Join us on Friday, June 23rd, 2023 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM for the Opening Reception of our exhibitions, The 40th Center Annual and Collaborations XX.
Image below by Xidong Luo, exhibitor in The 40th Center Annual.
The Center Annual exhibition at the Houston Center for Photography, formerly known as the Juried Members Exhibition, serves as a vibrant celebration of the artistry and transformative power of photography. This year’s exhibition, juried by Lisa Volpe, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, invites viewers to explore beyond the familiar boundaries of the image and its subject matter; to investigate beyond our own preconceived notions of what it’s like to exist in an ever-changing world.
By welcoming photographers from around the world, regardless of their level of experience, The 40th Center Annual offers viewers a critical insight into the current state of photography and its broader significance in today's society. It is an opportunity to delve into diverse approaches and styles that interrogate history, question social structures, delve into personal memories, and reshape our perception of reality.
Collaborations is an Access and Community Education program that celebrates photography and encourages cooperation and teamwork between Houston-area high school students as they create an exhibition from beginning to end and learn about various professional paths related to photography and lens-based art.
This year Collaborations celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Through a partnership between Open Dance Project and the Houston Center for Photography, the students were invited to research and select images from 1968 to base their work on. They were then to produce a body of images in reaction to their findings and the similarities between current events and those that occurred in the late sixties, resulting in an exhibition of their work in our gallery.
Our Collaborations students’ photographs reflect on our nation’s histories, and equally, provide us with a glimpse into each students’ visual understanding of their very contemporary worlds.
Collaborations XX will culminate in a Print Sale on Saturday, June 24 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. There will be a short presentation of Collaborations and the 1968 Project at 2:00 PM followed by the Print Sale. Prospective buyers will be able to ask questions to the students about their 1968 body of work along with purchasing prints, of which will include a wider selection of the students’ various bodies of work.