Present Tense Artist Talks
Quarterly, beginning April 27, 2024, 3:00 - 4:30pm
Present Tense Artist Talks are in-person, quarterly events hosted by Medium Photo, showcasing work from four selected photographers.
During each Present Tense Artist Talk, participating photographers will share up to 20 slides of a singular body of work projected on a large screen in a repeating loop. Each photographer discusses their work throughout the slide show and responds to a Q&A during a 15-minute period.
Present Tense Artist Talks are an informal, conversational environment moderated by Medium Photo. The inaugural event takes place during the Medium Festival of Photography and is free to attend. There is no cost to submit your work, and you will not need a festival pass to attend Present Tense #1. Stay tuned for our next call for entry.
Present Tense Artist Talk Lecturers Announced
We are pleased to share the first cohort of artists selected to take part in Medium Photo’s Present Tense Artist Talks. The inaugural launch of this program will take place at the Marriott Courtyard in Old Town on Saturday, April 27, at 3 PM.
Macey Keung's work is inspired by the emotional depth of Nan Goldin’s work and unconventional dynamics explored by Pixy Liao, this photography series shot on 35mm film aims to capture raw love and intimacy amongst queer couples.
Susan Ressler will be showing work made in Southern California (primarily LA) from 1979 to the present. They are selected from two portfolios: Executive Order--Images of 1970s Corporate America, and Dreaming California--High End, Low End, No End in Sight.
Marshall Williams' Taco Stand Vernacular images are observations and visual recordings of the neighborhood taco stand and its iconic presence in the cultural landscape of Southern California - products of the great Hispanic diaspora of the mid to late 20th century.
Instagram: @tacostand_vernacular
Ben Reeve will share an ongoing project using black-and-white film and performance art as a means of self-exploration and self-therapy- exploring the body and mind to find beauty, self-acceptance and courage to help combat depression and hopefully help others along the way. Ben is also our student presenter from San Diego City College.
Open Call Info and Dates
Submissions are open to all photographers, students, and artists using photography. You don’t have to be from San Diego or Tijuana to submit, but you must be present at the Present Tense Artist Talk as it is an in-person event taking place in San Diego.
If selected, all images submitted will be projected at Present Tense #1. If selected you must be committed to presenting on Saturday, April 27th, 2024, at 3 pm pacific time.
Submissions open February 12.
Submissions close March 23.
Selected artists will be announced April 9.
Submissions and File Formats
You should submit 15 to 20 images from a body or work. These are the files that will be used in your final presentation. Images must be submitted as jpegs < 1MB and numbered in the sequence you want them seen.
All submissions must use this file naming convention: Sequence#-Title-Media-Year. An example is 01-Seaweed-Cyanotype-2023.
You will be asked to provide a summary or artist statement (1,000 characters max) related to the work submitted.
Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
Student Submissions
1 of the 4 presenters at each Present Tense Artist Talk will be a student from a San Diego or Tijuana college selected by the photo/art faculty of that college. Our first student will be from San Diego City College.
Present Tense #1 Juror
Each edition of Present Tense Artist Talks will have a different juror of note drawn from across North America, and each juror will select 3 of the 4 presenters, with the 4th presenter being selected by the faculty of a participating college.
We’re proud to welcome Douglas McCullough as the inaugural juror for the Present Tense Artist Talks. Douglas is the senior curator and Interim executive director of the California Museum of Photography in Riverside, CA.
McCulloh is interested in seeing the whole shaggy beast of photography. He is particularly intrigued by work with strong or even challenging conceptual flash of mind, by projects based in the West, and by ideas and images that stray far from the common herd. Don’t let this stop you from submitting your work—Present Tense Artist Talks welcome all projects from across the spectrum of photography, and are only limited by the four photographers we have the capacity to showcase.