group show 60
Winter Pictures 2019

What on earth makes a Winter Picture?

Ask any group of passionate intro-to-photography students to list their top ten photographic clichés, and, after maybe mannequins or photos of reflections, somewhere down that list is snow-strewn winter pictures. Or more specifically snow. It feels easy, maybe obvious. But it’s got a sense of glory to it, a mound of cold honey for constantly buzzing eyes and shutters. Whether you consider yourself to be a "legit" photographer or just someone taking pictures with your iPhone for fun (or somewhere in between), chances are, you're drawn to its frigid beauty. Which leads us to Winter Pictures.

Back in 2012, Andy Adams curated his first Winter Pictures online exhibition. A simple open call generated hundreds (or maybe more) submissions from around the world, each telling a unique story of Winter. Three years ago, we teamed up to co-curate a Humble Group Show on the theme. Since then, it's become a tradition for FlakPhoto and Humble to share these visualizations of a cold, cold world on Instagram.

But one question that continues to arise every time we do this show, is "what on Earth makes a winter picture?" What about photographers living in Miami or in cities near the equator that rarely get snow? What does Winter look like in warm climates? Is there a winter "vibe" that transcends vanishing white landscapes, cars buried in New York City’s gloriously polluted slush or tiny, origami-paper-mountains photographed in a studio? Is it a punk-like state of mind beyond an icicled aesthetic? While that question continues to keep us curatorially stumped and the vast majority of the photos in this exhibition scream winter with mounds of snow and ice, there are also some subtler nods to a more metaphoric sense of cold.

Our latest edition of Winter Picture includes 100 photos – some snow-covered, some not – that chill us to our bones. Huddle up and enjoy with something (or someone) warm.