Image Credit: Resilience from the Quiet Moments series © 2023-24 Teri Tera
Arizona Photography Alliance’s first Juried Theme Gallery online exhibition was a huge success. Part of the prize was the opportunity for the winning photographers to share their thoughts about the work they submitted in relation to the theme “Show Us Your Muse.” Here is Honorable Mention 1 winner, Teri Tera.
AZPA: How did you get started in photography?
TT: At ASU I landed in Bill Jenkins’s Photo Aesthetics class where I learned to look and write about photographs. As Bill led the class through analyzing famous photographs, he supported my fledgling attempts at writing and encouraged me to trust my intuition. Even today I sometimes feel the cadence of Bill’s words and the inflection of his delightful sense of humor, when I am looking deeply for meaning in a powerful photograph. ASU Northlight also played a significant role in my development as an artist. Although I had spent long hours in the science library sitting in the stacks with photography books on my lap, Northlight brought opportunities to meet women photographers like Betty Hahn, Anne Noggle, Bonnie Donoghue, and Judith Golden. Seeing the photographs of powerful women artists encouraged me to continue on my own journey of looking at the world through a feminine lens.
AZPA: What are your thoughts on the theme gallery for AZPA?
TT: The world is shifting away from traditional art gallery showings to new ways of experiencing art. It is awesome to make AZPA much more accessible through online galleries. It is a great step forward building a more diverse group of viewers and participants.
AZPA: What was your process in selecting your image (s) for “Show Us Your Muse”?
TT: I was thinking about muse as intuition. I wanted to submit an image that was created through intuition and felt like a truth that went beyond gender or ethnicity. I knew that the photograph, Resilience, could be instinctively understood. We all carry resilience at our core and we can identify with the plant surviving in the inhospitable rock wall terrain as a symbol of resilience.
AZPA: What are your thoughts on being the winner for the first theme?
TT: I am delighted to be acknowledged and I am honored to be among so many great entries. Thank you so much.