MITCH DOBROWNER was selected among 192 projects submitted to this second edition of the Biennial's Grant. His Storm project is an outstanding collection of nature photographs in the tradition of great masters of photography, revaluing the state of this art. It is an honour to us to have such a great representative of the landscape and nature photography as the winner of this edition.
Mammatus, Bolton, Kansas, 2016
The high quality of both fine art and documentary projects lead us to select SIX runners up, and five finalists.
RUNNERS UP:
CHRISTINE FITZGERALD
EMMANUEL MONZON
ISABELA PACINI
K.M. ASAD
PATTI CARROLL
TOM CHAMBERS
FINALISTS:
ALBERTO GIULIANI
ALYSCIA CUNNINGHAM
GIACOMO SINI
LILI HOLZER-GLIER
TARA TODRAS-WHITEHILL
Mitch Dobrowner Project Statement: Storms
The images produced in this series represent a project which started as only an experiment in the summer of 2009Growing up on Long Island, NY I've always loved being caught in thunderstorms. The memories of the rain, lightning and thunder have always been branded into my brain. Many years later I began to photograph a series of images that visualised those memories.Each trip into Tornado Alley is an adventure. Over the last 8 yearsI’ve traveled over 150,000 miles and have visited (at least count)17 states. When I first went out I didn’t realize that Kansas was even next to Colorado, or that Nebraska and South Dakota were neighbours. I had no idea. Seeing the Midwest and our CentralStates…. the small, tight knit communities that make up a majority of the United States has also been a revelation me. The images presented speak more about me and the subject more than I can ever describe through words. The pictures truly evoke what I feel on the inside about our planet. The storms and landscapes here on Earth deserve our respect and admiration. Their stature and prominence overwhelm and amaze me. Though many relate *storms* to destruction and fear what I experience is their beauty. Thus, my objective is to capture these amazing phenomenon’s in a manner that I see them and does them that justice. The changes in our society and its outlook towards today's art and contemporary artists... and the effect that all the imagery and information accessible to us which can be overwhelming. But *art* still represents a quiet place, a place that can inspire and allow people to get back in touch with themselves and their priorities; that Art still has an intrinsic value and as with music it is a staple and foundational piece of society that has been a part of us since the beginning of mankind. It's important that art continues to evolve and inspire and that the vision for black & white landscape photography not end with Ansel Adams, Minor White or Edward Weston; that the torch continues to be passed from generation to generation. We need photographers/artists to continue with Ansel’s initial vision. I want the images presented to inspire our next generation of photographers and artists to continue in that spirit.
To view images from his latest show at Catherine Couturier Gallery Click Here
