Afterimage
February 19 - April 3, 2027
“This annual photography competition and exhibition has grown tremendously over the past few years. This theme opens up so many possibilities for exploring memory, emotion, and moments that stay with us,” said Jeannie Larson, Gallery Director & Curator, “I am looking forward to seeing the different stories and perspectives our photographers bring to the exhibition.
The Rapid City Arts Council (RCAC) invites photographers to explore the relationship between photography and memory in Afterimage, a juried exhibition examining what lingers after a moment has passed. The exhibition asks photographers to consider how people, places, emotions, and experiences stay with us, and how a photograph can preserve, distort, or even create memories of its own. Photographers are invited to submit work through the Dahl Arts Center website by January 8 for the opportunity to be exhibited in spring 2027. The juried exhibition will offer cash prizes across categories while creating an opportunity for photographers to share their perspectives and connect with the broader community.
Afterimage welcomes a wide range of photographic approaches, including documentary, portraiture, landscape, still life, conceptual, staged, abstract, and alternative photographic processes. Rather than simply capturing a beautiful image, photographers are encouraged to explore the emotional and psychological experiences a photograph can bring forward.
Photographers may consider questions such as:
What can a photograph preserve that memory cannot?
What happens when a photograph and our memory of a moment tell different stories?
What remains when a person, place, or moment is gone?
Can absence, loss, or forgetting be photographed?
How are memories shaped by the places, objects, and people around us?
Can a photograph capture something that never actually happened?
What happens when a memory begins to disappear?
Photographers of all skill levels, from hobbyists to professionals, are encouraged to submit work that offers a unique interpretation of memory and what remains after an experience has passed. Afterimage seeks photographs that invite viewers to pause, remember, question, and feel.
Photographers are invited to submit their work in three distinct categories: Youth (18 and under), Adult Amateur/Hobbyist (over 18), and Adult Experienced/Professional (over 18). Prizes for each category are as follows:
Submission Information:
The reception and awards for the Afterimage exhibition will be held on February 19 from 5-7pm. All exhibition openings at the Dahl are free and open for the community to attend. Sponsorship opportunities are available through January 31, 2027.
Afterimage welcomes a wide range of photographic approaches, including documentary, portraiture, landscape, still life, conceptual, staged, abstract, and alternative photographic processes. Rather than simply capturing a beautiful image, photographers are encouraged to explore the emotional and psychological experiences a photograph can bring forward.
Photographers may consider questions such as:
What can a photograph preserve that memory cannot?
What happens when a photograph and our memory of a moment tell different stories?
What remains when a person, place, or moment is gone?
Can absence, loss, or forgetting be photographed?
How are memories shaped by the places, objects, and people around us?
Can a photograph capture something that never actually happened?
What happens when a memory begins to disappear?
Photographers of all skill levels, from hobbyists to professionals, are encouraged to submit work that offers a unique interpretation of memory and what remains after an experience has passed. Afterimage seeks photographs that invite viewers to pause, remember, question, and feel.
Photographers are invited to submit their work in three distinct categories: Youth (18 and under), Adult Amateur/Hobbyist (over 18), and Adult Experienced/Professional (over 18). Prizes for each category are as follows:
- Youth Category: 1st Place: $75; 2nd Place: $50; 3rd Place: $25
- Adult Amateur/Hobbyist Category: 1st Place: $75; 2nd Place: $50; 3rd Place: $25
- Adult Experienced/Professional Category: 1st Place: $100; 2nd Place: $75; 3rd Place: $50
Submission Information:
- Deadline for Entries: Friday, January 8, 2027
- Entry Fees: $10 per photo for adults; FREE for youth
- Limit 10 photos per person
- Submit photos of your entry to [email protected] and please include:
- Title
- Intended frame size
- Year image was captured
- Sale price or insurance value
- Pay Entry Fee: secure.qgiv.com/for/reflect/event/afterimage/
- Exhibition Dates: February 19 - April 3, 2027
- Opening Reception: February 19 from 5-7pm at the Dahl Arts Center
- Awards 6pm
The reception and awards for the Afterimage exhibition will be held on February 19 from 5-7pm. All exhibition openings at the Dahl are free and open for the community to attend. Sponsorship opportunities are available through January 31, 2027.
2026 Selected Photographs
Adult Professional Category:
Andrea Brady | Defending Home, Where the Stars Remember Home
Jesse Brown Nelson | Awaken
Amber Christians | Ranch Life
Rebecca DeWitt | Canyon Lake Thoughts, Self Portrait in My Favorite Place & Storm is Coming
BreAnna Drysdale | Summertime
Rory Hayman | Black Hills Winter Oasis & Thunderstorm East of Spearfish
Sierra Hopp | First Light
*Russell Jensen | Seeking Shelter
Danielle Kearin | First Firework
Kendra Koski | Summer Elegy
*Ellen Larson | Strike of the Sacred
Evan Ludes | Bygone Cowboys, *Deano and the Rainbow & No Home for Hate
Mike Magda | Born to These Stones & Home is a Heartbeat
*Karen Mahoney | Building a Home with You
Candy Manthey | Bridging Earth and Spirit & Dakota Sunshine
Britt Newbern | Float Away & Layers of Home
Jason Pfitzer | A Place at the Table
Cristen Roghair | Resting Place
Bailey Sadowsky | Dirty Work
Martin Tarby | Burro and Day-old Burrito
Noah Westegaard | Wanderer’s View
Deb Hayes Zimmerman | Home on a Windy Winter Night
Adult Amateur/Hobbyist Category
Suzy Adams | Homeward Bound
Addyson Allgier | Sisters
Tara Burian | Harvest Waiting & Liminal Pause
Dustie Clements | ICPeace Black&White
Jonathan Deuter | Kyle Church & Rapid Creek
Linda Foster | Home is Where My Horse Is
Christopher Huot | 80,000 Year Visitor, Biking to the Butte & *Jupiter Rising
Melissa Jackson | Weathered
Glenda Nixon | Teepee with Smoke
*Todd Schweiger | Same Scene New View
*Riley Singer | One in the Box & That Once Was
Youth Category:
Levi Brooks | Along the Dirt Road
Michael Grosz | Surprise Landing
*Anna Haeder | Reflect & Right of Passage
Hannah Herbert | Sunflower Yellow
Alexa Jacobs | Hidden in the Hills
Madelyn Lein | Two in a Canoe
Haley Lester | *Hidden Haven & Roots in the Pines
Max Phillips | Holy Goat
*Award Winners
Andrea Brady | Defending Home, Where the Stars Remember Home
Jesse Brown Nelson | Awaken
Amber Christians | Ranch Life
Rebecca DeWitt | Canyon Lake Thoughts, Self Portrait in My Favorite Place & Storm is Coming
BreAnna Drysdale | Summertime
Rory Hayman | Black Hills Winter Oasis & Thunderstorm East of Spearfish
Sierra Hopp | First Light
*Russell Jensen | Seeking Shelter
Danielle Kearin | First Firework
Kendra Koski | Summer Elegy
*Ellen Larson | Strike of the Sacred
Evan Ludes | Bygone Cowboys, *Deano and the Rainbow & No Home for Hate
Mike Magda | Born to These Stones & Home is a Heartbeat
*Karen Mahoney | Building a Home with You
Candy Manthey | Bridging Earth and Spirit & Dakota Sunshine
Britt Newbern | Float Away & Layers of Home
Jason Pfitzer | A Place at the Table
Cristen Roghair | Resting Place
Bailey Sadowsky | Dirty Work
Martin Tarby | Burro and Day-old Burrito
Noah Westegaard | Wanderer’s View
Deb Hayes Zimmerman | Home on a Windy Winter Night
Adult Amateur/Hobbyist Category
Suzy Adams | Homeward Bound
Addyson Allgier | Sisters
Tara Burian | Harvest Waiting & Liminal Pause
Dustie Clements | ICPeace Black&White
Jonathan Deuter | Kyle Church & Rapid Creek
Linda Foster | Home is Where My Horse Is
Christopher Huot | 80,000 Year Visitor, Biking to the Butte & *Jupiter Rising
Melissa Jackson | Weathered
Glenda Nixon | Teepee with Smoke
*Todd Schweiger | Same Scene New View
*Riley Singer | One in the Box & That Once Was
Youth Category:
Levi Brooks | Along the Dirt Road
Michael Grosz | Surprise Landing
*Anna Haeder | Reflect & Right of Passage
Hannah Herbert | Sunflower Yellow
Alexa Jacobs | Hidden in the Hills
Madelyn Lein | Two in a Canoe
Haley Lester | *Hidden Haven & Roots in the Pines
Max Phillips | Holy Goat
*Award Winners
2025 Selected Photos
Adult Experienced/Professional:
Amber Christians | Pretzel, Summer’s Reflection & Sunset Silhouette
Bailey Sadowsky | Bright Future
Chris Yushta | Adventure Awaits & Parameters of Sight
Deb. Hayes Zimmerman | Sunrise Reflected in the Falling Snow
Ellen Larson | A Line of Transition
Erica Harvey | Alaskan Rush Hour
Heidi Stefanich | Grief, Reflected – If Only & Grief, Reflected – Why
Leith Sandness | Seeing Double, Waves of Fire & Web of Iridescence
Martin Tarby | Bighorn Face-Off, Eye of the Big Horn & Placid Pintail
Mike Magda | Rocket Launch Over Avila Bay
Rebecca DeWitt | Into the Light & Sylvan Fall
Sierra Hopp | Embraced by the Unknown, Grounded & Hiding Behind the Fog
Teresa Hofer | Bear Butte Migrating Pelicans & The Pleiades Reflection Nebula in the Constellation of Taurus the Bull
Adult Amateur/Hobbyist:
Dolores Henson | Ripples of Introspection
Dustie Clements | Reflection of Music
Glenda Nixon | Ice and Clouds
Hafiza Farzami | The Magic of a Mountain in a Lake
Julie Stoll | Temple Reflection
Kathie O’Donnell | Reflecting of an Emotion
Linda Foster | What Lies Ahead
Sarah Ludes | Daydreaming
Stephen Nixon | Labyrinth
Tara Burian | Echo of Elegance
Todd Schweiger | ‘Nuff Reflection for Ya, Effigy Walk, I am in There Somewhere, Shining-esque & Mille Lac Galaxy
Youth:
Anna Haeder | Gathering
Jace Masko | Reflection
Levi Brooks | Crest Fallen & Hidden Histories
Lexi Foster | Thoughts Far and Away
Madelyn Lein | Beneath the Bending Branches, On the Fence & Your Move
Ryder Burian | Golden Hour’s Embrace & The Art of Icicles
Amber Christians | Pretzel, Summer’s Reflection & Sunset Silhouette
Bailey Sadowsky | Bright Future
Chris Yushta | Adventure Awaits & Parameters of Sight
Deb. Hayes Zimmerman | Sunrise Reflected in the Falling Snow
Ellen Larson | A Line of Transition
Erica Harvey | Alaskan Rush Hour
Heidi Stefanich | Grief, Reflected – If Only & Grief, Reflected – Why
Leith Sandness | Seeing Double, Waves of Fire & Web of Iridescence
Martin Tarby | Bighorn Face-Off, Eye of the Big Horn & Placid Pintail
Mike Magda | Rocket Launch Over Avila Bay
Rebecca DeWitt | Into the Light & Sylvan Fall
Sierra Hopp | Embraced by the Unknown, Grounded & Hiding Behind the Fog
Teresa Hofer | Bear Butte Migrating Pelicans & The Pleiades Reflection Nebula in the Constellation of Taurus the Bull
Adult Amateur/Hobbyist:
Dolores Henson | Ripples of Introspection
Dustie Clements | Reflection of Music
Glenda Nixon | Ice and Clouds
Hafiza Farzami | The Magic of a Mountain in a Lake
Julie Stoll | Temple Reflection
Kathie O’Donnell | Reflecting of an Emotion
Linda Foster | What Lies Ahead
Sarah Ludes | Daydreaming
Stephen Nixon | Labyrinth
Tara Burian | Echo of Elegance
Todd Schweiger | ‘Nuff Reflection for Ya, Effigy Walk, I am in There Somewhere, Shining-esque & Mille Lac Galaxy
Youth:
Anna Haeder | Gathering
Jace Masko | Reflection
Levi Brooks | Crest Fallen & Hidden Histories
Lexi Foster | Thoughts Far and Away
Madelyn Lein | Beneath the Bending Branches, On the Fence & Your Move
Ryder Burian | Golden Hour’s Embrace & The Art of Icicles
