My hope, in writing this blog, is to be useful. I think perhaps I gained some new insights during Filter Photo Festival 2025 in Chicago this past week which might be just that.
When I learned that my recent photobook, Mysterious Bundle of String on Mars, was included in Tim Carpenter’s book exhibition, On The Shelf, part of Filter Photo Festival, I decided to go out to Chicago for the event. First, I wanted to meet more photographers and see their books. Second, I was excited to reunite with four of my Hartford first cohort brothers, who would all be there. It was the first time some of us had seen each other in 13 years.
Charlie Simokaitis. from The Crisis Tapes
I also wanted to see Charlie Simokaitis (one of those brothers) talk about his marvelous book, The Crisis Tapes, which had comprised a solo exhibition at Filter Space in the last year. I fear I may have alienated some of the reviewers by my lengthy and rather conversational questions for Charlie during the Q&A. Some even accused me of being an audience plant. But I’ve never been good at guarding my enthusiams.
Photos from last year’s Filter Photo Festival
First: The festival itself. Having participated in the Photolucida portfolio reviews twice, and being familiar with other reviews, I am deeply impressed by the speakers and reviewers at the Filter event. While not huge (an advantage, I think), the group you would meet at Filter is superlative. It has a high concentration of the most important museum photography curators in the US, as well as accomplished book publishers like Clint and Alex Woodside (Deadbeat Club) and Nelson Chan of TIS books, plus a few excellent gallerists and some really great photographers. Also included was Jessie Wender, a photo editor at the New York Times. The line-up is stellar.
I heard nothing but positive comments from photographers who participated in the reviews and workshops. Everyone, including reviewers, said the event itself is smoothly managed and quite rewarding. Not a single complaint. That’s pretty amazing.
Workshop with Clint and Alex Woodside of Deadbeat Club
Second: Why sign up as a participant? Here’s where I gained some new insights. If you are a photographer who wants to deepen the chances of getting a book published or being tapped for a group show at a museum, these are the people you want to meet. It’s not just a chance to get comments on your work, it’s also the best way to start a relationship with the people who are the gatekeepers to your future. Besides, they’re really great people.
If you’re very lucky, after doing a few such review events, you might build a friendship with someone who will invite you to join their group for dinner after the day is done. This is when you will really start to work your way into what I might call the inner sanctum of photography. And this is how you eventually get published or in group shows or into (maybe) a gallery. (Although the gallery game is something else entirely.)
After all, we are humans. And, as the late great ad agency owner Dan Wieden once told me, “People want to work with people they like.” So your eventual goal is a handful of human-to-human relationships with people you like, and who like you.
Book from TIS: Mike, by Elijah Howe
As I told three recent Hartford grads over dinner, the path, as I see it now, into that sanctum really starts when you get a recognized publisher to put out your book. A publisher who will take your book to Paris Photo or Polycopies, and the New York Art Book Fair and the ICP Photobook Fest, etc., and get the book reviewed in multiple places.
Of course, you will have to help pay for the book’s printing. And you will also pay your way to the photo events and put yourself up in a hotel. But you’ll be introduced by your publisher to more people who you will want to know. Soon, as I’ve witnessed with friends, you attend enough such events that you get on a first-name basis or even build a friendship with the curators, gallerists, and others who will help you achieve your goals.
Third: Why didn’t I sign up for the portfolio review myself? That’s a really good question. Having graduated with my MFA 13 years ago, frankly the thought never occurred to me. I imagined having my photobook in the On The Shelf exhibition might qualify me to meet some of the amazing people I discovered would be reviewers at the event.
The good news is, it did. The bad news is, it didn’t. At the first evening reception of the event, I introduced myself to one of the stellar curators. This person asked me if I was participating in the reviews. I said no, I was there because my book was in the exhibition and to meet up with my old cohort friends. That ended that conversation. Permanently.
But think about it—as I did that next day. The review participants are the ones who pay the airfare and hotel costs for the reviewers. They, plus the chance to see friends (and everyone does know each other), are the reasons the reviewers are there. For some reviewers, anyone else is beside the point.
This makes sense because, as humans, the reviewers only have so much time and energy to give. They’re doing nearly eight hours of reviews a day, a new one every 20 minutes. Of course they’re exhausted. And we photographers are constantly hounding these people for help in reaching our own goals. I was a bit disappointed that at the photobook exhibition I didn’t see many reviewers looking at the books. But what would you want to do at the end of a long day of looking at other peoples’ work? You’d want to have a drink and catch up with your friends and take a break.
Book by Susan White featured in On The Shelf exhibition
That said, the crowd at the photobook reception was huge, with tons of people carefully paging through the books and paying real attention. I was quite pleased and I also met some wonderful people.
All of this was a big aha for me. Had I wanted to really connect with the reviewers, I should have signed up for the review. It’s a not that expensive considering how much you’re paying for the flight and a hotel for four nights. Now I know. Although I still think reviewers would look askance at someone 13 years out of an MFA program signing up for a portfolio review.
I’m writing about this because I think you might want to know all this. I’ve published four of my own books, which has given me complete control over everything, which I love. But distribution is reserved for the real publishers or the big award winners, and my work is decidedly not mainstream. It’s hard to build an audience that way, and I think it’s time for me to re-evaluate my approach.
If you want to grow your audience and your exposure, think about doing the portfolio reviews. And Filter, in my opinion, should be near the top of your list. But make sure you’re bringing a really strong series of photographs ready for a serious audience.