'(S)Light of Hand' 2025

The Photographer’s Eye Gallery will hold its annual celebration of photographic tradition with “(S)Light of Hand,” a juried exhibition of photographs that use alternative and historic processes. The exhibit, which attracted 500 entries from 100 photographers, will open at 11 a.m. on Sept. 13, with an artists’ reception at 5 p.m., and will close on Oct. 4.

Juror Aline Smithson, a Los Angeles-based artist filmmaker, educator and editor whose works have been displayed worldwide, selected San Diego artist Robert Treat as her Juror’s Choice. Donna Cosentino, The Photographer’s Eye director, selected Lynne Buchanan of North Carolina as the Director’s Choice. Treat’s entries were cyanotypes, while Buchanan submitted platinum-palladium prints.

“It was a complete privilege to juror the 2025 Alternative Processes Exhibition for the Photographer’s Eye Collective and Gallery,” Smithson said after reviewing the photographs, which came from all over the United States, and from some foreign countries as well. Processes used by photographers included tintype, toned cyanotypes, encaustic photogravure, chlorophyll, and photogram with lumen overprinting.

“The winning image by Robert Treat is a masterful combination of cyanotypes, using color and form to create something wholly new that is both art and photography,” Smithson said.

Cosentino said she was impressed by Buchanan’s connection with nature and the way she expresses that through photography. “The graceful images that result are elevated through printing them using the warmth of the platinum-palladium process,” she said. “It was a pleasure to see the recent work from her trip to Japan, which embraced the poetry of place.”

Fifty photographers will be represented in the exhibit, which will feature two photographs each by Treat and Buchanan, and one photograph by each of the other artists. Each work will be accompanied by an explanation of the process involved to create it.

Smithson said it was encouraging to see so many photographers employing different processes to show their creativity.

“Over the last decade, we have witnessed a return to alternative and historic processes, particularly reinvigorated during the pandemic, as life afforded us time to slow down,” Smithson said. “But the tactile approach to creating photographic art has been growing steadily over the years, in response to digital photography that removed the artist’s hand from the photographic experience. Using alternative and historical processes has allowed artists to celebrate the imperfect, to experience the physicality of photography, to embrace its unpredictability, and to create unique objects that are artful and meaningful.”

Smithson singled out Charlotta Hauksdottir for special mention because she “pushes the boundaries of what a photograph can be.” Hauksdottir’s process involved a pigment print that was hand cut and wrapped around branches.

After a decade-long career as a New York fashion editor, Smithson returned to her home city of Los Angeles to undertake her own artistic practice. She has exhibited in 50 solo shows worldwide at institutions ranging from Santa Barbara to Shanghai. Smithson is highly recognized for portraiture, which she shoots almost exclusively on film.

The Photographer’s Eye Gallery will honor artists Treat and Buchanan in a separate exhibit of their works next year.

The Photographer’s Eye is a nonprofit collective of photographers who strive to enrich the community by conducting shows, classes and workshops; by providing a meeting space; and by offering a rental darkroom.

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