Portraits from 34 photographers from across the nation will be featured at the L.H. Horton Jr. Gallery’s latest show, “Contemporary Portrait Photography Exhibition and Awards Competition.”

The exhibition runs Nov. 21 through Dec. 13. Admission to the Horton Gallery is free and open to the public.

Photographer Aline Smithson was engaged as the exhibition juror to select works from a call for entries. She is a photographer and Founder and Editor in Chief of “Lenscratch,” a daily journal on photography. Smithson also teaches at the Los Angeles Center of Photography.

Smithson selected 34 photographers for the exhibition, each with one image. Included from the Stockton arts community is photographer Natalie Petersen. The exhibition provides a variety of photographic techniques and styles, ranging from traditional analogue photography to contemporary digital manipulations. In addition to the exhibition, photographer Brent Reaney will conduct a portrait photography workshop with advanced Delta College photography students.

“As a juror, I look for a level of excellence — was the photograph created as a fine art image or simply a snapshot?” Smithson said. “As the work ends up in a gallery space, the concern of quality is critical. Is the image in focus (or blurred with intention), have the dust spots been removed, is it well composed, has the photographer avoided over-sharpening and over-saturating? I consider if the work challenges, transports, and delights, and I also consider the show as a whole. The photograph has become ubiquitous in our culture and in order to stand out, it is necessary to push beyond the ordinary or the common tropes that have already been covered.”