This past year, I was honored to serve as a juror along with Blue Mitchell, Jan Potts, Elizabeth Corden, and Kirsten Rian to select the winner of the John Chervinsky Emerging Scholarship Award. Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum, organizes the award and describes the process: ​“Photographer John Chervinsky, whose work explored the concept of time, passed away in December of 2015, following a typically resolute battle with pancreatic cancer. The modesty and unassuming character John conveyed in life belies the extent to which he will be missed, not only by his family and friends, but also by the entire photographic community of which he was so proud to be a part.

The John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship was announced in June 2016 to recognize, encourage and reward photographers with the potential to create a body of work and sustain solo exhibitions. Awarded annually, the Scholarship provides recipients with a monetary award, an exhibition of their work at the Griffin Museum of Photography, and a volume from John’s personal library of photography books. The Scholarship seeks to provide a watershed moment in the professional lives of emerging photographers, providing them with the support and encouragement necessary to develop, articulate and grow their own vision for photography.

The fourth year in 2019, 100 photographers submitted applications to be considered for the scholarship. After much thought and consideration, the judges chose Michelle Rogers-Pritzl as the fourth recipient of the John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship.”

Rogers-Pritzl describes her project along the following lines: “ ​“Not Waving But Drowning” is a look inside an Evangelical marriage. These images show the truth of a life lived in the confines of oppressive gender roles, cult-like manipulation, and the isolation of Fundamentalism.

Each image is equivalence for the unseen, for the reality behind facade. Despite the smiles and appearance of perfection, Complementarianism is an abusive system in which a wife serves her husband as a helpmeet, remains silent, and prays for her spouse to become a better man.

I use self-portraiture to share my own experience within the Fundamentalist Lifestyle without being explicitly autobiographical. My chosen medium of collodion used with contemporary digital media represents the outdated behaviors and rules imposed on women by Fundamentalism.”

The collective juror statement said of the work: ​“Michelle’s modern adaptation of the antique tintype process mirrors her emergence from a fundamentalist marriage. The intense imagery of ​“Not Waving But Drowning” aptly illustrates her personal experience of abuse within her marriage.

Rogers-Pritzl’s photographs demonstrate her potential for depth and sophistication. Bodies of work that resonate such as ​“Not Waving But Drowning,” linger long past viewing and expose some sort of truth. Done well, the complexities of human nature unfurl in a different way as time is spent with each image. The layers of what is lost, and what is found, while exploring the implications of fundamentalist marriage, are masterfully handled with a gentle directness.

As jurors, we believe Pritzl will continue to develop photographically. We are excited to watch her work continue to make its way out into the world. It needs to be seen.”

-Mia

Learn more here.