Snow Creek Collaborative: Selections

Snow Creek Collaborative: Selections presents nine carefully chosen works created through a partnership between three artists, showcasing the collaborative nature of contemporary photographic practice. The exhibition features high-quality archival pigment prints rendered on premium papers including Moab Museum Rag, Epson Exhibition Fibre, and traditional rag substrates, emphasizing the artists' commitment to archival excellence and material consideration. This focused selection offers visitors an intimate look at the creative dialogue and shared vision that emerges from collaborative artistic endeavors.

About Snow Creek Collaborative

Snow Creek, named after the garden railroad in Robert Treat's backyard, is a group of fine art photographers that gathers monthly to discuss and critique each other's work. These critiques help us grow as individual photographers and as a group. Our award-winning members have shown work in solo exhibitions and group shows globally and have been published in national and worldwide publications.

Participating Artists: Todd Bradley, Stephen Cook, C Fodoreanu, Will Gibson, Jodie Hulden, Charles Ingham, Marie Keech, Annie Lemoux, Kris Moore, Kim Signoret-Paar, Louise Russell, Brandy Sebastian, Wayne Swanson, Jim Tetlow, Robert Treat, Tom Vancisin, Brian Van Wetering, and Janet Wytrych.

About the Curator

Donna Cosentino

In a life dedicated to photography since 1971, Donna Cosentino has been a news photographer, museum docent, curator, educator, and leader in the photographic community. After thirty years of teaching photography, Donna retired and opened The Photographer’s Eye in Escondido, a gallery whose mission is to enlighten and educate the community on the history and art of photography through exhibitions and classes.

Who we are and why we exist is hard to pin down. Many years ago in a log cabin far, far away, some of us attended a photo retreat. We ate pasta and talked about making photographs. We learned some things about photography and each other, but best of all, a few of us decided to form a group.

We invited trusted friends. We meet every six weeks or so to talk about our photo-based work. Members come and go according to an intelligent design understood by no one. We bring snacks, wine, cheese, and special hummus. We exchange the odd photo tip, commiserate over software upgrades, and complain about our printers.

And then we spread our work along Bob Treat's long oak table, step back, and without telling people what they should think about it, we let the work speak. We await comments and remain silent while others gently critique.

This almost never happens.

People become emotional—irrational even. Calls for apology are demanded, duels proposed. Then six weeks later most of us return to do it all over again. If Snow Creek were a prideful person, it would boast that many of its members have been awarded solo shows, been published online, juried into prestigious exhibitions, and had books published.

But actual Snow Creek rarely spends energy on self-promotion. We are simply a group of artists attending to the ritual of creating. If that brings acclaim or a sale, then hooray. If no one notices, so sad. The result is not the point. We make art because we are art makers. There is joy enough in that.

—Kris Moore, Snow Creek Member