Chico Review 2025

My story and some advice if you're planning on attending

I’ve never written a review of anything online ever, so why should I start at 41 years old and make it the first piece of my first blog? For two reasons mainly.

First, this event was so impactful to me, that I needed to document all the swirling emotions and details that are overwhelming me currently, so that I can process every last drop of it.

Second, I wanted to create a resource for future Chico Review attendees on what to expect and hopefully help them to maximize their experience.

Part 1: My story about getting in.

For the exact details on the application process of Chico Review, you can (and should) check out their page. It could change from year to year, but I’ll talk a little bit about my experience. 

Chico Review was something I pined after for at least the last 2-3 years. It was something the “real” photographers, the “real” artists, went to do. At the time I saw myself as an “aspiring” photographer whose work wasn’t strong enough to even be considered for something like this. But I was already halfway through a multi year project that even then hadn’t fully revealed itself to me. 

About two years ago I told my girlfriend (now wife) that I wanted to take my photography more seriously, and that I wanted to “put myself out there”. So I sought out classes and events to start building a network and hopefully get captured in the very distant orbit of these “real” photographers. The first thing I did was that I started attending photography talks at my local film lab. I recognized some photographers after a while but being shy I generally kept to myself. 

Then I attended a sequencing workshop at the Penumbra Foundation run by Tim Carpenter. It was the first time I showed this body of work I was making for years, had other peers look at it, and also have an instructor understand what I was trying to do. That class was fantastic and I’ll write more about it, and the bigger version called The Long Term Photobook Program (which I am in now) in another post. However, Tim gave me a push on one call.

“Have you heard of Chico Review? You’d love it! You should apply.” 

The change in perspective was absolutely jarring for me. I remember telling my wife that night “Tim thinks I could get into Chico!” Being the wonderful person she is, she supported me every step of the way. 

That was in the Spring of 2024. I remember waiting for the summer to end so I could apply in September, counting down the weeks. The moment the submissions were accepted, I poured over my work for an entire weekend and I remember applying the second I could. Then the hardest waiting period of my life started. Two days after Christmas I was going to get the news. Was I going to bounce off the walls and celebrate? Or was I going to give myself the worst hangover of the decade?

Maggie and I would be on the couch reading. I would say “Alexa! How many days until December 27th” 

Then the holidays came. My inlaws were in town, we were hosting Christmas in our tiny condo and I always had one eye on the calendar, wishing I could just fast forward a few more days. 

Then the 27th came. I didn’t sleep well that night, in the same weird sleep you get when you have an early flight in the morning. My eyes popped open around 6:30 am and I remember not looking at my phone because I wanted to properly sit at the kitchen table. If I didn’t get in, I wanted to sulk alone for a few hours before Maggie got up. 

I lifted the lid on my computer, still in my sleeping shorts and hoodie, logged in and with one eye open I checked my inbox. 

I got in.

I slid the door open to the bedroom, Maggie already with her eyes on me, pensively reading my expression, and I jumped on the bed shouting “I GOT IN”

Part 2: Traveling there

Advice: If you can go out a day early and just stay in Bozeman, do it. You can just take a cab to the airport and catch the shuttle to Chico (that Chico Review provides). There are more direct flights on Sundays plus if you run into issues due to weather, you’re covered. 

Also take the Monday after you land off to decompress if possible. It was like hitting a wall trying to mentally go back to my job. 

Ok, so my plan was to take an early flight out of JFK (8am) and have a short layover in Minnesota then catch the 3pm shuttle to Chico. I woke up super early, dragged my zombie ass to JFK and boarded my flight, immediately falling asleep. I awoke to the pilot saying we need to get off the flight because of a computer issue an hour later. 

The adrenaline rush was something else. I wouldn’t say I go into honest panic often but I started to hit that level. When I got off the plane I saw a mother and child talking with the flight attendant, she told her to go to a special counter a few gates away. Without really thinking, I just followed. At this desk were two agents who we each ran up to. At first my attendant wasn’t particularly sympathetic…

I’m going to admit this now…I started to tear up.

I held it together, but, well, my eyes were a bit glassy. Anyway, seeing a large, disheveled, forty something with probably some fresh drool on their face was enough to melt their heart. She made a call and got me on a flight to Salt Lake City, where I then traveled up to Bozeman. I landed at 6pm, missing the last shuttle, but fortunately Chico Review created a Discord server. I was able to hitch a ride with two other stragglers who landed late, and one happened to have rented a car.

The “Misery Engine” that is the current consumer aviation industry wasn’t going to stop me!

Me, Pie & Valerio

Part 3: Your Schedule at Chico Review

Monday - Fly in, shuttle to Chico, Check in, Happy Hour at 6:30pm, dinner and welcome ceremony.

Tuesday & Wednesday - Breakfast in the main lodge dining room, walk over to the conference center by 9am. Talks until noon. Then lunch. Reviews start at 1pm and go to 5. Happy Hour and Dinner after. If you’re up for some time in the hot springs or the saloon, you can help yourself.

Thursday - This is the “off day”. You can take a shuttle into Livingston (the closest town) or make a friend with a car to check out Yellowstone. Finally, you could just kick around the lodge, all up to you. In the evening after dinner they organize the lodge so everyone can leave their work out for everyone to see. Plus there is a small book fair which was great.

Friday & Saturday - Same as Tuesday/Wednesday. You’ll have two or three reviews each day. Saturday night is a closing ceremony. Chico Review rented a Saloon down the road for the night which was a blast on Friday. Also on the last day there is a group photo which you can’t miss.

Advice: Bring a bag with you to hold your portfolio/prints/book dummy. You’ll be traveling to and from the conference center which is short but still outside. Plus if it’s sunny it’s nice to sit on the steps between reviews and talk with your peers. 

Part 4: What to pack

While this is on my mind, here are some things to bring with you:

• Flip Flops/Sandals - Depending on where you’re staying you’ll be walking to the hot springs

• Small water bottle - It’s DRY up there, so you’ll want to drink a bit of water

• Nasal wash - My nose was stuffy from the dryness for the first 2 days until I adjusted. Just something to note. Might pack this for next time.

• Travel moisturizer - Between the dry air and the hot springs, your skin can get dried out.

• Surge protector/long power cord for a laptop - My outlets were nowhere convenient to plug in and the one by the door was so old anything you plug in would fall out

• Long Johns - If you go into town it can get windy/chilly - Something to keep your legs warm under your pants are good to have

• Cash - You’ll want to tip the bartenders at the open bar

Part 5: What reviews are like

Like I said earlier, you’re going to have two to three reviews each day, with a total of ten for the trip. You’ll get to pick your top ten and rank them. You won’t get everyone you want and you’re not guaranteed your top picks. 

But don’t sweat it.

First, you’ll get time to eat & hang with all the reviewers. They’re around (except for dinner where they eat together to decompress after 5 hours of reviews) and you’ll have time to chat with them. Some will even look at your work if you ask nicely. Just be mindful they have a lot on their plates. So if they’re already booked up, don’t take it personally. You can also swap with other attendees slots if you ask around.

Secondly, I got some fantastic advice from folks I didn’t sign up for. My second to last review was Daniel Arnold the street photographer. Funny enough he goes to my film lab, and I’ve bumped into him a few times but was too shy to say hi. Guess what? He is the nicest fucking human ever. Even though my work isn’t like his, he got what I was trying to do, gave me some advice and now I don’t have to be shy when I see him in NYC.

Third, have a rough plan of what you want to talk about. Imagine you sit down with this person and they ask you “Ok, what can I help you with?”. Have an answer for that. Some will be better at sequencing, others publishing, and others with artistic vision. Just know what you want to hammer away at. I wouldn’t recommend letting them just look at your work and give you their take on your work for 20 minutes. 

Fourth, I noticed there were some threads of similar advice everyone gave me about my work, plus my book dummy. Then there was a bit of diverging advice about some other aspects of my work. Two reviewers could give me two different pieces of advice. So what do you do? You do what you want to do and move on. It’s your work, you ultimately decide. 

Fifth, I brought a stack of 5x7 prints plus my book dummy. It was easy to manage in my backpack. I had one “A Pile” of work, then a second stack of “B Pile” images. Some reviewers wanted to see those as well. I also brought a 3rd stack which was a new project I was just starting, and I only shared those with other attendees I befriended.

Part 6:  Social Advice

You’re going to make friends. It’s kinda hard not to when you’re here. Just remember everyone else is feeling a bit awkward and shy, so just say hi to folks. By doing that you’ll make them and yourself feel better.

Toward the end of our trip, someone in my new friend circle created a WhatsApp group and invited anyone who was hanging around. From there you can always swing up smaller groups for local conversations. There is also the Discord that was created for our year by the Chico staff, so that’ll be there to reach out to folks as well.

It’ll be a big event with a lot of people to talk to. As an introvert myself I expected that I needed more time to charge my social batteries but once I was there I was surprised that I didn’t. I guess being around people who are in the same headspace as you and with a lot of similar interests makes it a lot easier.

Part 7: Final Thoughts

Like anything in life, this event is what you’re going to make it. I wanted this time to be a deeply moving and connecting experience and it totally was. While I was there I pushed myself to talk to people I was otherwise nervous to, found 100% of them to be deeply welcoming. Chico was a place for me to really battle test my book dummy, and I wasn’t afraid to ask the reviewers to “rip it apart” so I can “make a better one”. Which they did, but in a helpful and constructive way.

Jesse Lenz in the founder of this event and (I’m paraphrasing) he told me “I just created something I would love and the same kind of people would love it too”

And he was right.

I love Chico Review.

Some snaps to give you a feel of the event