National Photographic Competition & Exhibition

Sponsored by Freeman Health System

Exhibits March 18 – May 13, 2023

Hosted annually by Spiva Center for the Arts, the competition is open to all amateur and professional US photographers.

Established in 1977, PhotoSpiva is the longest-running competition of its kind.

Online entry is from

October 31, 2022 – January 1, 2023 at 11:59pm.

*Background photo by Jennifer Thoreson

 

PhotoSpiva 2023 Juror

Jennifer Thoreson

Jennifer B. Thoreson is a multidisciplinary artist, teacher, lecturer, and mother of two boys who lives and works in Albuquerque, NM. She holds an MFA from the University of New Mexico. Her work is heavily metaphorical, and delves into the nuances of human relationships, human fragility, and the ephemeral, temporary nature of human life. Through her exploration of questions surrounding faith and religious practices, she critically conceptualizes different themes to produce images rich in allegory, engaging with her viewers as they question and explore the themes for themselves. The complexity of her work is rooted in her practice. She carefully orchestrates each image by manipulating symbolic materials, constructing site specific installations and sculptures, and meticulously staging every scene to imbue each element, from the smallest to the largest, with meaning and significance. The elements and spaces she fabricates and captures in her images play as important a role in her art as the finished photographs themselves.

Jennifer’s work has gained an international audience through inclusion in museum and gallery exhibitions, spanning the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Russia, Australia, France, Switzerland, Lithuania, and the United Kingdom. Her work is held in museum collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Houston Center for Photography, the Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL, and the Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland. In addition, her work has been published worldwide in well-known publications, including Black and White Magazine, Diffusion Magazine, and Installation Magazine. In 2011, a monograph of her work, entitled Medic, was published. Awards include Photo Star Award (Kaunas, Lithuania); International Center of Photography (ICP) Leadership Medallion; Photolucida Book Prize, Residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute, and the Howard Franks Memorial Grant.

Learn more about Jennifer at https://www.jenniferthoreson.com/

 

HOW DO I ENTER?

Begin entering on October 31, 2022

You’ll be Able to Enter Online

Deadline is Jan 1, 2023

ENTRY FEE

$40 fee is required to enter five (5) photos. You must enter 5 photos and no less. If you wish to submit more than five images, each additional entry is $10

WHAT DO I NEED TO ENTER?

The images need to be JPEG formatted and in RGB color mode. You aren’t required to give us a specifically sized image, but a good guideline is to make either the width or the height about 1600 pixels and maintain the aspect ratio.

AWARDS

Place | Value

1ST | $1,000

2ND | $750

3RD | $500

Merit Award (3) | $150

Honorable Mention (3) | $100

ELIGIBILITY

PhotoSpiva is open to any amateur or professional photographer in the United States or its territories. Submitted images must be the photographer’s own work, and it is the sole responsibility of the photographer to obtain written releases from any recognizable person(s) depicted. Two-dimensional work derived from any photographic process — traditional, digital, or photo-based mixed media — is eligible as long as the work is original and has never been exhibited at George A. Spiva Center for the Arts. Three–dimensional work is not eligible for this competition and exhibition.

2022 Competition Results

Jurors: Eric & Erin Dodson

1st Place Award
Morgan Ford Willingham | Emporia, KS

Someday When the Sands of Time Invert (3)

toned cyanotype on found textile

2nd Place Award | Body of Work
Troy Colby | Topeka, KS

 

Untitled, From the Series, The Fragility of Fatherhood (1-5)

archival pigment print

3rd Place Award
Kimberly Keller | Olney, MD

New/Used

digital photography

Merit Award
Norman Aragones | San Jose, CA

Distorted Generation

metallic print

Merit Award
Jaclin Haynes | Paxico, KS

Alien

digital photography

Merit Award
Mark Schmidt | Springfield, MO

Aurora MO #3

cyanotype, toned cyanotype, and indigo on fabric

Honorable Mention Award
Eliot Allen | Portland, OR

Eastern Oregon #88

digital photography

Honorable Mention Award
Lisa Miller | La Jolla, CA

Tangerine Dystopia

archival print

Honorable Mention Award
Emily Evans Sloan | Kansas City, MO

Rooted

digital archival print

All photographic content is protected under Copyright law. Use is prohibited unless permission is obtained.

All non-photographic content Copyright © 2012 George A. Spiva Center for the Arts.

Read the full terms and conditions.

PhotoSpiva is presented by Freeman Health System with additional support from the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
PhotoSpiva Competition
George A. Spiva Center for the Arts

222 W. 3rd Street

JoplinMO 64801

Office | (417) 623-0183
Hours | Tuesday-Saturday | 10 AM-5 PM

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