A frosty winter morning in the New Mexico desert.
A tourist-filled street in New York’s Little Italy.
A Florida night heron against a Hawaiian night sky.
The three scenes don’t have much in common, but they hang side by side in the Arlington Museum of Art as part of its showing of the “Texas Photographic Society 36th Annual Member Show,” which debuted earlier this year in Lubbock.
The annual competition features 50 photos from 50 photographers in the Texas Photographic Society, a nonprofit organization uniting artists from around the world.
This is the second collaboration between the museum and the photography group, following a 2019 exhibit highlighting Texas traditions.
The photos hang in the museum’s 2-month-old Community Gallery, redecorating the walls that were previously filled with art by K-12 students.
If you go
What: The Arlington Museum of Art exhibits the “Texas Photographic Society 36th Annual Member Show,” featuring 50 images from 50 artists from around the world.
When: Through June 23
10 a.m.-5 p.m Tuesday-Saturday
1-5 p.m. Sunday
Where: 1200 Ballpark Way
Price: Free
Visit here for more details.
The contrast between the two exhibits — professional photography versus student paintings and projects — was intentional, said Kendall Quirk, Arlington Museum of Art registrar and director of exhibitions. The museum wants the Community Gallery to be a diverse place, representative of the diverse city.
“When people come to visit there’s something different each time,” Quirk said. “We want people to be surprised, excited by all the exhibits we have for that space.”
This year’s competition received 703 entries, each capturing the spectrum of photographic techniques and artistry, said Texas Photographic Society Executive Director Ann Shaw.
“We have folks from elementary school students, up through retirees who discovered photography,” Shaw said. “It’s incredible the breadth of artists that are connecting with us and that we’re able to help get into shows.”
Here are the top three winners:
First Place: “New York, Street Fashion” by Ed Malcik
“I go out and find pictures; I don’t create them, I don’t make them. I don’t direct people like a film director; I don’t manipulate them in Photoshop. I go out and find scenes.”
Taken one summer’s day on his Nikon D750, Malcik captured this candid of a distracted woman wandering through Little Italy, New York. She’s meeting someone, Malcik speculates, in a $10,000 outfit in contrast to the surrounding T-shirts and ice-cream stained sidewalk.
“Why is she there? What is she doing? Who is she contacting?” Malcik said. “It begs further involvement and reasons to look at the photograph and figure out what all it means.”
The image is part of Malcik’s developing photo book of street life in New York City, which he’s been curating over periodic trips from his home in Austin for two years.
Malcik grew up near Waco, studied photography at the University of Texas and worked as a photojournalist before living abroad for 30 years as a Peace Corps member and foreign service worker. He’s since moved back to Texas to work as a photographer.
Second Place: “Black-crowned Night Heron Stargazing” by Cheryl Medow
“We have a relationship with birds that gives us an opportunity to see the world, another way to see nature. When you’re seeing birds, you’re seeing everything that’s around them — the shrubs they live in, the trees they live in, the spaces they walk on.”
With her Nikon Z 9, Medow photographed the night heron in 2023 on a trip to Florida. Later, she stitched the image with a 2015 night sky she captured in Kauai. By combining pictures, Medow created something “more than just a photograph,” she said
Medow finds peace in the meticulousness of folding photos, and the editing process lets her relive the moments surrounding each capture. Her portfolio reflects her lifelong love for nature and birds.
Based in Santa Barbara, California, Medow has made a career around her artistic take on bird photography. Her work combines modern digital tools with her traditional art degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a printmaking education in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Third Place: “Greenbelt after Snow” by Ashton Thornhill
“It’s just a real quiet photograph. I entered it because I like it, and it’s quiet, and it’s simple.”
On the second day of spring, during a 20-degree morning walk with his dog through the outskirts of Santa Fe, Thornhill captured this panorama of fresh snow over the junipers with his Canon R6. The image is a panorama of about eight shots, overlaid with a linen texture.
Thornhill moved to Santa Fe about three years ago after spending decades in Lubbock teaching photography at Texas Tech University. He is now a full-time photographer mostly focused on capturing the southwestern landscape.
The Texas Photographic Society recently released the winners of “FotoTexas III: People, Places & Culture 2024,” a competition looking to capture Texas from all angles.
The society is now taking entries for its flagship open competition, “TPS 32: The International Competition,” judged by María Beatriz H. Carrión, assistant curator of photographs at Fort Worth’s Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Submissions close July 16.
Drew Shaw is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or @shawlings601. At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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