Eliot Dudik has had a Wonderful 2015, says Aline Smithson

Aline Smithson, the Founder and Editor-in Chief of Lenscratch, has declared that Williamsburg-based photographer Eliot Dudik (see portrait above, by Penn Chan) is "the Grand Master of All Things Photographic" for 2015.

Smithson says,  "I stand in amazement at what Eliot has and can achieve. He is a talented and dedicated large format photographer (we are talking an 8 x 10 camera with double backs–meaning an 8 x 20 camera–see below)."

Smithson then recites Dudik's achievements from 2015, noting that Dudik "recently started the new William and Mary photo department from scratch, celebrating its establishment with an exhibition of over 100 photographs garnered from various contemporary photographers, which Eliot single-handedly printed, mounted, and then burned."

She goes on, "Eliot had nine exhibitions in 2015, 4 of them solo shows, with many more lined up for 2016. 

"He made all the frames for the exhibitions, he created the most talked about leave-behind at last year’s PhotoNOLA and also won the 2014 PhotoNOLA Review Prize for which he produced a monograph with custom made linen and foiled covers. 

"He won the 2015 Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Award from Duke University and the 2015 Flash Forward Award–and has just been nominated for the 2016 Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers. 

"And if that isn’t enough, he and Jared Ragland photographed, produced, and printed a spectacular book in ONE DAY during PhotoNOLA.

Smithson concludes, "It doesn’t hurt that he’s a wonderful friend and supporter of all who he encounters. Needless to say, he’s a constant inspiration."

That's high praise from Aline Smithson, and its well-deserved praise, too.

I had the good fortune to meet Dudik during CLICK! The Triangle Photography Festival in Durham, earlier this year.

Glad to know Dudik, glad to see he is getting the recognition he deserves.