Alaska Positive is the statewide juried photographic exhibition organized and toured by the Alaska State Museum. Its purpose is to encourage the practice of photography as an art form in Alaska. The exhibition will open in Juneau on December 1, 2023 and close on March 9, 2024. The exhibition will then travel to museums throughout Alaska.

JUROR: Camille Seaman

Guest juror Camille Seaman believes “art is not only important; it is necessary for us to communicate what is happening with our planet.” Her photographs concentrate on the fragile environment of the polar regions, providing the message: “we are of this Earth, and we only get one.”

Born on Long Island, Seaman is of Shinnecock, Montaukett, African American, and Italian ancestry. She was raised to celebrate the interconnection of humans and their environment, a way of seeing the world that shapes her approach to photography today.  She has travelled from Alaska to below the Antarctic Circle, photographing the landscape and its inhabitants. Over the last two decades she has witnessed and documented the effects of climate change on the Earth’s polar regions.

Seaman studied photography with Jan Groover and drawing with John Cohen at State University of New York at Purchase, where she graduated in 1992. She has taken master workshops with renown photographers Steve McCurry, Sebastiao Salgado, and Paul Fusco. Her photographs have been published in National Geographic Magazine, Italian Geo, German Geo, TIME, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Newsweek, Outside, Zeit Wissen, Men’s Journal, Seed, Camera Arts, Issues, PDN, and American Photo among many others. Her photographs have received many awards including: a National Geographic Award, 2006; and the Critical Mass Top Monograph Award, 2007. She is a TED Senior Fellow (2003), Stanford Knight Fellow (2013-2014); Cinereach Filmmaker in Residence Fellow; National Geographic Contributing Photographer, and Artist-in-Residence at Denali National Park (2015). Her published works include The Big Cloud: Spectacular Photographs of Storm Clouds, 2018; Melting Away: A Ten-Year Journey through Our endangered Polar Regions, 2014; and The Last Iceberg, 2008.

To learn more about artist opportunities at the Alaska State Museum, visit Artist Opportunities.  

For online exhibits, including previous Alaska Positive exhibitions, visit Online Exhibitions.

SCHEDULE SUMMARY:

• SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 – Call-for-entry for Alaska Positive 2023 opens on CaFÉ, callforentry.org
• OCTOBER 13, 2023 – All digital submissions for initial judging are due on CaFÉ by 9:59 PM Alaska Time.
• NOVEMBER 9, 2023 – Juror-selected submissions are due, matted and exhibit-ready. Deadline for receipt is 4:00pm, at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau.
• NOVEMBER 17, 2023 – Lecture by juror Camille Seaman at 6:30pm at the Alaska State Museum.
• DECEMBER 1, 2023 – Exhibit opens at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau and runs through March 9, 2024.
• EXHIBITION TRAVELS to museums throughout Alaska, schedule to be determined.

AWARDS

There will be a Juror's Choice Award and two Awards of Recognition. The awards are sponsored by the Friends of the State Library, Archives, and Museum. The juror will also select a number of photographs for Honorable Mention.

Application Requirements

INITIAL SUBMISSION - DIGITAL CHECKLIST

1. Each person may enter up to four photographic works.
2. List of acceptable upload-ready file formats can be found on the CaFÉ Media Help page.
3. Upload an ENTRY IDENTIFICATION document that lists the required information for each entry submitted. Instructions are included in the application.
4. Pay the $25 application fee to CaFÉ.

JUROR SELECTION

Alaska Positive judging will be completed in a two-step process by our juror with an initial judging of all the digital entries, then a final judging of selected exhibition-ready artwork; this is anticipated to take place onsite in Juneau.

Artists whose work is selected from the initial judging will be notified and will need to submit exhibition-ready (matted with white or off-white acid-free matboard) photographs for final judging. Artists will be sent instructions for labeling their work. Please do not send framed work for final review.

FINAL SUBMISSION - MATTED ART

1. Artwork that is selected from the digital submissions for the final judging should be delivered by 4:00 pm on November 9, 2023. Photographs can be delivered in two ways: Mail to: Alaska Positive 2023, Alaska State Museum, P.O. Box 110571, Juneau, Alaska, 99811 or Hand-deliver to: First floor, front desk at the Alaska State Museum, 395 Whittier St., Juneau, Alaska
2. Artwork that is selected for final judging must be matted with white or off-white acid-free matboard. Framed entries will not be accepted. The Museum will frame selected works.
3. Artists must attach identification labels to the back of their work. Instructions for labeling will be sent to artists when they are notified of selection for final submission.
4. All mailed entries must be properly packaged in a reusable container. Remember, framed entries will not be accepted.
5. All entries will be returned to the artist postage-paid by the museum. Entries accepted for the statewide traveling exhibit will be returned following the statewide tour, 2024-2025. Unaccepted entries will be returned by mail or may be picked up in Juneau.
6. Undeliverable entries returned to the Alaska State Museum or hand delivered entries that have not been picked up within one year of the exhibit's closure will be dealt with at the discretion of the Alaska State Museum.

The Alaska State Museum wishes to thank the Friends of SLAM for its continued support of Alaska Positive and for sponsoring this year's Juror's Choice and Recognition Awards.

Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to any resident of Alaska 18 years of age or older. Only photographs not shown in previous statewide juried competitions are eligible. Any work that makes use of photographic processes is eligible. All work must be original work and completed within the last three years. Entries may only be submitted by the artist.