Members Gallery 2025

Guest Juror | Den Quinsay

Selected Members: Cheryl Miller, Eleanor Oakes, Aiko Wakao Austin

We are delighted to announce the 2025 Members Gallery artists: Cheryl Miller, Eleanor Oakes, and Aiko Wakao Austin, selected by guest juror, Den Quinsay! 

This year’s selected projects span a range of stories and processes, but all find a distinct connection in the desire for remembering and preserving. 

Pulled from her archive of B&W negatives, Cheryl Miller’s If We Stand Tall…Recollections of Spirits Past documents Black life in South Jamaica, Queens from 1978-1998. Based on the Yoruba Proverb, “If we stand tall, it is because we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us,” the project positions the photographic archive as a vital form of resistance to erasure, centering joy and the quotidian in a community’s story.

Eleanor Oakes’ series milk and tears raises urgent questions about motherhood, labor, and our relationship to the environment. Using the breastmilk of over 50 mothers as a salting solution, the prints in milk and tears become “imperfect vessels” for Oakes, holding personal histories of nourishment and care.  

In what we inherit, Aiko Wakao Austin layers kimono textiles and archival images from scrapbooks passed down to her by her grandparents to explore how culture shapes identity and our understanding of the world. A meticulous process of photography, scanning, and digital layering, what we inherit preserves the past in a new material archive.  

To view the full galleries by selected artists, please click the images above.

About the Juror:

Den Quinsay is currently the Executive Director at the Bronx Documentary Center (BDC).

She has over 15 years of senior management experience working in the non-profit sector, developing and leading cross-disciplinary projects and programs focused on youth and adults in both the arts and culture, as well as the gender violence field. Prior to her time in BDC, she oversaw both residential and non-residential programs at Womankind which provide services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. As a photographer, she believes in the power of documentary photography and storytelling to connect people and communities, helping them focus on important social issues. Den has an MS in global leadership and an MA in gender and peacebuilding.

About Penumbra Members Gallery:

Each year Penumbra invites Members to submit their work for review by an acclaimed photographer, critic, or curator. Selected artists have their work featured in an online gallery on our website and social media, receiving exposure and recognition within our international community of artists, photo-world professionals, and photography lovers. 

If you're interested in becoming a member for the chance to submit your work to our next Members Gallery, as well as to receive other member perks, including discounts on workshops and facility rentals, please click here.