Photographs of landscapes and abstracts, portraits and wildlife all have invaded the Suffolk Art Gallery this week.

The 27th annual Juried Photography Exhibit at the gallery opens Saturday with an reception from 4 to 6 p.m.

“It’s always a good show, since it’s the oldest and largest in Hampton Roads,” said Nancy Kinzinger, coordinator of the art gallery (formerly the Suffolk Museum). “It’s really an interesting show.”

The show attracts photographs of all shapes, sizes, colors and genres from both amateur and professional photographers. This year’s show features a lot of first-time entrants, Kinzinger said.

“We look at it as an art show as much as it is a photography show,” Kinzinger said. “Photography is such a technical art, but there will be work in the show that is technically great and artistically great.”

The juror for the show, Phil Nesmith, is an award-winning artist who works primarily in the 19th-century plate photographic methods. He has displayed his work in galleries across the nation, including his most recent solo show, “Flow,” at Irvine Contemporary in Washington, D.C. He teaches photography at Virginia State University and at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“It’s interesting to see this wide range of images coming from the same general area,” Nesmith said while judging the show Tuesday.

The show includes local works, such as storefronts and photos that feature local brands prominently, to national and international works, including a snowscape from Yellowstone National Park.

Not surprisingly, the show features several photos of local areas adrift in snow, after the Dec. 26 blanketing the area received.

“We really do want people to come to the show,” Kinzinger said, noting that seeing the work “makes you become a better photographer.”

More than 70 people submitted work for the show. It runs through April 15.

The Suffolk Art Gallery is located at 118 Bosley Ave. It is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Call 514-7284 for more information.