The Maine Photography Show (MPS), has been the annual premier juried gallery show of photography in Maine for 16 years. Deadline for submissions is at the stroke of midnight on Friday, Jan. 22.

Any resident of Maine (permanent or seasonal) may enter up to three images across any of the categories. Entry fee is $10 per image. For students (18 years or younger) we offer a flat fee of
$10 for the maximum of three images.

For the 2021 Show we will solicit photos in the categories: Black and White, Color, Student, and the Special Category: Community Celebrations. This year’s Special Category should be an exciting, but also very challenging subject, considering the life changing period we are in right now.

“While some of the traditional celebrations as we know them in Maine were canceled, others took on new creative forms,” said Bruce Burnham, longtime organizer of the MPS. “How will these events, such as state fairs, clam and lobster festivals, garden tours, fine art fairs and music festivals, toboggan and ski races, parades and others come to life this year? How can we portray these celebrations in our photographs?”

Burnham said in addition to Maine, the MPS hopes to see images from all over the world, including other locations in the U.S. We would like to see images from all over the world, from other places in the US. And the special category photos do not have to be from this year.

“While we appreciate and accept photos in this category that show past events, we specifically want to encourage you to depict the new forms of ‘Community Celebrations,’ as they evolved over this year,” added Burnham.

This year’s juror is Portland native and resident Bruce Brown. He is well known photographer, collector, and curator for many art and photography exhibitions in Maine. Brwn has curated over 150 photography shows alone. From 1998 to 2006 he was curator of the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA now in Rockland).

After the deadline juror Brown will select approximately 100 photographs for the show categories. Selected photographers will be notified by end of February.

The 2021 MPS images will be displayed at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation April 10 through May 1 (subject to COVID-19 status). All of the work will be exhibited on the MPS website, www.mainephotoshow.org. Last year’s gallery is still up for viewing!

Thanks to the generous contributions from our sponsors - Lead sponsor First National Wealth Management; Boothbay Region Greenhouses, Capital Area Camera Club, First Light Camera Club, Portland Camera Club, Robinson’s Wharf, Mine Oyster, and Hawke Motors - we are able to award prize winners of the 2021 Show for all categories and the Best of Show with cash prizes similar to previous years.The MPS catalog sponsor is Boothbay Boat Sales.

Winners will be announced at the opening of the exhibition.

Questions? Contact Bruce Burnham at mps@mainephotographyshow.org