Black & White Spider Awards™| The Jury

THE ARMORY SHOW - New York

Benjamin Genocchio - Executive Director

Benjamin Genocchio is executive director of The Armory Show, New York's premier international art fair, showcasing outstanding 20th and 21st century artworks by established and emerging artists. Australian-born, with a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Sydney, where he specialized in Latin American art, Mr. Genocchio is the author and editor of several books on the visual arts and art market, including two on contemporary Asian art. He has written for The New York Times and was editor in chief of Art & Auction and Artinfo.com and founding editor in chief of artnet News. Founded in 1994 by four New York gallerists, The Armory Show remains a New York cultural institution, presenting leading international galleries, curatorial initiatives and specially-commissioned projects to visitors from around the world. The fair is a nexus for the international art community, introducing visitors to the most compelling voices in the visual arts and fostering dialogue, insights and inspiration.

SHARON CALAHAN, Director of Photography

Pixar Animation Studios - Emeryville

Sharon Calahan joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1994 as lighting supervisor on the studio's first feature film, Toy Story. She then served as director of photography on A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and the Academy Award-winning features Ratatouille and Finding Nemo. She worked in the same role on Disney Pixar's Golden Globe-nominated feature, Cars 2. Most recently she was the visual designer and director of photography for lighting on Disney Pixar's, The Good Dinosaur. Following art school she began her career as an art director for broadcast television and video production. Prior to joining Pixar, she was a lighting director at Pacific Data Images completing commercial work, longer format television and graphics packages. She is a member of the cinematography branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - Washington DC

Nicole Werbeck - Senior Photo Editor

As senior photo editor, Nicole Werbeck works with photographers and editors to conceive story ideas and commissions photographers to cover stories for the National Geographic website. Positions Werbeck held before joining National Geographic include homepage and multimedia editor at NPR; deputy news editor and photo editor at the Washington Post; adjunct professor teaching graphics and photography at the University of Maryland; news and sports editor at the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina; copy editor and designer for sports at the Greensboro News & Record; and sports slot, copy editor, and designer at the Shreveport Times. Werbeck has a B.S. in science and journalism from Kent State University.

CHRISTIE'S - London

Jude Hull, Specialist

Jude Hull is Associate Specialist in the Photographs Department in London, joining the team in 2011. Since then Jude has worked on numerous sales in London, Paris and New York. Most recently she was closely involved with the record-breaking sale of Modern Visions - Exceptional Photographs, which included works by some of the greatest pioneers of early and modern photography. Since 2014 she has helped develop the department's digital sales, curated exhibitions as well as business-getting for the auctions with particular focus on London and Paris. She graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History from York University in 2010.

DONALD SCHNEIDER STUDIOS - Berlin

Donald Schneider, Creative Director & Founder

Donald is Creative Director and Founder of Donald Schneider Studio, first in Paris and now in Berlin - specializing in creative strategies, branding, collaboration projects, multi media, art direction & design. His clients include: BRIONI, CARTIER, CHLOE, CONDE NAST, H&M, HUGO BOSS, KARL LAGERFELD, RUSSIAN STANDARD VODKA, STERN-MAGAZINE, ULTRA RECORDS, VAN CLEEF & ARPELS. Donald has worked regularly for H&M since 2002, most recently as the Global Creative Director, directing all creative aspects of the H&M brand worldwide. He initiated H&M's collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld, followed up by collaborations with Versace, Margiela, Isabel Marant, Alexander Wang and also with celebrities such as David Beckham. Donald continues to work on projects for H&M. Previously Donald was the Art Director at French Vogue and Vogue Hommes International in Paris.

AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY - Brussels

Jerome Jacobs - Director

Since 1998 AEROPLASTICS contemporary has been an unconventional gallery in Brussels and alternates between extensive group and monographic exhibitions including a important part with photography. Gallery director and curator Jerome Jacobs encourages confrontation between both established and emerging artists, giving preference to works with a direct language and immediate visual accessibility. During an age dominated by neo-conceptual aesthetics, Aeroplastics_Jerome Jacobs differs markedly in its programming by focusing on the image and the panoply of challenges this presents.

HOT DOCS INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL - Toronto

Shane Smith - Director of Programming

Shane Smith is Director of Programming at Hot Docs, North America's largest Festival and Market for documentary film. Smith previously worked at the Toronto International Film Festival as director of Special Projects, and director of Public Programs. Prior to TIFF he was Executive Producer, In-Flight Entertainment, Spafax, overseeing all entertainment on Air Canada, Director of Programming at Channel Zero Inc, Director CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Short Film Programmer for Sundance Film Festival, Programmer for Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Smith has served on juries, or participated on panels at festivals and events around the world including Sundance, Cannes, Sheffield Doc Fest, DocNYC, IDA, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Guadalajara International Film Festival, Sao Paulo and Rio Short Film Festivals, Encounters Film Festival Bristol and Bangkok International Film Festival.

GALLERI RAMFJORD - Oslo

Elisabeth Ramfjord - Director

Galleri Ramfjord was founded 16 years ago by Elisabeth Ramfjord. Centrally located in Oslo, our premises hold three exhibition spaces constituting more than 4,300 sq. ft. in total area. Historically, the gallery's primary focus has been emerging artists, and it is still our mission to champion newcomers. However, since the artists who joined our stable 16 years ago have now made names for themselves, we currently also represent well-established artists. A dynamic exhibition venue in downtown Oslo, Galleri Ramfjord is known for its frequent cross-disciplinary events and artistic stunts. While now a well-established gallery in Norway, we consider ourselves "up-and-coming" on the international art scene. Over the past two years, we have collaborated with partner venues in New York, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Our very first entry onto the international art fair circuit occurred at Art Copenhagen in August 2013 and proved a great success, attracting much attention both to the gallery and to the represented artists. As one of very few fair exhibitors, Galleri Ramfjord was featured in primetime on Danish National Television. We also participated at SCOPE during Art Basel Miami week in December 2013 with great success.

FAESSLER & OCHSNER - Zurich

Silvan Fässler - Director

Leading positions in international art trade since 1994, amongst others in the position of director of a renowned European art gallery for Classic Modern and Russian avant-garde, as well as specialist of Post War and Contemporary Art at Christie's International. Foundation of Silvan Faessler Fine Art in Zug/Switzerland, in spring 2006. Member of the Swiss Art Trading Association since 2007, member of the board since 2012. Member of CINOA. Engagements to cultural operating foundations in the position of conservator and exhibition curator, member of art foundation boards and art prize juror. Publications of articles specialized in art of the 20th Century. Co-author of the biographic encyclopedia of Swiss Art edited by the Swiss Institute for fine arts Zurich.

ARTFACTORY CLUB - Vienna

Dr. Stefan Kallinka - Director

The ARTFACTORY CLUB is a contemporary art gallery in Austria and was established in 2014. It is dedicated to the promotion of Avant-Garde Art of contemporary European artists, providing original fine art to established and emerging collectors. The ARTFACTORY CLUB is specialized in the world-famous artists Gerhard Richter, Franz Gertsch and Helmut Ditsch. Their works stand out for the high quality and impressive power they perform on the viewer. An important characteristic of the ARTFACTORY CLUB is the realisation of exhibitions at public spaces with free entry to provide art to all interested people, regardless of their social background. Therefore the art gallery organized the Gira Nacional in cooperation with Helmut Ditsch in 2014, an exhibition tour which the Argentinian artist originally started in 2010 in his home country. During the tour his paintings were shown in several cities in the interior of Argentina with hundreds of thousands of visitors. After a successful first year the ARTFACTORY CLUB decided to open a second branch in Vaduz, Liechtenstein in 2015. In 2016 the ARTFACTORY CLUB started exhibiting at international art fairs.

MCCANN - Singapore

Peter Hibberd, Creative Director

Peter is currently Creative Director at McCann working on brands like Microsoft, OCBC and Mastercard. Internationally awarded at Cannes and The One Show, Peter's work not only delivers outstanding results to clients but also work deemed by his peers as best in class. With over 10 years hof experience at some of the best advertising agencies in Australia, working in the classic writer / art director team capacity, he feels comfortable working alone and has also lead teams in an Associate Creative Director role from time to time under Creative Director and Executive Creative Directors. His work covers nearly all media types from the traditional TV, print, radio, outdoor to the online variety in online display, web and UX design, video and online gaming and has won internationally for traditional and online categories.

JOHANNES LEONARDO - New York

Wes Phelan - Creative Director

Wes Phelan is a South African creative currently working in New York City. Since joining Johannes Leonardo in 2013, Phelan has worked across a number of the agency's accounts, most notably on adidas Originals and TripAdvisor. His work on those accounts has seen tangible business impact and also a successful 2015 awards season with multiple Cannes Lions, including a Silver in Creative Data for TripAdvisor's Hotel Cup campaign. Most recently he has focused his efforts on the adidas Originals business as creative director where he currently oversees all global creative work across the brand. His first adidas campaign came to life in a yearlong story to relaunch one of the world's most iconic sneakers - the Superstar - by questioning the notion of fame and creativity. Despite the number of local and international accolades across virtually every industry award show, Wes is foremost committed to winning hearts, rather than trophies. He is continuously always striving to connect the audience with the brand in a unique and memorable way.

ART BÄRTSCHI & CIE - Geneva

Barth Johnson - Director

Present on the Geneva art scene since 1990, Art Bärtschi & Cie has throughout the years, developed a unique and well defined exhibition program, confirming its particular focus on art from the 80's until today. In 2010 the gallery celebrated 20 years of activity with an exhibition of all the artists that have participated on the development of the programme. The gallery is located, in the La Praille district, a former industrial area which is undergoing a major redevelopment project. This district is destined to become a very dynamic area of economic, social and cultural activity and will provide a model of contemporary urban planning in the Geneva Canton. This redevelopment project allowed the creation of Quartier de l'Étoile, an association that brings together eleven art spaces in this industrial area which aims to promote art and culture in Geneva through a dynamic program of exhibitions and international events. With an exhibition floor space of over 250m2, the gallery's mission is to promote the work of both, established and young artists.

WIRED - San Francisco

Anna Goldwater Alexander, Director of Photography

Anna Alexander is the Director of Photography Photo at Wired in San Francisco, CA. Former Senior Photo Editor of the Magazine, she's been producing photo shoots and wrangling Wired photographers for over fifteen years. For two years, she was the Photo Director at Dwell Media. In the beginning of Anna's career, she dodged and burned as a black-and-white darkroom printer, which she still does every now and then. Because of her roots in traditional film photography, her heart leans more toward fine art, b/w, large format portraits, architecture, conceptual still life, and street photography. Anna has a BFA in Photography from the University of Arizona and lives in Novato, California with her husband and two children. In regards to reviewing portfolios, she is partial to a traditional portfolio book with print sleeves or loose prints in a letterbox. She is also always game for putting white gloves on and flipping through gigantic prints. Hence, digital portfolio presentations are not preferred unless there is motion involved. The two major publications she has had experience photo editing for are completely different styles of photography, which is a great indication that she is in this field because of her adoration and devotion to film and magazines. Anna has experience providing commentary and guidance on the overall composition of photo portfolios, including page sequence. In addition, she'll offer advice to photographers interested in editorial photography, promoting their vision and getting published.

CONNY DIETZSCHOLD GALLERIES - Sydney

Conny Dietzschold - Director

Conny Dietzschold is the Curator and Director of Conny Dietzschold Galleries, Cologne, Sydney and Hong Kong and curates exhibitions for art institutions, writes for art magazines and lectures at museums on art and values in Germany and Australia. The gallery expanded in 2013 with the Conny Dietzschold Gallery Project Room. Ms. Dietzschold is a member of the selection committee of Art Central Hong Kong (Art Fair) and a freelance academic lecturer on motivation and creative innovative thinking and professional practice at COFA, University of NSW. Actively involved in the international visual art scene, the gallery attends major international art fairs in Cologne, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Seoul.

YOUNG & RUBICAM - Lima

Beto Noriega - Creative Director

Beto Noriega is a Creative Director and Art Director with 14 years of experience in leading advertising agencies including: MAYO DraftFCB, JWT, Y&R, DDB and TBWA.

THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY - Bath

Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS - Chief Executive

The Royal Photographic Society is the United Kingdom's leading photography organisation. The Society exists to promote photography and to help everyone realise their potential as a photographer. It does this through exhibitions, distinctions and workshops and its public activities. The International Print and International Images for Science Exhibitions are held annually alongside exhibitions organized by Special Interest Groups, Regions and Overseas Chapters. The Society holds a number of exhibitions and competitions for members and non-members.

VELOCEBELLA - Chicago

Diane Ruggie - Partner/Creative Director

Hair, skin, eyes, legs, breasts, feet, clothes, food, phones, cars, computers, credit cards, cleaning supplies, tax returns, antiperspirant, anti smoking, dinosaur bones, crown jewels, French fries, memory loss and chocolate. These are a few of the categories in which Diane Ruggie has award-winning brand experience. Juries from The New York Festivals to Cannes, Clios to London International have recognized her work with every metal made, and a few with special judges awards for writing excellence. After more than 25 years at DDB Chicago and long known for contributing her female point of view in that big agency pond, Diane established Velocebella in 2012. Velocebella ("fast and beautiful" in Italian) is a creative and compassionate, independent agency that specializes in ideas that click, quick, with women.

ANTHEM WORLDWIDE / MARQUE BRANDING - Sydney

Marcel Wijnen - Creative Director

Marcel has over 20 years experience advising companies to challenge their sectors, reinventing change their brands and creating new iconic identities and new engaging experiences. His career spans across Asia, Europe and Australia, where he has helped a broad spectrum of companies from airlines, banks, telcos, retailers, FMCG, industrial, governments and fashion brands. Marcel is currently located in Sydney where he is Creative Director of Marque Branding Consultants and Anthem Worldwide. Previously, Marcel was in Singapore, where he was the Executive Creative Director, South-East Asia at Interbrand - one the world's largest and leading brand consultancies.

STUDIO HANSA - London

Nick Scott - Creative Partner

Nick Scott is Creative Partner at Studio Hansa and has created brand narratives for CBS, MTV, Chivas, Google, Canal +, BBC and Land Rover. Internationally recognized by Promax, Campaign & BIMA, his work spans a range of media that has been enjoyed by millions. Global festival showcases include: BAFTA, Cannes, London Independent Film Festival, Resfest, LA New wave Film Festival and Rushes Short Film Festival. His work for EMI/Iron Maiden's Final Frontier was the third most tweeted subject in the world upon release. Most recently his film Bad Day at the Office finished a successful global film circuit tour and went viral.

DAVID CLARKE - London

David Clarke - Curator, Fine Art Photography Specialist

David Clarke has been a fine art photography professional for over 30 years. Head of Photography for the Tate Gallery from 1994 to 2014, he oversaw management of 11 staff at 5 Tate sites and the implementation of his main objective, to digitize and publish all works of art in the Tate Collection. The Collection consists of over 90,000 paintings, sculptures and works on paper. David was also ultimately responsible for all photography carried out at Tate, including scientific, press, promotion and the image management systems which make the images accessible to staff and public alike. Mr Clarke's personal work has been exhibited at galleries and museums from London to Beijing. He is also a founding member for the Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography which is an international membership organization founded to support and promote fine art photography.

PAOLA ANSELMI CONTEMPORARY ART - Perth

Paola Anselmi - Curator and Arts Writer

Paola Anselmi is an Australian-based Independent Curator and Arts Writer. Over the last 20 years, Paola has been a regular reviewer and contributor to a wide range of Australian arts publications on contemporary art practice, exhibitions catalogues and artist publications. Since 1990 Paola has undertaken numerous public and private collection development projects as well as held curatorial and research roles at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital Art Collection, City of Fremantle Collection, The Centre for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci, Prato, and until recently was the Arts and Cultural Development Coordinator at The City of Perth. As a major supporter and advocate of photo-media practice in Australia, Paola has been appointed to the Exhibition/Public Programs Committee for the Perth Centre for Photography. She has regularly curated the work of Western Australian photo-media artists since 1993, and in 2013 completed research into the last 21 years of the Perth Centre for Photography, which led to the exhibition Momentum.

GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Conrad Hechter - Correspondent

Conrad Hechter studied film-making and photography in Sydney where he ran a school for foreign students and revelled in the exceptional light quality of Terra Australis. Moving to USA Conrad worked as Gallery Director at Michael Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco and David Aden Gallery in Santa Monica. He was the Business Director of FotoFactory Press and helped curate numerous catalogues and shows. He was correspondent for Studio Magazines (Black + White and Blue) and is currently based at Goldsmiths, University of London.

FRATELLI ALINARI PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUM - Florence

Andrea de Polo - Cultural Heritage Consultant

Andrea joined Alinari in 1994 and was responsible for developing its new technology department. He became Head of the Photographic Conservation and Supervisor of the Digital Workflow and responsible for aggregating new content and scouting for new potential photographic partner agencies, worldwide. By working at Alinari, the oldest photo archive in the world with over 5.5 million images from 19th and 20th century, Andrea has been involved in projects in thematic research topics: IPR and content protection, digital rights management, intelligent visual search, best practice digitization and preservation issues, integration and content sharing across large multilingual networks and digital libraries. Andrea has been a member of many affiliate groups including the Appraiser Association of America, Inc., IEEE, IS&T, PMA, PIEA, I3A, American Institute of Conservation, CEPIC, IPTC-Photo metadata group and Society of Imaging Science and technology. Andrea has a Museum Studies certificate in photo conservation and a BFA Fine Art, RIT University, Rochester, USA.

GALERIA BLANCA BERLIN - Madrid

Blanca Berlin, Director

Located in the heart of Madrid, Blanca Berlin maintains a generous selection of photographs, promoting and presenting both established and emerging international artists to the art market in Spain and abroad. Additionally, the gallery has a wide selection of images which may be viewed in the many changing exhibitions programmed annually. Opened in 2007 the gallery is directed by Blanca Berlin and participates in the major international art fairs.

GQ - New York

Krista Prestek, Photo Director

Krista Prestek is a photo director who has been commissioning and producing photography for over thirteen years. She has been at GQ magazine since 2006, during which time the magazine has won several ASME awards for Photography and General Excellence as well as numerous Society of Publication Designers awards. She has also held editorships at Details and Black Book magazines. Krista commissions a broad range of photography and multimedia on everything from journalism to travel to fashion to celebrity portraiture, working with the top photographers in the industry. Her favorite projects involve working with fine artists to apply their aesthetic to editorial assignments, and she loves finding opportunities to create video and multimedia pieces to complement a project's still photography. She has a proven track record of producing projects from concept to delivery, and excels in creative team building and project management.

BLOOMSBURY AUCTIONS - London

Justine Gruser, Photographs & Photobooks

Justine Gruser joined Bloomsbury Auctions in 2013 where she is now the lead specialist for auctions of Photographs and Photobooks. Justine studied for a Business (CESEM) degree spending 2 years in both Reims, France and Breda, in the Netherlands. After graduation Justine completed an MA in Art Business at Sotheby's Institute of Art and thereafter worked in the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Artcurial, Paris.

MICROSOFT - Redmond

Nate Williams, Art Director

YAHOO! - Austin

Jim Bosiljevac, Executive Creative Director

J. WALTER THOMPSON WORLDWIDE - Milano

Alessandro Polia, Senior Art Director