The Sixteenth Annual Survey Exhibition: Sponsored by Pacific New Media Foundation. Opens online February 15, 2025. Gallery exhibition hosted by Downtown Art Center, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, February 6-21, 2025.
Juror: Ann Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
This juried exhibition is open to all artists in Hawaii using photographic processes: analog or digital, color or BXW, alternative processes and mixed media explorations. Contemporary Photography in Hawaii 2025 offers artists a venue for exhibiting work and provides a snapshot of the “state of the art” of photography in Hawai‘i.
The gallery exhibition consists of nearly 100 works by 75 artists from Hawai‘i. The exhibition consists of two parts: individual image entries and entire portfolios. 75 individual images were selected for the exhibition and fifteen portfolios, of which all Hawai‘i artists are submitting two works for inclusion in the DAC galleries. All portfolios can be viewed online in their entirety with an artists’ statement.
Additionally, we formed a special category known as “Friends of Pacific New Media”—non-residents of Hawai‘i who are regular, active students of PNM classes and were invited to submit portfolios for the online portion of the exhibition only. PNM has also included in the DAC exhibition a table of artist’s books and zines from participating artists.
We were pleased to find many themes that mirror both the sentiment of our times and the issues of the day: identity, displacement, and culture in its many forms, as well as images that explore the ocean, land, and environment. We found both praise of place and celebration of life’s many forms as well as critical commentary and the paradox of beauty amidst challenging conditions.
The arts and photography can give voice to the people of Hawai‘i, either by affirming what is special and unique about these islands, or by actively exploring the challenges and protesting the difficult conditions that affect us all deeply.
Contemporary Photography in Hawai‘i 2025 features two key components:
1. A juried selection of individual images selected from individual entries from the State of Hawai‘i.
CLICK HERE FOR ACCEPTED INDIVIDUAL IMAGES
2. A set of juried portfolios consisting of a minimum of 8 and a maximum of ten images on a theme with an artist’s statement.
CLICK HERE FOR ACCEPTED PORTFOLIOS
Many thanks to the jurors and to everyone who entered the exhibition, reflecting the quality and diversity of contemporary photography in Hawai‘i.
Halekulani Portfolio Awards of Distinction
James Knudsen, A Post in Waikiki
Alison Uyehara, Bearing Witness: My Minidoka Pilgrimage
Halekulani Individual Image Awards of Distinction
Emerging Artist: Ty Terada, Untitled 1
Established Artists: Floyd Takeuchi, The Murao Family, Shinto Priests Oki Shrine, Japan, 2024
Patrick Kelly, Still is Still Moving, 2023
Art Source and Design Gift Certificates
Darrell Wong, if can… can
Lance Wong, Gentleman in a Tea House, 2024
On behalf of PNM and the participating artists, we want to thank the following businesses for their generous support: Art Source + Designs Framing and Halekulani Corporation. And special thanks to Downtown Art Center and its gracious and supportive staff members. We are grateful for your help and support.