Untitled #1 by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Chad Muthard

Chad Muthard
Currently residing in Philadelphia, PA

website: http://www.chadmuthard.com/

Work Statement
The work I construct is an attempt to resolve issues or conflicts in the mind. Most of the work is derived from events or moments in life, that I struggle to understand the affect of and/or outcome of the situation. These ideas are then taken and projected into narrative form in images, which tend to become elaborately fictional versions of the event. There is definitely a play between both reality and fiction in the pieces yet, I feel as though the work is still very much about documentation in how each body of work and/or series encapsulates a period of time.

Bio
I grew up in the small town of Catasauqua, PA. A small town that was known for having a bar or church on every corner. When I was 16 my mother found an old Nikon that she had bought when I was born and gave it to me. I started shooting and then ended up at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA where I received my BFA in Photography.

Since graduating from Tyler, I have worked both solely and collaboratively, and have had a solo exhibition with the collaborative series that I worked on with Nils Orth at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Untitled (Bethlehem) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Victoria Rich

Victoria Rich
Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY

website: http://www.victoriarich.com/

Work Statement
I started taking pictures in college after planning on being a graphic designer. Up to that point, the (non-graphic design) work I was making was incredibly detailed drawings of interior spaces and objects. I eventually realized my drawings were more like photographs I wanted to make and learned photography. My design skills are intact but my drawing skills have devolved greatly�

My current photographic work explores un-peopled landscapes and interiors, using history and remnants as a way to convey a present reality. The subjects I am interested in, ranging from highly personal landmarks to culturally significant landscapes, are treated with the same approach. Some of the images demonstrate a kind of unconscious registering and recording of the irrelevant or overlooked details that can often portray more about a space than a direct representation. For example, when at a location like Niagara Falls, I am more drawn to a little shed at the water�s edge than the spectacle of the view.

Influences: Eggleston, Robert Polidori, Paul Seawright. Vija Celmins. Painters such as Vuillard, Bonnard.

Bio
Born in Lackawanna, NY, outside of Buffalo.

BFA SUNY Purchase, 1993. University of Ulster in Belfast Northern Ireland, 1996-7. MFA Hunter College, 2001.

Recently began teaching at ICP. Published in American Photography Annuals (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006)

A few recent shows from this year include: “Far From Home,” Brooklyn Artists Gym, “ICP Faculty Exhibition,” International Center of Photography, “The Spaces In Between,” Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY.

Untitled #1 by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Sasha Rudensky

Sasha Rudensky
Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY

website: http://www.sasharudensky.com/

Work Statement
I started taking pictures in high school, when I became jealous of all the time my boyfriend was spending in the darkroom. As soon as I got going, I was in the darkroom every free minute. Didn’t expect to continue doing it in college as well, but ended up majoring in photography. I began as a black and white 35mm documentary photographer, and have recently moved to medium format color. Most of the work that I’ve done has been shot in the former Soviet Union, and is indirectly political, but also very personal. The last series I completed “Remains” is an examination of the transformation of the Soviet block in the aftermath of the collapse of communism.

I’m very formal in my work, driven by color. I’ve loved the work of Mitch Epstein, Joel Sternfeld, the older work of Alec Soth.

Bio
Born in Moscow in 1979 and immigrated to the States when I was 11. I went to high school in Seattle, which is where I began photographing. Moved to the east coast for college and went to Wesleyan University, where I was a studio art major and did a thesis. I’ve been living in Brooklyn since graduating five years ago. I’ve been mostly teaching photography at Wesleyan as an adjunct. In 2004-5 I was away for a year on a grant shooting the series “Remains”. I started the Yale MFA program this fall.

Untitled (One) by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Patrick Smith

Patrick Smith
Currently residing in Paris, France

website: http://www.patricksmith.fr/

Work Statement
To me, the camera has always been a tool of discovery and knowledge. If I am at first attracted by light and space, I then use the camera to discover and understand the world around me. By showing my works to others, it is this experience, both human and aesthetic, that I wish to share, bringing enlightment and enrichment to the beholder and myself.

Bio
I was born In France, educated in England, then back to France to join a photography school in 1988. I got my first jobs shooting architecture. This led me to travel photography (people, hotels, landscape). Thinking about the rapid transformation of the travel industry (15% yearly increase) made me start this ongoing project, “The Leisure Territories”, which I am submitting here. I look at how our leisure activities interact with the environment, and the place of man in nature today.

Jamie, Mason, TX. 2006 by Fall 2006 Hot Shot Shen Wei

Shen Wei
Currently residing in New York, NY

website: http://www.shenphoto.com/

Work Statement
I started photography when I first moved to US from China. I took a Photo One class, and I decided I am going to become a photographer, before that I have never touched an SLR camera. My primarily interest is people, the portraits by Caravaggio, Diane Arbus, Peter Hujar and Lucien Freud are my influences. I have an MFA and BFA in Photography and a BA in Decorative Arts & Design. My submitting photos are from my recent series Almost Naked, which is a long-term portrait project that exploring identity and sexuality in America, motivated by my desire to understand the complexity of emotional and physical nakedness.

Bio
I am a fine art photographer currently lives and works in New York City. I was born in 1977 in Shanghai, China and moved to US in 2000. I have received an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from School of Visual Arts (NYC), a BFA in Photography from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a BA in Decorative Arts & Design from Shanghai Light Industry College. I went to MCAD initially for an MFA in Design, but I just fall in love with photography after my first photo class. I have passion on photography more than anything else, that’s what got me into photography.

Here at jen bekman we are feverishly reviewing your submissions. And what submissions they are! Decision making is never fun and never easy. While we feast our eyes on your work, take a look at the beyond excellent work in our Hot Shot database. Remember the winners of this edition are up against all of 2006 for a spot in the Hey, Hot Shot! Annual. Oh the excitement that awaits just around the corner. Stay tuned––we announce the winners on Monday!

June 2004 by HHS! Hopeful Krystal McKay

Aspiring Hot Shot Krystal McKay has a very alluring stance on photography, one that I find myself every once and while coveting. While inspiration comes from the work of Alec Soth, Uta Barth, Esko Manniko, and, naturally, 2 Comments »