19th-century farm portrait awarded IPA 1st Place

Work created from The Unchosen Ones project in 2020 was awarded 1st place in the Portrait / Lifestyle category by the International Photography Awards, affiliated with the Lucie Foundation, a charitable foundation whose mission is to honor photographers, discover, and cultivate emerging talent and promote the appreciation of photography.

Hannah and her family live on a Century Farm, a farm with continuous ownership by a family for 100 years or more. Nearly 11,000 Minnesota farms have been recognized as Century Farms since 1976, a way to promote agriculture and honor historic family farms in the state.

Hannah, Pastoral Study, 2020, archival pigment print

ACP 2021 "Ones to Watch" Exhibition

Atlanta celebrates photography! “What We Known: ACP 2021 Ones to Watch,” exhibition at MINT gallery, curated by Mary Stanley in conjunction with the 2021 Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival. Exhibition runs through November 6, 2021. Works for sale.

Special thanks to the gregarious, every loving Mary Stanley for the invitation to be apart of this experience.

Concordia College: Visiting Artist Workshop, Exhibition & Artist Talk

Concordia College invited me recently to be a visiting artist, complete with a series of lighting workshops for undergrad photo students, an exhibition of nine works, and an artist talk. I also made it my “unofficial book reveal” as well as a short documentary series I’ve been working on for the last year. Three participants from The Unchosen Ones project: Kenzi, Rylie, and Louis, stood up with a round of applause during my talk. I was proud to see them in the audience, along with their significant others. I brought the same backdrop and lighting equipment used for the series whiling indulging students in the nuances of how to “hide your main light with your fill” as well as other technicals.

After almost a year in production for the book, this experience offered reason enough for the effort. Special thanks to Chris Mortenson for the invitation and the Faculty of Fine Arts for their support. You make this artist SWOON! Photo credit: Chris Mortenson

The college newspaper, The Concordian, did a nice write-up, thanks to David Lindgren >>

The exhibition was installed in the Gallery Bridge at Concordia College, depicted below at night. Photograph by R. J. Kern.

Critical Mass 2021 Top 50

I’m honored my work from my project The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral has been chosen for Critical Mass 2021 Top 50. I appreciate the support of Photolucida and the jurors for this opportunity to share my work. When I began this project in 2015, I never had sights on the critical-acclaim that would follow. I couldn’t have done this alone and appreciate the support from mentors, my gallerists at Burnet Fine Art & Advisory and Olson Larsen Galleries, and the trusting participants from #TheUnchosenOnes project. I want to give a special thank you to Sarah Leen for believing in this project from the beginning, Alison Nordström for writing for the book, Paula Tognarelli for offering my first museum solo at Photolucida, and MW Editions for making the trade book possible (early copies arrive soon!). Ewa Zebrowski thank you for being a lovely writing buddy and Hans Weise for collaboration with the upcoming video documentary.

David, Pastoral Study, 2020

"Ones To Watch 2021" {Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival}

Thank you to Mary Stanley for selecting my work for the 2021 Ones to Watch group exhibition held at the MINT Gallery in Atlanta, GA. The theme: What We Know.

The opening reception at MINT Gallery is Friday, October 1 from 6:00- 10:00 PM

ACP Auction Benefit Exhibition

I have offered a print for the annual Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) Auction with a special exhibition at HA Modern Showroom at the Atlanta Decorative Art Center held October 6th - 20th. Join small gatherings of photography collectors, interior designers, friends of ACP. Stay tuned for details.

110th Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition

I’m honored to have my work awarded an Honorable Mention by Carla Rodriguez, juror of the 110th Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition in St. Paul, MN. The show runs through Sept 6. I hope to make it to the fair this weekend to see all the art in the show, the largest juried art exhibition in the state. Scroll to the end to see the winning photograph.

I want to share with you the back story not only of the exhibited photograph, but the project as a whole, and the specific sheep featured in the photograph, Tantor. The story features a poetic ending. First, the backstory.

Josilin and Tantor, 4-H Lamb Lead Show, Minnesota State Fair, 2015.

The Unchosen Ones began with a visit to a quintessentially American event, the state fair. I was in Minnesota, where I live, which still has a strong community of small family farms. My longstanding interest in animals and their connection to humans drew me to the 2015 Minnesota State Fair. For my previous project, Divine Animals: The Bovidae, I photographed goats and sheep in lush landscapes throughout Western Europe. I knew I wanted to continue photographing domesticated animals, but my ideas about a new series were still inchoate. As I was canvassing the fair looking for inspiration, I took in all the carefully tended-to animals and their owners, often young children. After the 4-H Lamb Lead show, I met the fourth-place finishers, Josilin, and her sheep, Tantor. I could see Josilin was disappointed, yet she held her head high. Her determination inspired me, and I made a portrait of them. Photographing the pair spurred me to think about my own childhood and its run-of-the- mill disappointments. I had a supportive family and a fulfilling childhood, yet I still vividly remember being picked last for the basketball team and not earning a ribbon at the local science fair, even though I had tried my best. As I grew older, I knew well the feeling of not being chosen—for a job, or for love. But not being chosen for something can have a valuable upside: it can create empathy. Empathy connects people and forges bonds. Later that year, I included the portrait in a Minnesota State Arts Board grant application, and that act would shape my artistic journey.

I began to look for a certain typology: exemplary youth and animals from a small but geographically diverse area in Minnesota. I chose goats and sheep because they were competition animals that also fit within the constraints of the six-foot-wide backdrop I was using. The formality of the backdrop elevated the subjects and also allowed a story to emerge between the animal and the child. My strobe lights failed to flash during my initial session, so I used the diffuse, ambient light of the overcast skies. This serendipitous accident produced a soft tonality I loved: the light fell onto my dignified subject, rendering shadows as though from a painter’s brush. I was drawn to this aesthetic.

Josilin and Escapé, Benton County Fair, Minnesota, 2016 (left) and Josilin and Tantor, Benton County, Minnesota, 2021 (right).

In 2016, I made 65 portraits of youth contestants at Minnesota county fairs. Each participant—some as young as four years old— spent a year raising an animal, which they entered into a 4-H livestock competition. None of the youth I photographed succeeded in winning an award, despite the obvious care they have given to their animal.

Four years later, in 2020, I returned to photograph the young subjects, asking them what they carried forward from their previous experience. Some of them have continued to pursue animal husbandry while others developed other interests. We imagine some of these kids will choose to continue running their family farms, an unpredictable and demanding way to make a living.

As I created the second group of photographs, I asked them what were their thoughts, their dreams, and their goals for the future? How do they fit in the future of agricultural America?

Place matters to me, especially since these portraits were not taken in a studio. Using a wide-angle lens, I stepped back to view the pastoral environment, with farm machinery and architecture and the occasional barn kitty or chicken cameo.

In January 2021, while completing the book project (forthcoming MW Editions, November 2021), I felt the urge to photograph. I called up Josilin and checked in on how Tantor was doing. She was aging with grace, I learned. I also was told female sheep with “masculine” names, like Tantor, perform better in livestock competitions.

Honorable Mention, 110th Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Juror Carla Rodriguez:

Josilin, Pastoral Study, 2021, by R. J. Kern, from the upcoming monograph, The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral (MW Editions, 2021). Archival pigment print mounted on dibond, 37 x 50 inches, Edition 1 of 3 + AP, 2021, $3600 framed.

Although there is abundant evidence that this way of life is disappearing as kids leave the farm, the crisis of climate change and a concern for both sustainability and stewardship of the land point to a path for survival for these agricultural practices and traditions. I hope county fairs will still be around in a hundred years.

Tantor passed away two weeks after our portrait session.

Tantor, Benton County, Minnesota, 2021 (unpublished)

Life Framer, Editors’ Pick

A diptych of portraits created on the fairgrounds in Anoka County (Minnesota), were featured as a Editor’s Pick by Life Framer in their most recent online them, Youthhood. View editor’s list here >>

My work straddles multiple genres, not specific to portraiture or landscape, and I love the freedom it gives me as a photographic artist. When it comes to entering contests, I don’t want to be put into a box. I like the Life Framer themes are focused on storytelling with themes open to boundary pushing, not compartmentalization.

While not selected for the big prize, my work was chosen as an “Editors’ Pick” with thoughtful comments, published on their website. Editor’s comment:

Some of us – for many reasons – have to grow up faster than others, and few more so than those working on family farms. Farmland is a wonderful place to explore as a child, but it is also full or responsibility and care, where you can at times witness birth, life and death in quicker succession than normally experienced in an urban setting. There is so much joy and pride in this image, underpinned by a strong selection of tones and shades. I truly feel the confidence of the subject, enjoying their childhood and the duties that accompany it, seemingly unaffected by the past years obstacles.

What makes this pairing unique in the project is it is the only location that remained the same in both 2016 portrait and 2020 portraits. Special permission and access was required to create the 2020 portrait.

Kol and Annabell, Anoka County Fair, Minnesota, 2016 (left) paired with Kol and Annabell, Anoka County, Minnesota, 2020 (right).

Take Two: Déjà Vu {Plains Art Museum Gala Auction}

Dynamic Duo! I’m offering two salt prints from my personal collection for the Plains Art Museum benefit auction, held August 13 at 7pm CST. They have been good to me and I wish to return the favor. The photographs are part of the project, The Best of the Best, created in the year R. J. Kern was chosen as the Commemorate Artist for the 2019 Minnesota State Fair. Learn more about this photographic series here >>

Each print includes a signed certificate of authenticity with an informational sticker label on verso. These are unique works (no two are alike), :

Supreme Champion Rabbit Matching Male / Female Pair, 2019

Gold-toned salt print with lavender oil and white beeswax, 8 x 10 inches

Framed with Optium UV acrylic, 13 x 15 inches (Starting bid $450)

Supreme Champion Goose Male / Female Pair, 2019

Gold-toned salt print with lavender oil and white beeswax, 8 x 10 inches

Framed with Optium UV acrylic, 13 x 15 inches (Starting bid $450)

View the works at the the Take Two: Déjà Vu, Summer Gala Auction Exhibition at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND from July 15 thru August 13, 2021.

Can’t make the Gala? Still want to bid? Early bidding begins online Friday August 6.

Bid online HERE >>

Essay Excerpt by Anjuli J. Lebowitz:

Do animals have a claim on history? Is culture expressed in the shape of a beak, girth of an udder or the slope of a snout? With their abbreviated lifespans, do they carry cultural memory in their feathers, fur, and hides? These are the questions R. J. Kern poses in The Best of the Best. With twelve pairs of animals—one female, one male—Kern intertwines the history of animal competitions with the history of photography to explore some of humanity’s most urgent questions about its relationship to its fellow earthly creatures and their interwoven fates. Kern’s intricate prints, which layer salt prints over digital prints, foreground historical inquiry, human intervention, and nature’s persistence.

(...)

Kern weaves these together through the warp and weft of sepia and scarlet, matte and glossy, salt and blood paying tribute to the histories of photography and animal competitions while laying a path for the evolution of the one and the preservation of the other.

– Excerpt from the essay, Salt of the Earth: R. J. Kern’s The Best of the Best, by Anjuli J. Lebowitz, Department of Photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

The catalog for the Plains Art Museum Summer Gala 2021 auction.

Communication Arts Photography Annual 62 {Award of Excellence}

Years ago in high school photo class, paging through Communication Arts Photography Annual served up a wonderful dose of inspiration, offering creative ideas for my next project. I’m honored that my 2020 project is published in the July / August 2021 issue. Communication Arts magazine, a professional journal for those involved in creativity in visual communications, publishes results in a stunning magazine. Of the 2,328 entries submitted to the 62nd annual photography competition, my entry was one of 109 selected by a jury of respected creative professionals.

My son was as curious about the metal trophies as seeing my work in print.

Kenzi and Hootie, Anoka County, Minnesota, 2020 published in Communication Arts Photography Annual 62.

The Independant Photographer {Portrait Award}

I’m pleased to share the photograph, Blake and P. T., Hubbard County, Minnesota, 2020, was selected as one of the 15 Editor’s Picks for The Independent Photographer Portrait Award. The photograph will be featured in my forthcoming monograph, The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral (MW Editions, 2021).

View the gallery >>

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.” — Edward Steichen.

Blake and P. T., Hubbard County, Minnesota, 2020, archival pigment print

Rourke Art Museum 62nd Invitational Exhibition

If I was a champion sheep, you’d call me “Salty Frog.” I’d have an earring with my name badge, too. Only fitting, “Salty Frog” will be exhibited at the Rourke Art Museum as part of the 62nd Invitational Exhibition, running 18 June - 5 September 2021. Theme: On the Autobiographical Impulse. This is the fifth year I’ve been apart of the show. I always look forward to re-connecting with the community where I had my coffee shop show in 2014 which helped launch my career as a fine-art photographer.

Supreme Champion Ewe (Salty Frog) 2018 Minnesota State Fair. This salt over pigment print was the exhibition print during my solo Burnet Fine Art exhibition in 2019. Ed 1 of 5, 20 x 24 inches. $3000

Time Capsule

Juror Shamim M. Momin, Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Henry Art Gallery, selected my work for inclusion in an exhibition, Time Capsule, at the Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW) Gallery on view June 24 – August 12, 2021. This exhibition will represent a photographic time capsule of an extraordinary time in history. 

“Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future.” -Sally Mann

Juried for exhibition: Carlana and Donkey, Pastoral Study, Minnesota, 2020 from the series The Unchosen Ones. Archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inches, Edition 1 of 10 + 2 AP, 2021.

PCNW's 24th Annual Juried Exhibition, TIME CAPSULE, June 24 - August 12, 2021. Installation photo by Erin Spencer.

Artist Talk at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art

On Friday, May 7, I gave a free artist talk, hosted by the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The talk was recorded and I posted it above.

“Focus Friday” is the name of their artist talk series, showcasing the work of artists in their permanent collection. I shared a preview of work featured in my new book, The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral (MW Editions, 2021), due November 2021.

In 2019, the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art acquired two of my photographs for the the permanent collection: Josilin and Escapé, Benton County Fair, Minnesota, 2016 and Escapé (pron. es cahp é), Benton County, Minnesota, USA (see below). I also shared a special story about this pairing with a poetic ending.

Thank you to Christine Renc-Carter and Teresa Wilkins for inviting me to speak about my work.

On Friday, May 7 from noon - 1 p.m. ET R. J. Kern will be giving a free artist talk, hosted on Zoom by the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Open Call Winner | Helsinki Photo Festival

My work was selected by an international panel of jurors to be exhibited at the Helsinki Photo Festival 2021, July 7 - September 30, 2021. The theme “fearless” will be a thread through the 50 winners selected.

Can being fearless improve your life or will it ruin it? What does it take to lose your fear? Can we live without fear or will it make us numb? These questions were considered in my approach of re-photographing The Unchosen Ones in 2020.

Special thank you to the Judging panel: Alexa Becker, Andy Adams, Curt Richter, Emanuela Mirabelli, Karoliina Korpilahti, Marianne Ager, Moritz Neumüller, Naoya Yoshikawa, Federico Estol, Rafael Rybczynski, Stefan Bremer, Stig Marlon Weston.

#helphoto21

LEFT: Emma and Ethan with sheep, Blue Earth County Fair, Minnesota, 2016, RIGHT: Emma and Ethan, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, 2020, 20 x 24 inches, archival pigment print, edition of 10 + 2 AP, by R. J. Kern.

Analog Forever Magazine {Feature}

Selections from my series The Best of the Best will be published in Analog Forever Magazine, Edition 4 (released Summer 2021). I am proud to have work featured in this beautiful printed publication focused on analog photography. I’ll be joined by nine analog and experimental photographers from around the globe, "each exploring various methods for using the medium we love in individual, creative ways."

Inside you will find interviews with Chris McCaw, Joseph R. Webb, and David Michael Kennedy. Featured alongside them are portfolio features of Galina Kurlat, Marky Kauffmann, Mateusz Zurowski, Olivier Du Tré, Vanessa Leroy, and yours truly.

Thank you to Michael Kirchoff for his efforts in leading this magazine. I also want to thank Nick Brandreth, who taught me salt printing techniques at the George Eastman House, my master printer, Ethan Jones, who created the archival digital print (before the salt is applied by me), and Keith Taylor, for his patience in troubleshooting.

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY >>

Analog Forever Magazine, Edition 4 (released Summer 2021) will feature the work of R. J. Kern, among others.

New Book Project!

I’m delighted to announce my next book project, The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral, will be published by MW Editions (November 2021), distributed by Artbook / D.A.P. This book features dyptchs of youth from my project, The Unchosen Ones, taken four years apart. Essay by Alison Nordström, photo editing by Sarah Leen and Bill Marr. The book will be supported by a multi-year traveling exhibition hosted by ExhibitsUSA.

Reviewing match prints for my project, The Unchosen Ones, before they are shipped to Singapore.

Denver Month of Photography

I’m excited to connect with new audiences back in my roots: Denver! The Denver Month of Photography is a biennial festival celebrating the art of photography, presented by the Colorado Photographic Arts Center. What a creative way to share work outside— projected images on a clocktower! I’m excited to be apart of the outdoor, “Reimagining Hope,” exhibition juried by Samantha Johnston.

I’m looking forward to participating in the portfolio reviews… and even dragged along a good friend to participate, Matt Steaffens. Matt, a long-time friend, has been working on a street photography project which will surely catch the attention of lovers the work of Cartier-Bresson! He took the trip downtown to document the installation view… and he will be making his first portfolio review debut. I’m cheering for him!

“Kenzi and Hootie, Anoka County, Minnesota, 2020” installation view. Photograph by Matthew Steaffens.

“Reimagining Hope,” exhibition juried by Samantha Johnston as part of Night Light Denver. Photograph by Matthew Steaffens.

Photography: A Sense of Place

Photography: A Sense of Place

Juried by Jacqui Palumbo at Site:Brooklyn Gallery

March 1 – March 30, 2021

“What are the elements that make up a place and ingrain it in our memories? Place is more than a stretch of land or the space between two walls. Sometimes it's an innocuous detail that burrows itself into our brains—light scattered on a tablecloth, or clutter strewn on a desk. A location may only stay with us for a particular feeling it evoked, while its physicality remains murky. Other times our memories of a setting are centered around a person—or that person's absence… “

– Jacqui Palumbo

Exhibiting Artists

Stan Banos, Rich Bergeman, Lucy Bohnsack, Tod Bryant, Annette LeMay Burke, Ruby Chu, Elle DioGuardi, Cristina Fontsaré, Julia Forrest, Vladlen Gorlami, Sarah Hoskins, Austin Irving, Ethan Jones, R. J. Kern, Ken Konchel, Jacob Lunderby, Grace Anne Odom, Alana Perino, Léna Piani, Andre Ramos-Woodard, Cynthia Rettig, Matt Roberts, Holly Romano, Christina Santner, Brittany Severance, Bria Sterling Wilson

Kenzi and Hootie, Anoka County, 2020. Archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inches sheet size, edition of 10 + 2AP.

Representation by Olson-Larsen Galleries

I am thrilled to announce representation by Olson-Larsen Galleries in Des Moines, Iowa.

The roots of the gallery began in 1970, eight years before I was born. Jan Shotwell opened Jan's Gallery in Historic Valley Junction, establishing one of the first galleries in Iowa to promote artists. Her dedication made it possible for a full-service gallery to thrive. In 1979, Ann Larsen and Marlene Olson purchased Jan's Gallery, and renamed it Olson-Larsen Galleries. From 1984 to 2010, Marlene owned the gallery and continued to build on the reputation of representing “the finest artists in the Midwest.” Susan Watts purchased the gallery in 2010. I’m proud to have her apart of my team.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than a virtual show with uber talented visual artists… all sharing the same warm fuzzy feeling! Artsy will showcase the virtual exhibition including work by Chris Dahlquist, Fırat Erdim, Kirsten Furlong, R. J. Kern, Crit Streed, Allison Svoboda, Olivia Valentine.

MAIN SHOW >>

PRIVATE VIEWING ROOM >> (requires Artsy account)

Artwork by Crit Street

6-Feet-Apart {Free Artist Talk on Zoom}

I will be presenting new work in an artist talk hosted by Magdalena Solé on February 26, 2021 at 2 p.m. ET— it’s a free Zoom meeting and all are welcome!

CLICK TO REGISTER >>

After sharing my inspiration and a glimpse into my creative process, I’ll discuss how I transitioned from the commercial photography to fine-art and offer perspective of the importance of strategic marketing to help build relationships with galleries, publishers, curators, and collectors. I’ll highlight a few of my lighting recipes from my project, “The Unchosen Ones” and share a sneak glimpse into new work.

Special thanks to Ewa Zebrowski for helping make this happen!

Recently completed print promos used to market new work, designed by Kevin Omura at Kuleana Design.