2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

Jesus Sera, Dishwasher
Inkjet print, 2018
Collection of the artist

Against a forest of kitchen utensils and stainless steel, his gaze directed upwards and bearing a slight smile, Jesus Sera projects dignity and pride. This portrait is part of Sam Comen’s Working America series, in which he examines the experience of American immigrant workers in Los Angeles. Comen’s work is rooted in twentieth-century portraits of workers, as exemplified by photographers such as August Sander and Irving Penn. He trains his lens on first- and second-generation American dishwashers, carpenters, shoemakers, bakers, and tailors. His empathetic portraits celebrate the subjects’ diligence, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit.

More broadly, Comen’s documentary portrait projects address themes of American identity, immigration, democracy, and social justice.

Third Place (Tie)

Richard Greene

Monroe, LA
Inkjet print, 2016
Collection of the artist

Monroe, LA
Inkjet print, 2016
Collection of the artist

In this portrait of carefree teenagers passing the time outdoors on a sunny afternoon, the boldest fronts the group, posing proudly for the camera. With arms crossed and a playfully defiant head-tilt, she asserts her presence with a joyful fearlessness. To her left, another girl bears an expression of sweetness and attitude. The boys in the back look toward the figure in the front row and smile. Shades of blue smattered across the picture plane and the hot pink building in the background accentuate the group’s energy and dynamism.

Richard Greene captured this picture of teen spirit while passing through a town in Louisiana on a coast-to-coast road trip. A trained classical violinist and bluegrass fiddle master, Greene has been passionate about photography since his teenage years. He identifies expression, innovation, technique, and composition as the pillars of his artistic practice, as both a musician and as a photographer.

Third Place (Tie)

Wayde McIntosh

Legacy
Oil on Dibond, 2017
Collection of the artist

Legacy
Oil on Dibond, 2017
Collection of the artist

In this portrait, a woman regards us while we scan every detail of her surroundings: a packed bookshelf, a cascading houseplant, and a photograph of two men with their right hands on their hearts. For artist Wayde McIntosh, the setting should reinforce the sitter’s history and character, as is the case here.

This likeness is of McIntosh’s friend, the painter Jordan Casteel, who is known for her expressive portraits of African American men. As the granddaughter of civil rights leader Whitney Young Jr., Casteel carries on his legacy of asserting the dignity of people of color. McIntosh pays homage to that family continuum in this small painting. The sitter and every object—the photograph of Casteel’s grandfather with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington, the Black Lives Matter issue of Time magazine, and David Hammons’s iconic artwork African American Flag—are symbolically interlinked.

Commended

Natalia García Clark

This silent video by Natalia García Clark is framed by the question: “How many steps will it take me to disappear from your perspective?” As the artist’s body enters the expansive landscape, the video camera becomes a stand-in for the viewer. García Clark then walks straight ahead, away from us, toward the horizon. This is not only a video performance of a figure walking into the distance but also a measuring tool that equates existence with being a part of someone’s field of vision. For the viewer, the subject’s steps into the distance are hard to count, and the measure of the experiment becomes the time it takes to stop seeing her. Perhaps, she is simultaneously in the process of becoming visible to someone else.

Commended

Lauren Hare

Secrets
Inkjet print, 2017
Collection of the artist

Like a film still, Secrets by Lauren Hare invites the viewer into a cinematic narrative. A scene that is at first lighthearted shifts to a darker mood upon closer looking. The young woman appears to be absorbed in her interior life as the world bustles around her, and her downward gaze emphasizes her introspection.

Hare’s photographic practice focuses on the complexities of women’s identities and the intersections between public and private realms. This portrait is part of a larger body of work influenced by the artist’s “interests in human emotion and my fascination with the power of color.”

Commended

Adrian Octavius Walker

Black Virgin Mary

Inkjet print, 2018

Collection of the artist

Black Virgin Mary
Inkjet print, 2018
Collection of the artist

Black Virgin Mary portrays a young man with his green velvet durag undone, framing his face like a veil. The closely cropped image draws our attention to the subject’s weary expression and the rich, glimmering texture of his headwear. Commercialized in the 1970s as a beauty implement to hold wavy hairstyles in place, durags have become culturally specific fashion statements. Since the 1990s, celebrities such as LeBron James, Jay-Z, and Rihanna have helped popularize them.

This image is part of Adrian Octavius Walker’s series We Matter, which explores male beauty traditions, how they function as signs of kinship, and how they are perceived outside of their communities. In this photograph, the sitter’s direct gaze and the reference to the Virgin Mary in the title conjure ideas of beauty and martyrdom while foregrounding the subject’s vulnerability.

To see the rest of the finalists and vote for the People’s Choice Award, visit the online exhibition.