FIRST VALLEY OF THE SUN PHOTOGRAPHIC SALON

FIRST Valley of the Sun PHOTOGRAPHIC SALON "Shore purty pictures!"

The attention of American photography centered during February on the Adams hotel in Phoenix where the First Valley of the Sun Photographic Salon was on display. The month-long exhibition sponsored by the Arizona Pictorialists attracted thousands of visitors and showed in bold array some of the finest work being done in American pictorial photography. Two hundred and fifty-four exhibitors submitted 982 pictures. The judges, Forman Hanna, Globe, F. R. P. S., Norman Rhoads Garrett, Prescott, F. R. P. S., and W. M. Tillery of Los Angeles and Phoenix, after long study and thoughtful deliberation, selected 199 pictures, the work of 141 exhibitors for display. The judges, prominent in national and international salon photography, each hung two courtesy prints from their collections. The work of both Mr. Tillery and Mr. Garrett has appeared in this magazine, and we hope in the spring to reproduce some of the pictorials of Mr. Hanna. On view were pictorials from most of these United States, from the Dominion of Canada, and from Alaska and Hawaii. Prints which have hung in salons from Pittsburgh to the Los Angeles International were submitted to the Valley of the Sun Salon. Four prints were selected from two exhibitors, of which one was our own Tom Imler, Jr., three from seven exhibitors and one or two from the remaining group. The salon was considered a great success. It represented a notable contribution to winter interest in Arizona and put Arizona on the map of national photography. Our own photographers have exhibited in most national and international exhibitions, but this was the first time a salon of national importance was held in our state. The salon committee of Arizona Pictorialists consisted of Tom Imler, Jr., chairman, O. P. Sanderson and Marvin Deshler. To the casual visitor the salon was edifying as it was interesting. Subject matter was diversified and treatment and technical detail, of course, was correct It had to be to meet the expert requirements of the judges. Exhibitors for the most part are amateurs. These people follow the camera as a hobby but their devotion and fidelity to that gay mistress Photography is complete and inclusive. Startling results are achieved. The eight pictorials appearing on the following pages were selected as a cross section of the Valley of the Sun Salon. They are not necessarily the best, because it would be impossible to select the superlative from the superlative. These are representative pictorials, however, and they show the effectivness of the camera in the hands of painstaking people in creating pictures of beauty, of warmth and deep human appeal. In making the selection, we decided to choose from the works of exhibitors living beyond the boundaries of Arizona, as a courtesy gesture to those who sent their pictures to visit with us. Arizona was well represented in the salon and some of the pictorials that drew most praise from the spectators were creations of Arizonans. Sage students in the field of photography passed expert opinion on the merits of the salon. These experts agreed that the salon was well chosen, well presented, well displayed. They agreed that the pictures were good and they could tell you whyfrom the standpoint of technical composition and in the various terms of scholarly and expert photographic opinion Perhaps the best opinion expressed came from an Arizona rancher, who was a guest at the Adams House during one weekend the salon was being shown. He happened along the mezzanine where the pictorials were hanging, devoted long and careful scrutiny to each print exhibited. As he was leaving. he said: "Shore purty pictures." R. C.

WINTER MORNING, N. Y.

H. J. PHILLIPS, A. R. P. S. New York, N. Y.

ROLLING DOWN TO RIO

JOHN R. HOGAN Philadelphia, Pennsylvania