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More than 400 images from over 120 photographers were submitted for The Red Show. From this substantial volume of work, it was a very difficult process to edit the images down to the approximately 30+prints that would hang in the show. This rather arbitrary number is dictated by the amount of wall space available at The Darkroom. In the end, there were far more worthy images than could possibly be hung and the editing process became overly arbitrary as I worked my way down to the final 33 images selected from the 75-80 or so images that could have easily made the show. Charles Mégnin and I ultimately decided that there should be two tiers of inclusion: the 32 images that would hang and a larger group of selected images that would be shown as a continuously running slide show on a large monitor display.

The Red Show is a themed, juried exhibit and as such, the final decision comes down to which of the best images resonate most effectively with the theme. Innovative and unorthodox interpretation of the theme was also an important factor. Though several black and white images were submitted and many of them were quite good, none made the final cut. Any theme based on a color yields an inherent advantage to color imagery even though philosophical and political associations identified with the color red are certainly obvious and can be conveyed without color. That said, it's clearly more difficult and I think the final selections bear that out. (Perhaps, a blue show would be easier.) I want all of the entrants to know that many rejected images were equally as good or better, when evaluated outside the context of the Red theme, as those that were included in the hanging group. This is simply the nature of themed exhibits and shouldn't be construed as a judgment against any photograph or any photographer. If it's any consolation to the entrants who didn't get in, had I entered my own work for self-scrutiny, I would not have made the cut, at least within the hanging group. All photographers engage in this kind of self-evaluation when they decide to submit (or not) to a juried show. Sometimes you submit knowing it's a long shot. Just remember not to take my or any other judge's decision personally.

Now, as for my thoughts in general, and the way I approached the judging of this show: I found that I responded least to those photographs that were obviously created in the manner of an art school or commercial assignment expressly to submit for the show. I also didn't respond strongly to imagery where the interpretation of the theme was too obvious - red flowers and extreme manipulations of the red channel in Photoshop come to mind. Lastly, I didn't tend to highly rank images where a component of the subject happened to be red in color and had it been any other color the image would have been essentially the same, other than being inappropriate for submission. I responded most strongly to those images where the "redness" of the image was more nuanced. In many cases, it was the ambiance of the color of light, rather than the pigmentation of the subject(s) that expressed the red theme eloquently. Other images that I liked actually conflicted with the standard emotional connotation of red, in which the color red was juxtaposed with an ambience of sadness, melancholy, or ennui. Some of the most successful images utilized both a literal and figurative association with the color red. One of my favorite images of all those submitted contained red flags, red roosters, red dirt, and an assortment of rednecks engaged in provocative controversial red state behavior.

In the end, I hope the final selections both for the print and slide show components of The Red Show reflect inventive, diverse interpretations of the theme and an equally diverse approach, both technically and aesthetically, to the medium of photography. I'd like to thank all the entrants who took the time and effort to submit to the exhibit. I'm honored to have had the opportunity to spend time with your work and to experience, in many cases for the first time, the work of so many of my fellow photographers.

Richard Sexton