This year’s 13 emerging artists were culled from an exceptional set of entries and recommendations by American Photo Staff and Contributors October 2008

This year’s 13 emerging photographers were culled from hundreds of recommendations by professionals from every corner of the photography industry, as well as entries we received on our website. Our esteemed judges — gallery owner Debra Klomp Ching, curator and writer Susan Bright, and art director Catherine Talese — were so enthusiastic about these photographers that they chose to write the commentaries on the following pages themselves.

Click the photo to see the Emerging Artist 2008 images in PopPhoto.com.