Our own Ms. Jen Bekman had the honor of being the juror for this year's Photo-Op, the 14th Annual Photographic Competition run by Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW). Located in downtown Seattle, PCNW serves as both art education center, gallery, and photographic facility for working artists.

This year's Photo-Op exhibit, which opens next Monday, July 13th and remains on view through September 4, 2009, features many artists familiar to JBP. Of the twenty-two artists featured in the show, HHS! contenders Mary Ellen Bartley, Magda Biernat, Lacey Terrell and Ian Whitmore each have pieces included, as well as 20x200 artists Katie Baum and Kevin Miyazaki, 20x200 artists and Hot Shots! Colin Blakely and Colleen Plumb, and Hot Shot! Shawn Records.

Also featured are: Jowhara Alsaud, Andrea Bakacs, Tim Carpenter, Onejoon Che, Thomas Holton, Stephanie Kirk, Brian Knappenberger, Alex Leme, James Luckett, Liz Obert, Tom Reese, Andy Reynolds and Rebecca Sittler.

We congratulate all photographers who were selected from a very competitive field of over 2500 submitted images.

In addition to the exhibition, Jen will be in Seattle, in person, for a lecture, reception and awards ceremony on July 17th. Come see Jen speak on the topic of Curating & Collecting Contemporary Photography at 7 p.m. next Friday evening at the Seattle Art Museum ($6, $4 PCNW & SAM members & students). The lecture will be followed by a reception at PCNW from 8:30 - 10 p.m. and is free and open to the public. More details about the artists, exhibit, lecture and reception are available on PCNW's website and if you are in Seattle next week, we hope you'll stop by to see this sure-to-be-great show.