Face Forward

Denver photographer Terri Bell stuck her toe in the water last spring when she initiated a juried open show of works by women in her Santa Fe Drive studio for the citywide Month of Photography festivities. Wearing the shoes of a gallerist turned out to be a rewarding if energy-draining experience for Bell the first time around, with enough emphasis on the former to encourage her to try it again. So when Ken Hamel, a fellow photog and the hardworking keeper of DenverArts.org, expressed an interest in judging such a show, she put out the call for Is This How I Look?, a portrait-based photo exhibit that opens tonight at tbellphotographic.

Because of the studio’s limited space, Hamel whittled the show down to 25 images out of 135 submitted from across Colorado, the nation and even abroad, and they all give a lovely depth to Bell’s own predilection for art with a face. “I’ve always been interested in figurative photography, and the art scene in Denver doesn’t always embrace figurative works as much as other cities do,” she says. “I thought it would be fun to home in on that.” But as far as the final selection goes, she gives full credit to Hamel. “He was,” Bell notes, “an awesome and thoughtful juror.” The resulting cross-section of human images attests to that.

See Is This How I Look? at Bell’s studio, located within CORE New Art Space, at 900 Santa Fe Drive; the exhibit continues through September 4. For details, visit www.tbellphotographic.com.
Fri., Aug. 19, 6-9 p.m.; Saturdays, 12-6 p.m.; Fri., Sept. 2, 6-10 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 4, 1-4 p.m. Starts: Aug. 19. Continues through Sept. 4, 2011