Catherine Opie, Ron Jude, Jennifer Garza-Cuen and Barbara Davidson are among the 12 photographers named 2019 Guggenheim Fellows, according to an announcement from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The fellowships provide grants of undisclosed amounts to support projects by artists, scholars, scientists and writers. The foundation selected 168 fellows this year from a pool of more than 3,000 applicants. This year’s fellows in photography are:

In Elliot Ross’s series, Plainsmen, we are called to the interior American West—a place which, from an outsider’s perspective, is generally romanticized and oversimplified. The region is too often ignored unless it is politically convenient, and it is sometimes flippantly referred to as flyover country. As a person who grew up in rural Colorado, Ross understands the complexities faced by residents in this part of the country. Though the project is sequenced with photographs of people and places, our awareness is continuously being redirected toward the younger generation. They embody the heritage and lifestyle of their parents and connote values typically associated with rural American communities, including honesty and hard work. Despite this, their futures remain uncertain due to growing social and economic distress. Ross poignantly brings this dilemma to our attention and asks us to consider the future of the West and its residents—not the West of mythology, but that of fragile reality.