Forty-Five Years in Focus — Houston Center for Photography’s Milestone Auction Shows Its Oversized Impact

Plus: The 10 Works You Need To See

BY Haley Berkman Karren // Feb 18, 2026

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Constance Jaeggi’s "Marisol, Melanie, Nathaly and Stacy," 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

Thomas Jackson’s "Tulle No. 8," 2020 (Courtesy of the artist)

Mary Margaret Hansen’s "Freedom," 1980 (Courtesy of the artist and Heidi Vaughan Fine Art)

Dionne Lee’s "Untitled (Studio Test)," 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

Earlie Hudnall, Jr.’s "Flipping Boy, Fourth Ward," 1983 (Courtesy of the artist and PDNB Gallery)

Minwoo Lee’s "Kona ‘92," 2024 (Courtesy of the artist)

Keith Carter’s "Blue Atlas Moth," 2012 (Courtesy of the artist)

Linda Plaisted’s "Number the Stars," 2025 (Courtesy of the artist)

Cristina Velásquez’s "Viejas verdes," 2022 (Courtesy of the artist)

Astrid Reischwitz’s "Marzipan," 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

Constance Jaeggi’s "Marisol, Melanie, Nathaly and Stacy," 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

For 45 years, the Houston Center for Photography has championed the photographic arts in Houston. Now HCP is hosting its 45th Print Auction themed Echoes of the Ordinary this Thursday, February 19 at Hotel ZaZa. This year, the organization will honor Jereann Chaney and Keith Carter for their lasting impact on the HCP and the broader arts community.

Chaney is a longtime patron of the arts and an incisive collector. She has played a significant role in numerous cultural institutions. Her deep engagement includes major donations of important works to museums. Those gifts have helped shape both collections and conversations around contemporary art.

Carter is an acclaimed photographer, educator and author. His poetic and deeply personal body of work has influenced generations of artists. Through both his images and his mentorship, he’s made an indelible mark on photography. His work has been exhibited internationally and is included in many private and public collections.

Both Chaney and Carter are members of Houston Center for Photography’s newly formed Friends & Founders Circle. This distinction recognizes individuals who have significantly shaped the institution’s history and strengthened the photography community.

Alejandra Regalado’s “Ophelia #7,” 2016 (Courtesy of the artist)

At this year’s print auction, the Houston Center for Photography is featuring 76 works by more than 70 artists. The selection spans photography greats, mid-career practitioners and emerging creatives. It includes local artists alongside nationally and internationally renowned photographers. Together, the works reflect HCP’s commitment to photography in Houston and beyond.

Gala attendees will bid on 30 live auction lots during the evening. Silent auction lots are available for online bidding via Qtego until 10 pm on Thursday night. Collectors especially drawn to a piece can take advantage of the Bid High Buy Now feature, which allows silent auction items to be purchased outright. In fact, a few lots have already sold.

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Top Picks from the Houston Center of Photography Print Auction

As an art advisor, I research and place artwork while educating art-seeking clients. With that in mind, here are my Top 10 picks from the auction:

Constance Jaeggi, “Marisol, Melanie, Nathaly and Stacy,” 2023, printed 2024, Live Auction Lot 5

Swiss-born photographer Constance Jaeggi is based in Texas and Colorado. She focuses on the relationship between horses and women, exploring themes of intimacy, identity and power dynamics.

The photograph appears in her 2025 book Escaramuza, documenting the all-female equestrian team sport.

Thomas Jackson, “Tulle No. 8,” 2020, printed 2025, Live Auction Lot 9

Thomas Jackson creates evocative portraits of wind through ephemeral sculptures of tulle. What may initially appear to be a digitally manipulated image is, in fact, entirely constructed. The image captures the artist’s temporal, site-specific installation.

Jackson was also recently featured in HCP’s exhibition Rapt in Wonder.

Thomas Jackson Tulle — Thomas Jackson’s “Tulle No. 8,” 2020 (Courtesy of the artist)

Mary Margaret Hansen’s “Freedom,” 1980, printed 2014, Live Auction Lot 13

This photograph belongs to Mary Margaret Hansen’s deeply personal series Finding Our Way. After both women divorced, Hansen and fellow photographer Patsy Craven photographed each other in nature. The images express beauty, freedom and women’s ability to reinvent and celebrate one another.

A founding member of HCP, Hansen will appear in an upcoming exhibition exploring the institution’s first 20 years.

Mary Margaret Hansen Freedom — Mary Margaret Hansen’s “Freedom,” 1980 (Courtesy of the artist and Heidi Vaughan Fine Art)

Dionne Lee’s “Untitled (Studio Test),” 2023, Live Auction Lot 22

Dionne Lee works across photography, collage and video to explore power, survival and personal history in relation to the American landscape. This compelling work is a graphite rubbing on a silver gelatin print.

Her work is currently on view in Divination: Beverly Buchanan & Dionne Lee at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Earlie Hudnall, Jr.’s “Flipping Boy, Fourth Ward,” 1983, printed circa 2010, Live Auction Lot 24

Celebrated photographer Earlie Hudnall, Jr. has been documenting communities, families and daily life in Houston’s Third and Fourth Wards neighborhoods since he was a student at Texas Southern University. This photograph captures a boy mid-flip in the street, with the skyscrapers downtown looming in the background.

“Flipping Boy, Fourth Ward” has been called “the definitive Houston photo.” It is featured in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.

Earlie Hudnall Flipping Boy — Earlie Hudnall, Jr.’s “Flipping Boy, Fourth Ward,” 1983 (Courtesy of the artist and PDNB Gallery)

Minwoo Lee’s “Kona 92,” 2024, Live Auction Lot 27

Minwoo Lee, a University of Houston professor, foregrounds the act of making. In the darkroom, he folds photographic paper and exposes the image. He then unfolds it to reveal the result. The process creates a compelling interplay between image and material.

Minwoo Lee Kona — Minwoo Lee’s “Kona ‘92,” 2024 (Courtesy of the artist)

Linda Plaisted’s “Number the Stars,” 2025, Silent Auction Lot 148

Multidisciplinary artist Linda Plaisted works in photography, collage and painting. In “Number the Stars,” she creates a dreamlike montage, layering her photograph with collected paper ephemera. She then rephotographs the composition and punctures the print with hundreds of tiny holes.

Linda Plaisted Number_the_Stars — Linda Plaisted’s “Number the Stars,” 2025 (Courtesy of the artist)

Cristina Velásquez’s “Viejas Verdes,” 2022, Silent Auction Lot 164

Dividing her time between Austin and Bogotá, Colombia, photographer and publisher Cristina Velásquez explores identity, history and colonialism through the photographic gaze.

“Viejas Verdes” is an especially striking work that is displayed unglazed, in accordance with the artist’s intent.

Cristina Velasquez Viejas_verdes — Cristina Velásquez’s “Viejas Verdes,” 2022 (Courtesy of the artist)

Astrid Reischwitz’s “Marzipan,” 2023, printed 2025, Silent Auction Lot 168

Astrid Reischwitz centers her work on themes of memory, identity, place and home. This elegant still life consists of ingredients used to make marzipan. Powdered sugar spills out from its container across the table and backdrop.

Astrid Reischwitz Marzipan — Astrid Reischwitz’s “Marzipan,” 2023 (Courtesy of the artist)

Keith Carter’s “Blue Atlas Moth,” 2012, Live Auction Lot 30

The live auction concludes on a high note with honoree Keith Carter’s “Blue Atlas Moth.” This lyrical work in blue and gold depicts one of the largest insects in the world. It serves as a fitting final note for the evening.

Keith Carter Blue Atlas Moth 2012 — Keith Carter’s “Blue Atlas Moth,” 2012 (Courtesy of the artist)

Photography has always captured the ordinary and made it unforgettable. This year’s auction feels especially aligned with that spirit. The works on view remind us why the Houston Center for Photography has mattered for 45 years and why it continues to matter now.

The Houston Center for Photography’s 45th Print Auction is Thursday, February 19 from 6 pm to 10 pm at Hotel ZaZa. For more information, go here.

Author’s note: Haley Berkman Karren is an art advisor, appraiser, independent curator and writer. She’s also the founder and director of Karren Art Advisory, specializing in modern and contemporary art, photography and digital art.