To submit your work to the Visiting Artist Spotlight: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPb7eQp2VANBE0sg2l5fdHLH46ocbFr7_zL_I6wQfuV6Bm_w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0. - - - 2024 Q3 Juror: Olivia Feldman (BFA) - (Juror's Bio: Olivia is a portrait photographer, artist, and digital marketer. Olivia graduated in December of 2021 from Western Michigan University with her Bachelors in Fine Art with an emphasis in photography. Her time at WMU (Go Broncos!) was filled with exploring the fine art side of photography and developing her senior these show, Unidentified. Olivia’s thesis show consisted of blurry, messy, and incomplete portraits that used the abstract and non literal to bring the viewer into a deeper part of the portraits. View her thesis project, Unidentified. After graduation she began in social media marketing as a content designer and social media specialist, all while running her LLC. 2024 Q3 - Juror's Statement - Schmaedeke’s photograph, UmdieEcke, is an evocative piece that masterfully captures the subtle balance between presence and absence. The angular composition immediately draws the viewer’s eye, guiding us around the curved street, only to leave us wondering what lies beyond. This deliberate choice to obscure the unseen creates an emotional pull that evokes a sense of mystery and isolation. What stands out most in Schmaedeke's work is the careful use of light and shadow. Multiple light sources strategically illuminate the scene, casting shadows that seem to stretch beyond the edges of the frame, further deepening the feeling of abandonment and solitude. While no figures are present in the image, the emptiness is welcome, and it is this absence that imbues the photo with an overwhelming sense of loneliness. The quiet tension between the lit spaces and the looming darkness makes the viewer feel as though they are on the cusp of discovery, yet kept at a distance. Schmaedeke’s manipulation of the scene’s geometry amplifies the emotional weight of the work, encouraging the viewer to linger, contemplate, and question. The photograph is an invotation for introspection, inviting us to consider what remains unseen. It’s this intentional ambiguity that makes UmdieEcke a powerful and haunting piece.