The Silverstein Photography Annual at Bruce Silverstein Gallery provides a unique opportunity for a very select group of photographers: to be chosen specifically for an exhibition by a single curator representing a local art institution. Guided by curatorial adviser Nathan Lyons, ten curators nominated ten artists who they felt deserved "the opportunity for further exposure within New York's cultural milieu." The show opened last Saturday, with work addressing nature, class, performance, identity, urbanity and exploration, and includes ten talented photographers from all over the world.

Apartment Building No. 101 (Korea Diary and Ship (Korea Diary) by Juliane Eirich

The exhibition features three works from Juliane Eirich's Korea Diary, a series created during her eighteen months stay in Seoul, South Korea in 2007 and 2008. Eirich limited herself to taking one photograph each day, and the resulting images are a carefully edited visual journal of her time there. Eirich was selected for the exhibition by Mara Hoberman of the Hunter College Art Galleries, who writes of Eirich's work:

In addition to making for dramatic light/dark contrasts and a surreal sense of flattened space, the nighttime setting and feeling of remove emphasize the photographer’s distinct outsider perspective. Eirich’s chosen subjects give off the impression of having been furtively, yet assiduously, observed under the cover of night.

Hoberman also commends Eirich's extreme restraint and meticulous process, noting:

That Eirich restricted the use of her camera to document solely what she deemed to be the most arresting, unusual, or beautiful moment of each 24-hour period is a remarkable exercise in self-editing. The fact that she used an analog camera, tripod, and long exposure technique indicates her technical skill and patience. Given the options available with digital photography—seemingly unlimited memory cards and foolproof automated settings—Eirich’s practice is refreshingly restrained and deliberate.

Eirich's images are often focused on singular objects, at night—a boat, a pair of shoes, a house—while fellow artist Dana Miller, whose work is also featured in the show, looks at spaces that bridge the urban gap between the wilderness and the concrete.

Untitled (Van Cortlandt Park) by Dana Miller

Miller's photographs come from her project, End of the Line, a reference to the train lines that transported her to the pockets of overgrowth seen in the series. Sean Corcoran of the Museum of the City of New York, who selected Miller's work, explains his attracting to the images:

Miller’s appealing photographs quietly consider their subjects. Despite the presence of the “hand of man” in every image, the photographs’ lush, organic color palate and atmospheric light are aesthetically pleasing. A clear struggle emerges—Japanese barberry attacks concrete walls and Douglas-fir take on chain link fences—yet there appears to be an uneasy truce, some kind of harmony. Perhaps this is a result of the picture plane being compressed and appearing flat, like an ukyio-e print—an image of a floating world—or, in one instance, a shopping cart.

Miller invites the textures of her landscapes to run full bleed to the edge, so that the murky waters or tree branches that comprise the images' centers are often patterns mimicked at its corners. The focus on these surfaces and layers can make the scale of what she is capturing moot, so one is lost in the intersections of the natural and built worlds, rather than the images' ability to document where, exactly, she is.

Dana and Juliane's works are joined by those of Bahar Behbahani, Ben Gest, Charlotte Hasland-Christensen, Glenn Rudolph, Nodeth Vang, Radcliffe Roye and Rob Carter.

Both artists also have editions on 20x200, including two works from Juliane's Korea Diary series: Fishline and Balloons (just 1 print left!). Dana's Untitled (Geese, London) from the series Borderland is also available in three sizes.

Silverstein Photography Annual
10 Curators / 10 Photographers
On View: March 27 - May 8, 2010
Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011