Jen Bekman Projects congratulates the 2009 Second Edition Hot Shots!

After the careful consideration of our panelists, we're happy to announce our selections for 2009's Second Edition of the Hey, Hot Shot! competition:

Marisa Aragona
Leah Tepper Byrne
Alejandro Cartagena
Jessica Eaton
Justin James King

These five outstanding photographers will each be awarded a $500 honorarium and participate in a group show at Jen Bekman Gallery. The 2009 Second Edition Hey, Hot Shot! opening reception and exhibition will be in March 2010.

The show marks just the beginning of new opportunities for these photographers. They are now under consideration for Ne Plus Ultra status, along with the five Hot Shots selected in the 2009 First Edition competition. Ultras join ranks with other JBG-represented artists, including 2008 Ultras Hosang Park and Collen Plumb. We're looking forward to many collaborations with these photographers at the gallery and on 20x200.

Selecting just five artists from an amazing array of contenders couldn't have been done without Jen Bekman and the dedication of our brilliant panelists: Christine Collins, Dana Faconti, Caterina Fake, Stephen Frailey, Raul Gutierrez, Darius Himes, Jenni Holder, Whitney Johnson, Julia Leach, Nion McEvoy, Lesley A. Martin, Kent Rogowski and Stefan Ruiz.

We'd also like to note a few Honorable Mentions; all of these photographers are creating exceptional work and we're delighted they entered Hey, Hot Shot!

Erica Allen
Jeremiah Ariaz
Magda Biernat
Adam Caillier
Carrie Chalmers
Philip Cheung
Davin Ellicson
Nicole Hatanaka
Rebecca Horne
Alex Leme
Stacy Mehrfar
Monika Merva
Graham Miller
Sharon Montrose
Annie Marie Musselman
Landon Nordeman
Paccarik Orue
Thomas Prior
Tait Simpson
Aline Smithson
Lacey Terrell
Sonja Thomsen
Kipp Wettstein
Ian Whitmore
Xiao Xiao Xiu

Thanks to all of you for your patience as we took a little extra time to cull through all of the outstanding work submitted to make these decisions!

While only the five Hot Shots will exhibit at the gallery, look for work from our Honorable Mentions and contenders on 20x200. We'll also post about a few more photographers that we didn't have a chance to write about in the last few weeks on the blog.

Keep an eye on us on Facebook, Flickr and Twitter for news about the 2009 Second Edition Hot Shot Showcase and notes and news about the next round of competition!