Samantha Johnston | Month of Photography Denver
Interview: Samantha Johnston
Executive Director & Curator of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center Month of Photography Denver
Review by Laura Miller
Photography as we know it has only been around for about 300 years. The first photograph was taken in the 1820s using a process known as heliography, or “sunwriting.” Since then, photography has quickly become one of the most prolific and accessible artforms in use.
Catherine Panebianco, Soaring Navigation, 2021, one of the works in The Big Picture 2023 exhibition at RedLine Contemporary Art Center and various locations in the Denver metro area. Image courtesy of Mark Sink.
To celebrate all photography has to offer, Denver-based artist Mark Sink launched the Month of Photography Denver (MOP) in 2004. The biennial festival was inspired by Houston’s FotoFest and brings exhibitions, portfolio reviews, artist talks, and more to Denver in March.
“Really, it was a very grassroots effort, and Mark was amazing in building it himself with volunteers and limited funding,” says Samantha Johnston, executive director and curator for the Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC), which now runs the festival. “Since the beginning, the festival has been all about bringing the community together around photography in Denver.”
Judy Dater, Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite, 1974, silver gelatin print, 9.5 x 7.5 inches, part of the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
Founded in 1963, CPAC is the only nonprofit in Denver dedicated exclusively to photography. Through their free exhibitions, workshops, resources, and events, including MOP, they strive to achieve their mission of “fostering the understanding and appreciation of excellent photography in all forms and concepts.”
Johnston gave DARIA an inside look at the festival, including what to expect this year and how artists continue to push the envelope and take photography to new and exciting places.
Imogen Cunningham, Minor White, Photographer, 1963, silver gelatin print, 8 x 7.75 inches, one of the works in the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
How did Colorado Photographic Arts Center (CPAC) become involved with Month of Photography Denver (MOP)?
Mark [Sink] is on CPAC’s advisory board, and we’ve always worked closely together. CPAC has been organizing MOP’s portfolio reviews since 2015, and at the end of the 2019 festival, Mark was ready to pass the baton to CPAC. As a nonprofit, CPAC can apply for grants and other sources of funding that Mark as an individual could not, which is essential for the festival’s growth and sustainability. For example, in 2021 we received support for MOP from the National Endowment for the Arts for the first time, and again in 2023.
In 2021, CPAC ran the entire festival as an organization for the first time. The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges, but the event was a success in that it provided exhibition opportunities for more than 500 artists when opportunities for artists were scarce due to gallery closures.
Carol Golemboski, They Hook and They Hold, silver gelatin print, 9 x 9 inches, one of the works in the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
What are you excited about for this year’s festival?
We’re really excited to be in person again, and we’re excited for the community to come back together. I do feel that 2021 was a great time for that as well because vaccinations were starting to come out, and people were feeling more comfortable being in public spaces. I remember talking to a lot of photographers who said it was a great event to look forward to because they’d had such a tough time with the pandemic. And it’s still tough for many people, but we’re slowly getting there.
Denis Roussel, Tangerine, 2012, archival inkjet print of wet-plate collodion, 13 x 16 inches, one of the works in the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
Another element that makes the 2023 festival special is that the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) is having their photo education conference in Denver at the same time as MOP, so that brings another big group of photographers and educators to town while the festival is happening.
KJax Studios, Funkadelic, 2020, one of the works in The Big Picture 2023 exhibition at RedLine Contemporary Art Center and various locations in the Denver metro area. Image courtesy of Mark Sink.
I know portfolio reviews are a big part of the festival. Can you tell me more about them? What does this opportunity mean for aspiring or established photographers?
What’s great about the portfolio reviews is they give photographers opportunities to meet with curators or book publishers who aren’t otherwise easily accessible. And it’s about relationship building. We’ve shown artists at CPAC whom I met during portfolio reviews I’ve given at other festivals. It’s a great way for industry professionals to sit down with photographers, talk to them about their projects and the work they’re making, and see the work itself. We live in a digital age, and the in-person viewpoint is very important and different from what it is online.
A view of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center’s 2022 Members’ Exhibition. Image courtesy of CPAC.
How many venues are participating in MOP? Are there any exhibitions that you’re particularly looking forward to?
We’re expecting about 75 venues to participate, from major museums to small galleries. I’m excited, of course, for CPAC’s show. We’re showing 45 pieces from our Permanent Collection, and it’s also our 60th anniversary this year, so it’s an exciting time for us. After the festival, we’re moving to a larger location at 1200 Lincoln Street in Denver’s Golden Triangle Creative District, so it’s a big year for us.
Catherine Panebianco, Racing Time, 2019, part of The Big Picture 2023 exhibition at RedLine Contemporary Art Center and various locations in the Denver metro area. Image courtesy of Mark Sink.
Then, Mark [Sink] is putting together a gigantic show at RedLine Contemporary Art Center titled The Big Picture, and the Center for Visual Art has a great show called Entanglements. We’re also working again with Night Lights Denver to project images on the Daniels & Fisher Tower for the month, so we’re excited for that.
We don’t set a theme for the festival because we really want spaces to show what makes sense for them. Themes that are emerging from the work right now, though, are diversity, environment, Indigenous photography, and local photography, so I’m excited to see what’s coming.
Zora Murff, Dillon at 18, 2015, archival inkjet print, 30 x 40 inches, one of the works in the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
Why do you think photography is so important right now, and how do you see younger people engaging with the medium?
Imagery is how we consume what’s happening all over the world, and the role that photography plays is so huge, not just in the fine art realm, but also in the documentary and journalistic realms. There are so many ways that people make pictures or document what’s happening around them, and I think all of that’s very important.
Catherine Panebianco, Visible Limelight, 2020, part of The Big Picture 2023 exhibition at RedLine Contemporary Art Center and various locations in the Denver metro area. Image courtesy of Mark Sink.
We’re seeing a resurgence of younger generations using film, using the darkroom, developing film, and scanning it. They’re really utilizing all the different ways that photography is such a democratic medium and is so accessible.
Betty Hahn, New Mexico Sky, 1944, laser print on glazed ceramic plate, 4.75 x 3.875 inches, part of the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
What are some of the most creative ways you’ve seen photographs displayed?
Right now, we have a student show up, and we hang that show with magnets—we hang professional shows with magnets, too—because framing is expensive and it’s a barrier for entry. I think it’s important to think about other ways the work can be installed beyond traditional framing. I saw a grad student who had sculptural pieces that he attached to images. The local artist Melanie Walker tends to do larger prints on cloth, which are a great example of how images can expand beyond what we’re traditionally used to.
Patrick Nagatani, National Atomic Museum, Kirkland Air Force Base, 1989, chromogenic print, 20 x 24 inches, part of the exhibition Looking Back, Moving Forward: Permanent Collection Highlights. Image courtesy of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.
What do you wish more people understood about the photography scene in Denver?
The photography community in Denver and Colorado has a rich history, and our community is known for being especially welcoming and active. I wish more people knew that CPAC is one of the only arts spaces in Denver with free exhibitions open to the public year-round. Most of the events during the MOP festival are free to attend as well. Throughout the year, we bring different kinds of art and artists to Denver to exhibit, speak, and teach. I love that we’re pushing the boundary all the time and opening people’s eyes to the different ways that photography exists.
For more information and a schedule of events, visit denvermop.org.
Laura I. Miller (she/her) is a Denver-based writer and editor. Her feature articles, reviews, and short stories appear widely. She received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona.
