFA program in 1983. My career path at that time focused primarily on fine art jewelry and sculpture, but my most consistent (and passionately practiced) artistic endeavor over the past 20 years has been photography. Although my vocation since 1986 has been in community mental heath, I have continued to explore photography in a disciplined way, while compiling a substantial body of evolving work which is just beginning to be exhibited. Photography in particular holds that impossibly seductive promise of learning to see in a new way which is at one and the same time democratic (the "subject"? of each photograph is as worthy as the next) and highly individualized (the unique formal qualities of the picture such as color, framing, lighting and personal, cultural and historical referends which may be conscious choices made by the photographer or serendipitous). Walt Whitman's stance of treating all moments as of equal consequence (the democratic) and Garry Winogrand's stated purpose in taking photographs - to see what the subject looks like as a photograph (individualized seeing) are the essential dynamics behind much of my photography. Formally my work explores how composition can unify disparate materials and seeming contradictory conceptual themes and how my personal aesthetic changes or remains static over time and across content.

Bio:
Jeff Krolick earned an MFA in sculpture, studying with Albert Paley, and worked for many years as a craftsman, metalsmith and sculptor, exploring how composition can unify disparate materials and seemingly contradictory conceptual themes. Photography has been his preferred medium for the past 17 years to discover/uncover these relationships in the seemingly mundane scenes of everyday life and the natural world. He recently began exhibiting his work again after pursuing a career for many years as a counselor and administrator in the community mental health field. His work has been included in a number of shows this year including solo exhibitions at the Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh, PA and Dayton University's Rike Center for the Arts as well as group shows in Kansas City, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City.

Jeff's work has been recognized with awards from the Silver Eye Center for Photography, the Society for Contemporary Photography and the International Photography Awards which selected him as Fine Art Photographer of the Year in 2005 and nominated him for a prestigious Lucie award.

Untitled (One) by Juho Kuva

Juho Kuva

Currently residing in: Gothenburg, Sweden

Website: http://www.juhokuva.com

Work Statement:
For me, the beauty of pictures has always been important. As a photographer the essential things like light, colour and composition are central elements in my own production. My own production, which focuses on landscape photography, has progressed towards more and more simplified photography. In addition to the traditional light, colours and composition that are basic components of my photography, the horizon, lines, silence, open spaces and large surfaces are important elements in my work. Beauty lies in simplicity, I feel. A simple landscape with plenty of open space is more appealing to me than a photo cluttered with detail and colour. In my photography I have always been interested in its linkages to reality. Apart from beauty, trying to evoke something real, tell of a moment that `really happened` and picture things that are personally important to me are important features in my work. As a summary I think that beautiful picture needs no explanation. It has earned its place with its presence.

"Beauty is based on perfection. It pierces the heart. What are we seeking for with our work if its not beauty?" - A Finnish cultural document

Bio:
I was born in Hong Kong on 6.6.1980. It is quite hard to say where or when this all started. In my childhood my father used to take a lot of photographs and these photographs my father took had a strong impact on me. Our family had a habit on getting together to watch slide shows of Finland whilst we were in Hong Kong, of Hong Kong whilst we were in Finland. Perhaps these familiar landscapes we looked at together, absent yet present, have had an important impact on my work. My fathers style is quite simple and traditional, and the photos he has taken are a beautiful documentation of the history of our family. The works of old masters of black-and-white photos such and from Sebastiao Salgado and Pentti Sammallahti made a lasting impression on me after moving back to Finland. The stunning beauty I felt to be present in their photos inspired my work. As a member of the local Photography club, I loved the traditional work with black-and-white photos in the darkrooms, fell in love and couldn`t turn back. After this it has been a wonderful journey...In fall 2005 I started my studies (MA) in School of Photography, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Our final exhibitions will be shown in the absolutely best places in Sweden like Konthallen in Gothenburg and Centrum A Fotografi in Stockholm.

Simon and West, 2006 by Molly Landreth

Molly Landreth

Currently residing in: Seattle, WA

Website: http://www.mollylandreth.blogspot.com

Work Statement:
Embodiment:This series of photographs is an archive and a journey through a rapidly changing community and the lives of people who offer new visions of what it means to be young and queer today. Coming of age witnessing rapid changes in how gender and sexual minorities are viewed, I began this project as an investigation into the ways this generation of young people is continuing to challenge traditional life narratives within both straight and mainstream gay and lesbian communities. Even with today’s increasingly progressive attitudes, to be visible is to become both empowered and vulnerable. As a result, these images depict subjects who meet my gaze with a rare combination of forthright self-awareness and total abandon, like they are standing in for something much larger than themselves. Paying attention to carefully considered identities and surroundings, I find in a moment suspended, that an overlap is revealed, exposing the subtle outlines of who people are and more importantly, who they wish to become.

As I look from one image to the next I see that although my original investigation is the heart of this project, its blood is more universal. Embodiment, is about love and the process of growing up into ones self. It is about the complexity of relationships found between a diverse group of young people who playfully reveal unique and subtle shades of gender expression and with a glance or a touch re-assemble the sometimes-delicate anatomy of a family.

Bio:
b. 1978, lives and works in Seattle, WA. where she continues to create and exhibit new work, as well as shoot as one half of landreth+riffle.

EDUCATION
School of Visual Arts,
MFA, Photography and Related Media, 2005. New York, NY
Glasgow School of Art
Study Abroad, Commercial Photography, 1 semester, 2001. Glasgow, Scotland
Scripps College
BA, Studio Art with focus in Art History, Photography and Digital Art, 2001. Claremont, CA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
In a New Direction, wall space, Seattle, WA, February, 2007
Give us Your Best Shot, Benham Gallery, Seattle, WA, February 2007
Group Show #7, Humble Media, New York, NY 2006
Group Show Box Set, Auctioned by Ladies Lotto for Planned Parenthood, The Foundry, LIC, NY 2006
Online Exhibition, Photomedia Center, Erie, PA 2006
See What I Mean?, School of Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY. 2005
Ladyfest Los Angeles Art Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA 2002
Vera Project Multi-Media Exhibition, Vera Project, Seattle, WA 2001
Scripps College Thesis Exhibition, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, CA 2001
Scripps College Junior Exhibition, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, CA 2000
New Work, The Motley Coffee Shop, Claremont, CA 1999

AWARDS
Finalist, Critical Mass, 2007
American Photo Image of the Year Competition, Honorable Mention, 2006
Photographic Center Northwest, Printing Sponsorship, 2006

PUBLICATIONS
Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, Oct. 2006

405 & Magnola, Fountain Valley, CA by Brad Moore

Brad Moore

Currently residing in: Laguna Beach, CA

Website: http://www.bradmoore.com

Work Statement:
These photographs were shot in modest, well-worn, suburban cities in central Orange County, California. Built in the 50s and 60s, these cities provided a new home and future to a post-war population. While southern Orange County's coastal cities flourish with affluence, central Orange County struggles. Future prosperity and civic health seem to come primarily from growing ethnic populations, which are reviving and recreating these cities for their communities.

I grew up in central Orange County. After 25 years I returned, and was fascinated by the simultaneous decline and growth. I stayed away from traditional, documentary-style photography, instead I have photographed only select buildings and the nearby shrubbery in primarily static, symmetrical compositions. Together, the buildings and foliage convey change, irony and evolution of place.

Bio
Born 1958, La Jolla, California

EDUCATION
1976-1980 BS Art/Photography, Loma Linda University, Riverside, California

1981 Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1978 - 1981 Photography and Darkroom Instructor,
Loma Linda University, Riverside, California

1981 - 1985 Photofinishing Instructor,
Noritsu America Corporation, Buena Park, California

1984 - 2005 President, Aperion, Inc.,
Irvine, California (manufacturer and distributor of photographic color calibration products)

Untitled by Winter 2007 Hot Shot Kirby Pilcher

Kirby Pilcher

Currently residing in: Rochester, NY

Website: http://www.kirbypilcher.com

Work Statement:
I began studying photography as an undergraduate, and dabbled with it for a few years before finally deciding in 2004 to pursue an MFA at the Visual Studies Workshop. Lately I have been interested in what images can be found when limiting the search area to the spaces that I inhabit on a daily basis. I am interested in finding images where human interaction has left evidence of events that occurred in these spaces. I try to give only fractured clues to the viewer so they must bring their own experiences to the image in order create a narrative.

Bio:
I was born in South Dakota in April of 1977, raised there, and attended the University of South Dakota earning a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in art. I am currently completing a MFA at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. I was first introduced to photography by my aunt who was a photographer. Over the years she had given me several cheap point and shoot cameras, but it wasn't until she passed away and I inherited her Canon AE-1 that I began to seriously make photographs. I have owned many cameras since getting the Canon but it is the only one that has not been stolen or broken.

At Work by Winter 2007 Hot Shot Ben Roberts

Ben Roberts

Currently residing in: Hackney, London, UK

Website: http://www.benrobertsphotography.com

Work Statement:
I'm a documentary photographer at heart; I started taking photos as way of documenting research for drawing and painting, but before long the painting took a back seat; I'm interested in documenting stories about human behaviour and condition, but the images don't necessarily have to have people in them; I try to look for human traces in both landscapes and domestic spaces to help complete a story. I'm inspired by the work of (amongst others) Mitch Epstein for his quiet appreciation of interiors and objects, and Larry Sultan for the subtlety and variety of his portraiture.

With an emphasis on atmosphere and subtle suggestions of a narrative, I aim to create images that intrigue and provoke a response. My ambition in an image is to evoke a sense of deja vu for the viewer—a tangible sense of familiarity that can be either warm or uncomfortable. To convey these qualities through portraiture and documentary photography is my constant motivation.

Bio:
I grew up in Birmingham, UK, until the age of 18. I then took myself off to Scotland where I completed an MA in Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh. I followed this up with 2 years traveling and compiling an admittedly naive portfolio. Since then I have completed a 2 year photography diploma at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, and haven't looked back since. I am a member of the respected young photographers collective Photodebut.org, and have had my work exhibited in The Museum of London and published in The Fader and The Sunday Herald. I am currently first assistant to the award winning UK documentary photographer Zed Nelson.

I'm 28yrs old now, and am constantly excited and inspired to be living and working in London's vibrant photographic industry.

Money by Winter 2007 Hot Shot Mickey Smith

Mickey Smith

Currently residing in: Minneapolis, MN

Website: http://www.mickeysmithart.com

Work Statement:
The three images submitted to Hot Shots are from my current project, called Volume. I seek out and photograph these titles as I find them on the shelves of public libraries. I do not manipulate, light, or touch the books, preferring to document them as created by the librarian and positioned by the last user.

Searching endless stacks, I am continually struck by physical mass of information and tenuousness of printed works as they fade from public consciousness. The irony and graphic quality of repeating titles fascinate and draw, no matter how mundane, from known to obscure, from Vogue to Blood. I photograph titles that are flirtatious, utilitarian, and personally or socially symbolic.

I am inspired by many artists, but particularly drawn to the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Barbara Kruger, and Edward Ruscha.

Bio:
Mickey Smith was born in 1972 in Duluth, Minnesota. She received a BA in Photography from University of Minnesota, Moorhead. Works from her most recent project, Volume, have shown at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in Saint Paul, Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh and the Society for Contemporary Photography in Kansas City. Smith is the current recipient of the McKnight Artist Fellowship for Photography and a FORECAST Public Artworks Grant.

Untitled, Kowloon, Hong Kong by Winter 2007 Hot Shot Ka-Man Tse

Ka-Man Tse

Currently residing in: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.tsewhat.com

Work Statement:
My photographs are about a desire to see, to touch without touching. I am a photographer because I am a hoarder. I am a cowardly collector of faces, sights seen without cameras, murmurs in the hallway, children's logic, things unsaid, lists and maths found on the pavement. Some of my favorite things are sights and not objects; sights seen for the low-fidelity breaking of a heart, a kind of could-have-been, something born to be a memory of loss. So I gaze without manners, turn my head once more, and squeeze my eyes lest the image fall out.

My work explores common themes of home, childhood, memory, desire, loss, and place. Growing up, I had wanted to see my birthplace, the Hong Kong in my parents' photographs. I began to photograph in Hong Kong in 2004, starting at the location of departure, the decommissioned Kai Tak Airport, and progressing into other spaces of wonder.

Bio:
Ka-Man Tse is the creative director of NYC-based dirtypop Magazine. Her work has been published in Hyphen Magazine, Time Out New York and by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She has exhibited at the Fifth Avenue Committee in Brooklyn and currently serves as the Assistant to the Director of Photography at the JCC in Manhattan and as a Teaching Assistant at the International Center for Photography. She lives in Brooklyn, and shoots in NYC and Hong Kong.

John by Kate and Camilla

The notorious New York duo Kate and Camilla are artists in a league of their own. They met in a photo class at Smith College, teamed up to get their MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and quickly ran off to New York where they now have their very own studio and some considerable clientele.

We've always said that we make images we want to see and we hope that the world wants to see them too. That said, in the constant flux of information and inspiration, we often return to portraiture and consider most of our work to be a form of portraiture. We are less interested in capturing the truth of a person than we are interested in capturing our truth through a person, place, or thing.

In a list of subjects of interest they include sex, faces, sexfaces, bodies, parts, scapes (land not garlic), masculinity, femininity, portraiture and its history. John is a piece from a semiannual "nude art modeling" collaboration between the two and a man named John. They pick a flexible theme, gather some random props, and he meditatively moves around.

Kate and Camilla have a large body of work worth a look on their website. And they are recipients of PRINT Magazine's New Visual Artists Award for 2007; pick up March's issue for their feature. Kate and Camilla—keep it coming.

Untitled (One) by Keith Kin Yan

Keith Kin Yan hails from Hong Kong, moved to Singapore, then to Boston, New York remaining a fascination and his ultimate destination throughout. For him it was the dystopian metropolitan environment that film and comic books lead us all to believe it could be.

What I found upon my arrival luckily didn't live up to what I've imagined, but this vision of a dark cinematic New York stayed with me and I set out to capture the New York I've visualized with my images.

And that is exactly what he has done. Keith successfully transforms the New York City we all know into the gotham noir we'd all, in the back of our minds, like it to be—a city that truly is full of mystery, adventure, and vices of all sorts. This New York is the dark metropolis, the sin city, a city where venturing downtown is a risky temptation. Not to mention, the work is simply good looking.

Keith has many, many images for you to pour through on his site as well as his flickr—for your Sunday, enjoy.

Howling Coyote by Paula Rebsom

To tease the anticipation, this weekend I owe and will give you daily-double submission spotlights. Be sure to schedule us in for your lunch hour on Monday, the winners for the winter edition of Hey, Hot Shot! will be announced at 12PM sharp. Oh the how the excitement mounts.

Aspiring Hot Shot Paula Rebsom is interested in the hunt, more specifically in the sexualized nature of hunting. Growing up in North Dakota, she spent her childhood hunting with her father, even winning prizes for marksmanship. Today her work battles the contradictions she ran into as she grew older, as outsider perspectives forced her to confront the many ethical issues surrounding her sport and questioned a female in a predominately male game. A performance artist and a sculptor before a photographer, Paula's creations are documented in bizarre and moody photographs. In her words:

In my work I explore paradoxes of identity, including human/animal; male/female; hunter/hunted; and predator/prey relationships. I sew costumes and props for myself and then find ways to insert myself into every day scenes.

Keep it up Paula!

Air Show by Ben Pier

Aspiring Hot Shot Ben Pier studied in Chicago at Columbia College, then left the good old Midwest for Brooklyn. I know about his education, his age, his sign, even his bloodtype, but not much about his work—only that I think this image is pretty great. From his submission:

I started shooting in high school, I have an older brother who was into it, he would shoot his friends skateboarding and what-not and I thought it(he) was pretty much the coolest thing ever. ... I am interested mainly in people and strive to photograph the human experience and condition. I am constantly inspired by my friends and a lot of the time by complete strangers.

Good luck Ben.

It seems to me that one of the most difficult things about being an artist is getting one's act together and getting work out there. If only each of us would jump on every opportunity we ran across, well we'd be a lot better off—procrastination can be a killer.

Here is one not to miss, The Photographic Resource Center's annual juried exhibition EXPOSURE. An amazing resource, the PRC is "an independent non-profit organization that serves as a vital forum for the exploration and interpretation of new work, ideas, and methods in photography and related media." Their Annual Juried Exhibition promotes some of today's most promising photographers and is an opportunity not to pass up.

AND, our own Jen Bekman has been asked to be guest juror for 2007 and will be giving a lecture there in March as part of the amazing line-up of speakers for the spring.

The deadline has been extended through February 18—that's Sunday!

Exposure: The Annual PRC Juried Exhibition
Deadline: February 18, 2007
Entries can be postmarked or hand delivered to the PRC by Sunday and the entry form can be downloaded here.

You're reading about it, thinking about it, so why not enter before it passes you by. Good luck!

On Holiday by Ben Roberts

In my attempt to celebrate my least favorite of holidays, I've poured love songs, ballads, and many a nostalgic tune through my ears since waking. Now I am stuck with one of my favorites on repeat: thank you Doris Day. In passing along aspiring Hot Shot Ben Roberts, I hope to also get this tune I will not name, but leave for you to guess, out of my head. From me to you, words from Ben's statement:

I'm interested in documenting stories about human behaviour and condition, but the images don't necessarily have to have people in them; I try to look for human traces in both landscapes and domestic spaces to help complete a story.

While our panelists tackle the difficult task of selecting just who will be first 10 Hot Shots of 2007, I will continue to bring you some submission spotlights. Enjoy.

Winners by Michael Simon

You have three hours to get your entries in. Three hours until your time is up, until your last chance to enter the Winter Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! passes you by. Are you a winner? Get it in and get it out there.

For a little motivation, I give you Hot Shot hopeful Michael Simon. Michael submitted work from his series taken at the 2005 Supernationals Chess Championship in Nashville. On the project:

With 5,230 kids entered, the event holds the official world record for the largest scholastic chess tournament in history. Chess parents were kept at least fifty yeards away at all times during match play, so the players were left on their own to win or lose the most important chess matches of their young lives. Their faces expressed rage, glee, frustration, isolation, boastfulness, indifference and every other possible emotion as each strove to defeat his or her opponent. But in the end, every child was a winner. Waiting backstage, most of them almost as tall as their intended recipients, were 5,230 trophies.

Get to it. Enter Now

Kites by Ansley West

That's right, less than 24 hours remain until deadline. The period of procrastination must come to its due end. Ask yourself, are you Hot Shot material? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, here's another submission spotlight. Aspiring Hot Shot Ansley West hails from Atlanta, Georgia and has dedicated her life to the photograph. She received her first camera at the age of 8 and moved into her darkroom at the tender age of 15. Looking to her active imagination for inspiration and her crafty skills for putting together sets, she aims to create surreal environments for her subjects. Good luck Ansley!

Entries must be in by 2PM tomorrow, that's Monday February 12, 2007. Enter now!

Study No. 8 by Guy Hoffman

For some time aspiring Hot Shot Guy Hoffman has had what he calls an unhealthy obsession with pushing the boundaries of the still image. With the desire to capture something such as the "temporal impermanence of light" driving him, he decided to write his own software to get the results he was after. His words on the project:

In all my work, my goal is to reach the brink of subtle surrealism, playing with the distortion of time and space, and directly addressing human perception as it participates in art. ... In the Time Bracketing series, I tried to make each image seem as if it could almost have happened in reality. If I'm successful, only closer investigation reveals first the physical impossibility of the image, then the dynamic presence of time as it creeps over the depicted space, and finally the realization that the image actually *does* capture reality in a very faithful (if surprising) way.

Good luck Guy! We've reached the homestretch. You have until Monday @ 2PM to enter the Winter 2007 Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! Get it in, get it out there. Enter today!

I thought our lovely Jen Bekman had tipped the top of the chain letter hype and put all this meme-ness to rest. Then I saw that Hot Shot Shen Wei tagged me. While I was planning on ignoring it, I do usually try to talk about you rather than myself, so perhaps a proper introduction is in order. I'll take this as an opportunity to let you in on how and why exactly I'm the one bringing you such fascinating daily posts. Here we go: 5 things about your Hey, Hot Shot! Guide you probably didn't know.

1. My roots : still a southern belle at heart
I was born and bred in the Delta, or Memphis if you will—the home of Elvis, rock-n-roll, and I'm banking 96% of readers' favorite photographer. I attended the Hutchison School for Girls where I had ballet, etiquette, and impeccable grammar ingrained into me. I participated in cotillion, but got out right in time to avoid my debutante years. And while I can perform a rather intricate table setting, I consciously shed my drawl years ago.

2. Pre-digital days : a photographer is born
I used to take disposable cameras to school on almost a daily basis to snap pictures of my classmates (paying extra careful attention to the males I was lusting after). Then I'd have a lucky parent rush me to the nearest drug store for one-hour processing, allowing me to drool over the glossy snapshots all evening long. This was a terribly rewarding habit of mine for many, many years; in fact, I would venture to say one I still haven't quite shaken.

3. The quintessential teenage girl + her camera
On any given night between the age of 15 and my high school graduation, I could be found in a small steamy shed in my backyard in Arizona, standing in front of my enlarger with a bag of ice and a fan behind my back. Here I printed hundreds of black and white images (many a macro) of eyes, nudes, dead birds, anything mildly gooey or disgusting, and, of course, my feet. [Not exactly a surprising fact, but just thought I'd verify it for you.]

4. Paying my dues and barely a penny to show
It began with a summer under Leslie Calmes in the research department at The Center for Creative Photography in Tucson where I spent hours trying to make sense of John Gutmann's archives. I went on to intern for a photographer of many trades in New York—Gigi Stoll. A bit later, I found myself assistant to everyone's favorite Chicagrapher, Brian Ulrich. I had a brief interlude with Chelsea, only to realize running errands was not my cup of tea—which led me to the fabulous Jen Bekman, where you find me now.

5. Going on 4 years, the complex has set in.
A student after my BFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I have spent an entire undergraduate career fixated on my stature. And it all started with a documentary on the human growth hormone which I dubbed The Last of a Dying Breed: ten action packed minutes of statistics, Randy Newman, and a brief shot of me secretly standing next to Steven Tyler.

Although I continue to have my curiosity humored as I watch this spread, I'll follow suit and try to wrap it up. I'll spare some lucky 5 the tags and instead prod some confidential meme-ness from our Ultras, whose show is up through March 3 and who will also be reviewing your submissions.

But for the sake of reading pleasure, here are three from the family just in case you missed them: Jen Bekman, Joerg Colberg, and Shen Wei

Pony Bride by Debra Tomaszewski

Debra Tomaszewski's interest in photography grew out of a degree in art education and the weekly task of running a middle school photography club. Inspired by the "metaphors and life lessons" of youth, she began photographing children and has been doing so ever since.

In Growing Up Girl, I examine universal themes of childhood as viewed through the female lens. These photographs are poetic metaphors for everyday moments. This series captures the confusing emotions and developing sexual/social identities of girls as they come of age and glimpse into their inner lives.

A well-traversed subject, she walks it well. Her series is complete with 33 images many of which are worth a look.

Use the weekend wisely. Enter.

Last minute but not least, Anthony LaSala, Senior Editor for PDN and now Hey, Hot Shot! Panelist, has joined our ranks and right in time for the winter review! Anthony is a guiding light for photographers young and old, amateurs and the experienced alike. Already a friend and patron to the emerging photographer, he has helped to bring us PDN's 30—their choice of the top 30 emerging photographer's to keep your eye on. As the newest member of team Hey, Hot Shot!, he'll help this beyond believable group select 2007's initial round of Hot Shots. Yes, today spirits are high. Welcome Anthony!

Since 1997, Anthony LaSala has been part of the editorial staff at the award-winning, monthly magazine for professional photographers, Photo District News. Now a Senior Editor for PDN, he writes and oversees several columns for the publication, and has helped make the international magazine the "bible" of the photography industry. A nominee for Photography Editor of the Year at the 2003 and 2004 International Photography Awards, he has also been a regular contributor to a number of national magazines, guest curator for numerous gallery exhibitions in the New York City area, and a panelist for several annual contests. He is the author of the forthcoming The Brooklynites (powerHouse, 2007) and World's Top Photographers: Nudes (Rotovision, 2005). He currently lives in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York.

I've said it before and will say it again, this all-star team keeps getting better and better. If you need a reminder of exactly who will be looking at your submissions, take a look at the panelist page [or see their sweet smiling faces on the blog].

Astronaut by Jim Turbert

Aspiring Hot Shot Jim Turbert is another case where it's best to just let him say it. From Jim's statement:

When there is a new child in a family, people tend to be happy and optimistic. They have high hopes because a baby is a blank slate, and theoretically anything is possible. If the child turns out to be clever, the hopes and expectations get even higher. I can recall my mother telling me that she thought I was going to be an astronaut when I grew up. Little did she know that only around 450 out of the 6.5 billion people on earth have been to outer space. One would need to be extraordinary to make the cut to be on that team. I am not extraordinary. The least ordinary thing about me is that I make self-portraits. The most recent batch is about expectations that my family and friends had for me as a youngster versus the reality of what I have become as a grown up.

On that note, keep it up Jim. As for everyone else, show us what you've got...enter today.

Carrot Cake House by Erin Gleeson

Aspiring Hot Shot Erin Gleeson grew up on an apple orchard where she aspired to follow family tradition and study the tricky art of the kitchen. But rather than heading off to culinary school, she found herself mastering photography in the big apple itself. And guess what she's doing now, photographing food of course. Starting off with a more traditional method for depicting some of our most dangerous temptations, she's recently decided to complicate matters for us...

On the glossy pages of magazines and ads we are trained to desire certain things that look a certain way. I decided to play with the advertising aesthetic by inserting pages from magazines as backdrops for my food—in a way placing them into desirable situations in order to tempt the viewer. In this way I question what it is that we are supposed to desire, supposed to want and supposed to have.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday @ 2pm ... deadline!
That leaves you 4.5 days...enter soon or even: right now.

200+ New Housing development in Apodaca, 2006 by Alejandro Cartagena

Initially picking up a camera to both help him understand his surroundings and offer him moments of solace during crazy times, aspiring Hot Shot Alejandro Cartagena is interested in self representation through the outside subject. As of late, he's hunting for identity in familiar spaces. From his statement:

I returned to my home country (Dominican Republic) and did a conscious register of habitable spaces which I needed to redefine and make mine again. My actual work New Topographies from Northeastern Mexico is my way of understanding both the spaces where I finished growing up and the people with which I live. I capture the strange metamorphosis of landscapes waiting for the arrival of urban life and the lack of urban planning. Thousands of repetitive model homes that could be part of an uncanny TV show about who can make their homes the most original in the shortest time. Finally I look for how these new urban signs blend in with the natural landscape and see in this the signs of my adoptive culture.

The clock ticks; you're on deadline. Enter today.

Count your lucky stars, for today we are feeling generous @ the jb. You've asked and we willingly oblige, the deadline for the Winter 2007 Edition of the Hey, Hot Shot! competition has officially been extended one additional week. You now have through next Monday at 2pm s-h-a-r-p to strut your stuff and get it in.

New deadline: Monday February 12 @ 2PM
Winners Announced: Monday February 19 @ 12PM
HHS! Winter Showcase Opening: Wednesday March 7, 2007, 6-8PM

Be a winter winner and enter today!

Green Car by Joshua Smith

Joshua Smith hails from Springfield, Missouri and comes to Hey, Hot Shot! via the formidable, estimable and most awesome Mary Virginia Swanson.* Says Joshua:

The act of photographing brings the immediate world back to me, where I scrutinize from the distance I choose. Moving closer I find that the change in proximity offers fewer solutions than the scene at large. In creating these photographs the immediate world is returned to me, and I begin to reconcile the beauty and melancholy of our collective experience.

The end is near, for this season at least, and the panelists are gearing up for the Winter 07 review. It's not too late... why not enter today?

*MVS's Marketing Guidebook for Photographers is an excellent resource for the emerging photographer, and she's just released an updated edition. Check it out.

Halo by aspiring Hot Shot Logan Kleier

I am often asked if we here at the jb are opposed to certain types of photography, most recently, abstract photography. It's true that when browsing through the artists on the site or the submissions shown on the blog, you will run into very little "abstract" work. While we pride ourselves for the variety in work and artists we showcase, we don't have genre quotas to fill. We won't lie, we each have our own preferences, but the panel is extensive, as are our preferences. When it comes down to it we like work that is good—good work comes in many forms. And I have said, and will say again, the selection I show here is my attempt to summarize the work you're sending our way. So for those of you after something abstract, I hunted down a recent submission by Logan Kleier which caught my eye.

I use color and light as tools to create abstractions of ordinary objects. The resulting images evoke an appreciation of elemental beauty and joy. I also use these images to explore the personal emotional value we attach to colors and light that surround us on a daily basis.

Beautiful indeed, I am drawn to Logan's image for its similarity to my personal fixations at the moment. I recently enrolled in a braincrashing course if there ever was one, the Search for Life in the Universe. My late night surfing sessions have been filled with stardust and extraterrestrial beings squished between long pauses of contemplation and perplexity. For the weekend I pass along some inspiration in the form of UFOs, the cosmos, and the good ol' Comet Sample Return Mission.

In between your new found obsessions and the standard weekend fun, we have reached the homestretch, get those entries in! As for Alice, I'm headed south for a few days, but leave you in good hands.

Enter today!