Present Imperfection Opens Part 2 with New Photographers
PRESENT IMPERFECTION GROWS, Expanding Sept. 19
The evolving exhibition of instant photography expands September 19 with new photographers and new work at the Pavilion Pop-Up in Friendship Heights.
Opening Night: Saturday, September 19, 2026, 6–9 PM
On view through January 28, 2027
Pavilion Pop-Up, Friendship Heights, Washington, DC — Present Imperfection is growing.Since opening this summer, the exhibition has continued to develop organically as photographers, visitors and new work have entered the conversation. On September 19, Present Imperfection Part Two expands the exhibition again with a new group of photographers and newly installed work.
“This is not the past. This is the future,” says curator and photographer Pat Graham. “The key is to focus on those imperfections and not worry about glossing everything over and making everything perfect.”The exhibition brings together Polaroid and instant photographs spanning different generations, processes and photographic worlds — from music, documentary and street photography to portraiture, skate culture and personal archives.
Part Two adds KJ Thomas, Luke Walter, Fil Baird, Pete Duvall, Monica Servaites, Ramsey K. Metcalf, Fleurette F. Estes, Claire Packer, Brad Sigal, Scarlet Page and Harrison Stone, with more to come.They join the photographers already represented in the exhibition, including artists working across Washington, DC and beyond, alongside figures such as Danny Clinch, Atiba Jefferson, Jason Lee, Deanna Templeton, Ed Templeton, Cynthia Connolly, J Grant Brittain, Thomas Campbell and C.R. Stecyk III.
But Present Imperfection is not primarily about names or nostalgia. Its focus is the photograph itself: a physical object produced at a particular moment, affected by chemistry, chance, handling and time.For Graham, those imperfections have a human connection.
“As we grow older, we’re not glossing everything over. We show signs of wear and tear and age. That’s a lot of the idea behind Present Imperfection.” At a time when photographs are increasingly perfected, filtered, stored on screens or generated by AI, Present Imperfection considers the continuing appeal of an image that cannot be endlessly revised.
Located in Friendship Heights on the DC–Maryland border, the exhibition brings contemporary photography into an everyday neighborhood environment, making the work accessible both to photography audiences and to people who simply remember the experience of holding a photograph in their hands.
Present Imperfection Part Two
Opening Saturday, September 19, 6–9 PM
Pavilion Pop-Up, Friendship Heights
Washington, DC
On view through January 28, 2027