3rd Ward Member Barnett Cohen Named A "Contender" For His Southern Gothic-influenced Photography

'Bust' by Barnett Cohen

3rd Ward member Barnett Cohen was recently named a "Contender" in Hey, Hot Shot!, an international photography competition presented by Jen Bekman Projects, so we asked him, how does it feel? "The opposite of Marlon Brando," he said. "I feel like a somebody."

In that witty and poignant response we see the spirit that makes Cohen's work so powerful and unique. The most frequent subject of his photographs is Oliver, who seems like a quintessential "Southern Eccentric," but Cohen's photographs don't simply affirm that stereotype. "They reflect an intimate relationship based on even needs: He wants to be seen and acknowledged, and I want to see him in the starkest of terms," Cohen says in his Contender post. Check out more of his photographs after the jump.

Here's how the Hey, Hot Shot! folks described Cohen's work:

In seeking out "eccentrics" from the South, Contender Barnett Cohen met and befriended a man named Oliver, the subject of much of his portfolio. Rather than creating images that focus on his subject's eccentricities and idiosyncrasies, however, the series offers an intimate look at a willing subject, complete with relics and glimpses at a past life.

While Cohen has been pursuing photography for a long time, he dispenses with any sort of myth-making or exaggeration in describing how he got started. I found a copy of COLORS magazine many, many years ago and was hooked," he says. "I did not grow up with a brownie box camera in my hand or drenched in processing chemicals."

Cohen continues to travel between Brooklyn and the South for his photography, and in June his will be featured in Small Works, a group show at Boston's Flash Forward Festival. "The show is curated by Jon Feinstein and Amani Olu of the Humble Arts Foundation in conjunction with the Magenta Foundation," he says. "I am pretty stoked about it." Then, in the fall he's headed for grad school to get his MFA in Photography. "No names just yet but I am going somewhere for sure," he says. "As always, stay tuned."

We will, and in the meantime we'll be rooting for him in Hey, Hot Shot! The competition's grand prize winner gets $10,000, a solo exhibition and two years of representation from Jen Bekman Gallery.

'Mailbox' by Barnett Cohen

"Oliver #1" by Barnett Cohen

'Oliver #8' by Barnett Cohen'Toothbrush Holder' by Barnett Cohen

'Present Tense' by Barnett Cohen

'Mark' by Barnett Cohen

'Shaka' by Barnett Cohen

-- John Ruscher