'Wow' Images Showcased In Bucks County Photography Exhibit

NEW HOPE, PA — The Phillips’ Mill Community Association is showcasing an impressive collection of "wow" images during its 31st annual Photography Exhibition continuing now through April 19 in Solebury Township.

Spotlighting 135 contemporary works across many genres, from portraiture to abstraction, the 2024 exhibition was selected by juror Thom Goertel. Goertel is a distinguished fine-art and documentary photographer who has worked everywhere, from the White House to Iceland to Kenya. In a Phillips’ Mill ArtTalk, available on the Mill’s website, he described his approach to jurying: “I did an initial pass looking for what jumped out, what were the ‘wow’ images, and after that I went back through for specific thematic areas we needed to address.”

As part of the process, Mr. Goertel chose images for eleven special awards, including Early Morning Ritual by Debbie Wolf of Edgewater, MD, which won “Best in Show.” Maria Dreyer, the newly appointed chair of the committee responsible for putting on the exhibition, presented the awards to recipients on Saturday evening.

Joshua Ackerman of Pennington won 2nd Prize with Haircut 24.

Broomsquire by Elizabeth Jacobs of New Hope won 3rd Prize.

Blue Monday by Jennifer Gershon of New Hope is one of a trio of works that won “Best Body of Work.”

Local winners include Jennifer Gershon, a Bucks County resident. Her trio of imaginative portraits, ranging from the surreal to the film-noire in style, received the “Best Body of Work” esignation. One of these, Blue Monday, features hues of aqua and envisions a multitasking woman wearing a mermaid costume as she wields a phone and a vacuum in a setting that is ambiguously indoors or underwater. Another, Bristol Derby, depicts a woman attired in a floral dress and spot-lit amid a murky, 1940s-style office, and a third, Riedemaster’s Dilemma, alludes both to a mathematical theory about knots and to the elaborate floral designs of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

These meticulously crafted and enigmatic works, which hint at the complexity of gender roles, also suggest Ms. Gershon’s own background in art history. As she states on her website, “Over the years I have experimented with various photographic styles, but I’m most drawn to painterly portraiture…. Storytelling plays an important role in the creation of my portraits.”

Another local award recipient is Lisa Stolzer of Lambertville, whose photo entitled Morning’s Necklace won in the Nature category. Ms. Stolzer describes how she captured this image. “Last summer, I went out very early one foggy morning and looked closely at the spiderwebs along the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge all bedecked with dewdrops. They looked like the most precious jewelry, especially one web that had been buffeted by the wind until only a few strands remained. The water drops that clung to it resembled pearls on a necklace.”

Christopher Bosse of Warrington won for portraiture with his work,"Contemplation."

A complete list of the award winners and their photos is posted on the Phillips’ Mill website. But these images represent only a small fraction of the works on display, and in addition to the framed photos on the walls, multiple portfolio bins provide a secondary exhibition in themselves.

Said Sue Ann Rainey, a longtime Bucks County resident and Photo Committee member, “The exhibition is always impressive, and I enjoyed curating and hanging the images in sections that fit together like a puzzle. Every year we get many returning artists and some first-timers who are full of excitement and enjoy seeing what their fellow artists have created.”

And, notes Ms. Dreyer, several months of work take place behind the scenes to make the exhibition a success. “It is the Phillips’ Mill Photo Committee that is the backbone of this show; I am most grateful for their support as I navigate this first year as chair of the committee.”

The show will be on view at Phillips’ Mill, 2619 River Road, New Hope 18938, through April 19. Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays; and to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, visit www.phillipsmill.org.

"Morning’s Necklace" by Lisa Stolzer of Lambertville, N.J., won the “Nature Award.”

The “Street Photography” award went to Housemaids of India by Linda Heath of Cranbury, N.J.