Portland, OR photographer Shawn Records (website with fancy dots here) has recently started blogging and had a couple of con-joined posts on dealing with the mixed bag of feelings surrounding juried exhibitions and form letter laden rejection of all sorts: pep talk / sour grapes and cronyism… two from the home team

I’ve bounced similar thoughts around about the validity of juried shows and other pay-for-play opportunities to get work in front of what one hopes will be an influential set of eyeballs. I’ve wondered about the possible closed-loop of relationships that may effect decisions in these cases while never really putting my own work out there because of my own mixture of sour grapes and self deprecation. It’s easy to believe in corrupt systems that serve to line some person or corporation’s pockets but it’s maybe just as easy to take a look at the great work that is included in many juried shows and emerging annuals — great work chosen by people who are dedicating unpaid time for the most part to someone else’s work.

Shawn takes this latter approach in his recent posts. He recognizes his own misgivings and flips them into something more positive.