STOCKTON — Portraits from 34 photographers from across the nation will be featured at the L.H. Horton Jr. Gallery’s latest show, “Contemporary Portrait Photography Exhibition and Awards Competition.”

The exhibition runs Nov. 21 through Dec. 13, with an opening reception planned for Nov. 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission to the Horton Gallery is free and open to the public.

Photographer Aline Smithson was engaged as the exhibition juror to select works from a call for entries. She is a photographer and Founder and Editor in Chief of "Lenscratch," a daily journal on photography. Smithson also teaches at the Los Angeles Center of Photography.

Smithson selected 34 photographers for the exhibition, each with one image. Included from the Stockton arts community is photographer Natalie Petersen. The exhibition provides a variety of photographic techniques and styles, ranging from traditional analogue photography to contemporary digital manipulations. In addition to the exhibition, photographer Brent Reaney will conduct a portrait photography workshop with advanced Delta College photography students.

“As a juror, I look for a level of excellence — was the photograph created as a fine art image or simply a snapshot?" Smithson said. "As the work ends up in a gallery space, the concern of quality is critical. Is the image in focus (or blurred with intention), have the dust spots been removed, is it well composed, has the photographer avoided over-sharpening and over-saturating?

"I consider if the work challenges, transports, and delights, and I also consider the show as a whole," she added. "The photograph has become ubiquitous in our culture and in order to stand out, it is necessary to push beyond the ordinary or the common tropes that have already been covered."

For further information and digital images, contact Gallery Director Jan Marlese at jan.marlese@deltacollege.edu. (Above right: "Snap" by Joshua Littlefield)

Award Recipients

Dan Farnum, Best of Show $600

Brent Reaney, 2nd Place $400

Joshua Littlefield, 3rd Place $300

Exhibiting Photographers

Linda Barsotti, Castro Valley

Bratt Cody, Pacifica

Mark Coggins, San Francisco

Richard Dweck, Menlo Park

Catherine Fairchild, Houston, Texas

Dan Farnum, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Olya Gary, Palo Alto

Paul Greenberg, Dallas, Texas

Richard Greene, Los Angeles

Anna Grevenitis, Brooklyn, New York

Rohina Hoffman, Sherman Oaks

Judi Iranyi, San Francisco

Diana Nicholette Jeon, Honolulu, Hawaii

Kelly Joslin, Dayton,Ohio

Flynn Larsen, Beacon, New York

Moishe Lettvin, Boulder, Colorado

Joshua Littlefield, Savannah, Georgia

Michael Martin, San Jose

Sarah Meftah, San Francisco

Shelby Meyerhoff, Winchester, Massachusetts

Peter Miller, San Mateo

Bridget Murphy Milligan,Tiro,Ohio

Natalie Petersen, Stockton

Brent Reaney, Houston, Texas

Marcie Rich, Emeryville

Rebecca Rothey, Laurel, Maryland

Amanda Schaaf, Asheville,North Carolina

Nicole Schlaeppi, Alameda

Luke Seward, Willington, Connecticut

Andrew Sohn, Berkeley

Dafna Steinberg, McLean, Virginia

Cherie Truesdell, Marietta, Georgia

Jiaxuan Wang, Chicago, Illinois

Gary Zuercher, San Clemente