Westword - Arts & Culture
It's Time to Focus on the Tenth Month of Photography Denver!
“MOP is like a buffet of every type of photography, with an open theme. That gets people energized.”
By Susan Froyd
March 1, 2025
Image: Phillip Toledano, "Another America 3."
Denver's biennial Month of Photography has become a Colorado art tradition since it debuted in 2004. The brainchild of photographer and art maven Mark Sink, it was pulled together by an army of Sink's friends and designated local art-angels. The citywide gallery takeover by shows focused on photography fed a regional audience hungry to learn more about the medium’s lucky shots, technical secrets and possibilities for instant gratification.
As MOP grew, in 2021 Sink handed over the organizational duties to director/curator Samantha Johnston and her team at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center. Though Sink has more time now to work on his own photo-based projects, including his international guerrilla wheat-pasting project, The Big Picture, he admits he sometimes longs for MOP’s seat-of-the-pants early years. But he also understands that MOP is a smoother road for the public to ride these days, with CPAC in the driver’s seat.
“One thing that makes Month of Photography so exciting is that photography is always evolving, and it’s never boring,” says CPAC's Megan Ross. “This is MOP’s tenth iteration, and for first time we’re seeing photography using AI to imagine new worlds, but also a resurgence in analog techniques being used in exciting new ways. The tension between two forces might establish what the future of medium will be.”
MOP is no longer a complete mystery to Denver’s astute gallery-goers, she notes: “MOP is like a buffet of every type of photography, with an open theme. That gets people energized.”
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And MOP is evolving in other ways. “Another new component we launched this year is the Indigo Oak Fund Scholarship program for artists from underserved communities,” Ross explains. It provides $10,000 grants to allow four artists to attend the Month of Photography portfolio review, with travel fees and accommodations included. In a time when opportunities of this kind are going out of favor, it gives CPAC a “chance to even the playing field for lens-based artists who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and/or living with a disability.”
What’s the best way for a newbie — or even an old hand — to navigate MOP 2025’s 146 events already rolling out at 86 spaces, from museums to coffee houses? Ross suggests starting small: “Go by CPAC, grab a guide. Talk to the people there. Pick five events and go exploring. It’s an open invitation to check out spaces you wouldn’t ordinarily go to, and that doesn’t just mean museums and galleries. For people who don’t usually go to art galleries, it’s like a new way to explore the city and its art scene.”
Month of Photography Denver kickoff and opening reception for History Reimagined, 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at CPAC, 1200 Lincoln Street. Many of the show's photographers and curator Samantha Johnston will be on hand; she'll return with Todd Dobbs, Laura Rautjoki, and Phillip Toledano for a panel discussion at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 2. Learn more about CPAC and its show here; find a complete list of Month of Photography events here.
https://www.westword.com/arts/month-of-photography-denver-has-developed-into-art-powerhouse-23776043
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