Silver Eye

Silver Eye is delighted to announce the artists of Fellowship 24! 

This year we had almost 200 applicants from around the world reflecting innovative and thoughtful approaches to contemporary photography. Our sincere thanks to this year's jurors Zora J Murff, Aline Smithson, and Jeremiah William McCarthy and everyone who submitted to Fellowship.

The Fellowship 24 International Award recognizes rising talents or established photographers from anywhere in the world. Fellowship 24 includes two International Awards, and two International Honorable Mentions. Zora J Murff selected Anthony Francis for an International Award, and awarded Rachael Banks Honorable Mention. Aline Smithson selected William Camargo for an International Award and awarded Anna Rotty Honorable Mention.

The Fellowship 24 Keystone Award and Honorable Mention recognize artists creating outstanding work within the state of Pennsylvania. Jeremiah William McCarthy selected Vikesh Kapoor for the Keystone Award, and awarded Xavier Scott Marshall Honorable Mention. 

“I rooted my choices in this award to commitment. In the portfolios of Anthony Francis and Rachael Banks, I saw a dedication to finding a distinct vision and working from a standpoint of care in ways worth commending." - Zora J Murff

"As a juror, I am looking for work with a unique visual expression, work that is authentic, surprising, and holds a certain power. Both William Camargo and Anna Rotty are using the medium to call our attention to issues of importance, each shifting the norm to use photography as a way to examine issues such as gentrification, Chicanx/Latinx histories, climate change, and water." - Aline Smithson

“Photography has always been related to memory and memorialization, and Vikesh Kapoor’s project certainly harks to that.  It is deeply felt and a sophisticated balance of relationships. Although I think its power transcends the region, this project is a remarkable document in the history of the state. Xavier Scott Marshall’s photos are very powerful, equal parts confidence and poetry.” - Jeremiah William McCarthy

All six artists will show their work in the Fellowship 24 exhibition in May of 2024. Stay connected to Silver Eye to keep up to date with more news about Fellowship 24 later this Spring!

Image credit: Xavier Scott Marshall, Doubting Thomas, 2021

Participating Artists

1. Rachael Banks lives in Northern Kentucky. She is an artist and educator. Her research interests include folklore, ecology, and epigenetics. Rachael's work addresses trauma and nature as central to relationships and experiences with her community. She compulsively photographs deer and black dogs. In 2024, she received a Fellowship honorable mention in Silver Eye's annual photography competition.

2. William Camargo is a California based artist and educator, who holds an MFA from Claremont Graduate University and is the founder and curator of Latinx Diaspora Archives. His work has been shown at the Chicago Cultural Center, The Cooper Gallery of African and African American Arts at Harvard and Filter Photo, among others. In 2024, he received a Fellowship award in Silver Eye's annual photography competition.

3. Anthony Francis is a multifaceted visual artist filmmaker, educator, and writer based in San Antonio, Texas. After receiving an English degree and going on to earn a M.Ed from The George Washington University, he studied at the Academy of Art University to gain an MFA with a concentration in photography. His work and research interests are concerned with opacity, love, and portraiture's politics connected to the photographic apparatus. He has spoken and shown work internationally and his work is in private and public collections. In 2024, he received a Fellowship award in Silver Eye's annual photography competition.

4. Vikesh Kapoor is a multidisciplinary artist whose work examines race, class and identity as a first-generation American. Kapoor has exhibited his series “See You at Home” in solo exhibitions at The Print Center, Philadelphia PA; Filter Space, Chicago, IL; and New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, LA. Kapoor is currently a fellow in the inaugural Google Image Equity Fellowship, with partners For Freedoms, Aperture Foundation, Free the Work and Creative Theory Agency. In 2024, he received the Keystone Award in Silver Eye's annual photography competition, which recognizes an artist making exceptional work in Pennsylvania.

5. Xavier Scott Marshall is a first-generation Trinidadian-American artist. Xavier’s large format black and white images of decontextualized Christian icons, saints, and martyrs across various cities in the US and Europe reflect the colonial history of religious image-making to question and draw parallels between visual history and the black condition. His hand-processed film images bare the blemishes of the medium, with scratches and marks speaking to the honesty and fragility of his process and the subjects in his photographs. In 2024, he received a Keystone Award honorable mention in Silver Eye's annual photography competition. This was made in recognition of his outstanding work made in Pennsylvania.

6. Anna Rotty investigates water, light, and infrastructure, informing her understanding of orientation and place. By constructing landscapes and making light a priority, Anna looks to highlight the intangible and emotional aspects of the world. She is currently an MFA candidate and instructor of record in photography at the University of New Mexico on Tiwa land known as Albuquerque. In 2024, she received a Fellowship honorable mention in Silver Eye's annual photography competition.