From May 8th - June 6th at the American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC, you'll be able to see the work of over a hundred artists, coming together for a single exhibition. But, to see the never-before-seen work of Megan Cump, Penelope Umbrico, Brian Ulrich, Ryan Boatright, Shane Lavalette or the dozens of other photographers in-person, you'll have to carefully time your trip to coincide with the one hour each of their works will be on display. This is the premise of One Hour Photo: "project a photograph for one hour, then ensure that it will never be seen again."

Shadow by Megan Cump

Project creator, Adam Good and curators Chajana denHarder and Chandi Kelley accepted entries from artists all over the world, asking the selected exhibitors to promise that they never "reproduce, display, sell, or otherwise expose to the public this work after it is project...," which they add is fundamentally an act about giving up control—to allow work to exist and only exist for a designated slice of time.

The exhibit invites show-goers to take a risk, both on what they might arrive to see and the satisfaction they may derive both from their experience with the image and the experience of knowing that the image will not be shared with anyone but in that room. One is asked to observe without documenting and acknowledge without sharing, allowing the images—one by one—to take precedent.

Embarrassing Books b y Penelope Umbrico

There will be an opening on May 8th, featuring the work of Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, Megan Cump and Tim Davis, as well as a closing viewing on June 6th featuring work by Penelope Umbrico, Clayton Cotterell, Matthew Gamber, Ann Woo, and Ruben Natal-San Miguel. See the full list of participating artists, and a schedule of the one hour slots you can see their work.

One Hour Photo
American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave, Washington, DC
On View: May 8th - June 6th, 2010
Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tue-Sun