Medium Photo Collective Exhibition 2026 · Curated by Thomas Werner
A group photography show featuring the members of Medium Photo Collective.
November 6–15, 2026 · Studio on Banks · San Diego
An echo is never a repetition. It returns altered, shaped by time, distance, memory, perspective, and experience. — Thomas Werner, curator
Twenty photographers from the Medium Photo Collective take up that idea in Echo, a group exhibition curated by Thomas Werner. The work moves from the intimate to the historical: layered self-portraits in a forest changed by drought, a portrait of a mother-in-law living with dementia, family land documents cut and woven with photographs of native prairie plants, the language of inherited masculinity traced back through nineteenth-century texts, and pinhole photographs multiplied inside mirrored cubes.
Prints, artist books, and sculptural work fill the studio for ten days of exhibition, artist talks, and conversation with the curator.
Opening reception: Friday, November 6, 6–9 pm
Artist talks: Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, 1 pm
Closing reception and meet the curator: Sunday, November 15, 3–5 pm
Where: 5343 Banks St, San Diego, CA 92110
The Artists
Amanda Dahlgren · Brandy J Sebastian · Claudia Moreno · Elliott Linwood · Frank Rogozienski · Israel Castillo · Jill Marie Holslin · Kaleah Lanae King · Lorie A. Tancredi-Baese · Luis Garcia · Marshall Williams · Patricia Grabski · Patricio Chavez · Richard Richard Richards · Riley Arthur · Sangram Biswas · Sarai Elguezabal · Stefan Frutiger · Suzanne Hansen Ofeldt · Wolfgang Hastert
Curator's Statement
An echo is never a repetition. It returns altered, shaped by time, distance, memory, perspective, and experience.
ECHO brings together twenty photographers from the Medium Photo Collective, each responding to the exhibition's central concept with an investigation of their personal experience, and social, moral, historical, aesthetic, familial, and environmental concerns. The resulting photographs ask us to question, consider our place in life, and how we approach our dreams, responsibilities, and happiness.
As a curator, working with the Medium Photo Collective has given me the chance to examine how a diverse group of creatives engage and grow. To meet and collaborate with an extraordinary group of individuals, each with a distinct background and perspective. From the selection of the exhibition concept, through individual and group meetings, and the development of the installation plan, it has given me the chance to learn and grow as well, an opportunity for which I am deeply appreciative.
Thomas Werner, Curator
About the Curator
Thomas Werner is an author, curator, and creative consultant. He wrote The Business of Fine Art Photography (Routledge) and The Fashion Image (Bloomsbury), and co-authored Twenty One Summers with Derrick Connell. He is Editor at Large for the Paris-based IRK Magazine, a board member of CENTER in Santa Fe, and co-founder of Chasing Beauty Publishing.
Thomas previously directed the photography program at Parsons School of Design, owned Thomas Werner Gallery in New York's Chelsea art district, and served as a national board member and New York chapter president of the American Society of Media Photographers. As an exhibiting artist he was represented by galleries in New York and Los Angeles, and his work has been reviewed in The New Yorker. He led a team developing a media literacy website for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and UNESCO. Today he works with photographers, creatives, businesses, and cultural institutions on career development, education, and communication across media.
Companion Events
Film Screening: FROST: The Story of a Lifetime
Thursday, November 12 · 7 pm
Digital Gym Cinema, 1100 Market St, San Diego
A Medium Photo film night during the run of Echo: a black-and-white documentary portrait of Tom Frost, the Yosemite climber, mountain photographer, engineer, and conservationist. Director Tom Seawell and editor Jeff Wiant join for a Q&A after the screening. Details and tickets
Curator Talk and Book Signing with Thomas Werner
Friday, November 13 · 7–8:30 pm
930 W Ivy St, San Diego, CA 92101 (Little Italy)
Thomas Werner, curator of Echo, gives a public talk and signs copies of his books The Business of Fine Art Photography, The Fashion Image, and Twenty One Summers, which will be available for purchase. Presented by Medium Photo and APA San Diego.
Portfolio Reviews with Thomas Werner
Saturday, November 14 · 9 am–12:30 pm
930 W Ivy St, San Diego, CA 92101 (Little Italy)
One-on-one portfolio reviews of 20–30 minutes with Thomas Werner. Space is limited. Presented by Medium Photo and APA San Diego.