Will Wilson • willwilson.photoshelter.com/index • Santa Fe, NM
Photographer & Associate Professor • University of Texas at Austin | Board Member and Review Santa Fe Alum • CENTER

At the heart of CENTER Santa Fe’s mission is a commitment to advancing socially and environmentally engaged lens-based media that not only reflects the world, but actively participates in shaping how it is understood. As we gather for Review Santa Fe 2026, we recognize photography as a medium in transition—one that continues to evolve alongside new technologies, shifting notions of authorship, and urgent questions around truth, ethics, and representation.

Our selection process is grounded in recognizing work that is both visually and conceptually compelling—images that hold attention, sustain inquiry, and open space for dialogue. I am particularly drawn to practices that understand photography not as neutral description, but as an active force in the production of knowledge, memory, and meaning.

As an artist and juror, my own practice—described as trans-customary—brings Indigenous knowledge systems into dialogue with photographic histories, emerging technologies, and material processes. Projects such as Auto Immune Response, the Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX), and Connecting the Dots for a Just Transition engage photography as both a historical problem and a contemporary site of possibility. This work reflects a broader commitment to relational, accountable forms of image-making that challenge extractive modes of representation while supporting cultural continuity and environmental awareness.

The photographers recognized this year demonstrate not only technical and conceptual strength, but a willingness to engage complexity with clarity and care. Their work reflects a sensitivity to the conditions under which images are made and circulated, and an awareness of how visual practices shape our understanding of one another and the worlds we inhabit.

At a moment when images can be generated as easily as they are captured, the importance of intention, perspective, and lived experience becomes even more vital. The artists included in this year’s Review respond to that condition with rigor and imagination. They do not simply document the present; they question it, reframe it, and, in doing so, help us imagine what might come next.