This photographic project explores midlife as a time of change, when familiar identities begin to shift and certainty gives way to self-reflection. The work is rooted in moments of pause, doubt, and quiet observation, using photography as a way to look inward and examine the self from a distance.

Rather than presenting clear answers or resolutions, the images reflect the uncertainty of an identity in transition. Past and present overlap, and the future remains open. Fragmentation and ambiguity are embraced as honest parts of becoming, not problems to be solved.

Through this process, photography becomes a form of reconciliation—an ongoing dialogue between who I have been and who I am learning to accept. This project is not about crisis as breakdown, but about attention and care. It reflects a commitment to patience, self-compassion, and the understanding that self-acceptance is a practice shaped over time.

Jurying Me&Eve was a moving and rewarding undertaking. I want to thank all the artists for sharing their work. The overall level of professionalism and the talent of the photographers was impressive. While some work was abstract, formalist, or about the nature of the medium, most of the artists addressed topics that have deep personal import yet also permeate the headlines and impact society.

The entrants expanded my world view through intimate and penetrating glimpses into a wide variety of communities, lifestyles, cultures, beliefs, experiences, and viewpoints.  Their topics included nature, ecology, and the losses caused by climate change and political actions; living with illness, issues of mental health, and generational trauma; and sexuality, gender identity, and personal freedom. The ability of photography to record, evoke, and create memories was a subject for quite a few artists, many of whom incorporated found images from family or public archives. Motherhood and relationships among family members were frequent subjects. Documentary projects explored diverse environments and situations, ranging from life in prisons, nomads in the mountains of Georgia, and cacao farmers in Peru, to volunteers helping recover and identify migrants who died crossing border between Mexico and the United States. 

Selecting just one winner was exceedingly difficult. In the end, I chose a project that presented an exploration of self and gender identity at mid-life told through eighteen self-portraits and still lifes. The images are subtle, haunting, yet also trenchant and brave. They form a cohesive picture essay that draws viewers into joining the artist on a deeply personal journey that is still in progress.

— Barbara Tannenbaum • Curator of Photography and Chair, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Medium-sized prints, up to 12” x 12”