Tarnished Silver & Slivered Almonds

2012-02-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

Call for Work. Great Opportunity!!!!!

2012-02-08T06:40:00.001-08:00

Now accepting submissions.

The submission process is on-going. Each installation will be screened nightly from dusk until dawn for one month. We have current openings in 2012 for:

March, 2012    Submission Deadline is Jan. 1, 2012
April, 2012         Submission Deadline is Feb. 1, 2012
May, 2012          Submission Deadline is Mar 1, 2012
June, 2012       Submission Deadline is Apr. 1, 2012
July, 2012              Submission Deadline is May. 1, 2012
August, 2012     Submission Deadline is Jun. 1, 2012
September, 2012    Submission Deadline is July. 1, 2012
October, 2012 Submission Deadline is Aug. 1, 2012
November, 2012     Submission Deadline is Sep. 1, 2012

The Window Project is a curated outdoor, new media installation space facing the southern end of Woodruff Park from the windows of the Digital Arts Entertainment Laboratory (DAEL). The infrastructure consists of six high definition projectors synchronized to create a rear-projection screen that stands over six feet high and spans over 80 feet in width and can be seen from any vantage point in Atlanta’s central park and from the main pedestrian path of students of Georgia State University. The mission of The Window Project is to create a public art space that engages the community and enhances the Georgia State University campus and downtown Atlanta.

We invite the participation of local, national and international emerging and established moving image artists to submit current work reconfigured for six projectors around a curved surface or new work specifically created to take advantage of the multi-projector format. This space and format allows artists to break from the constraints of a single screen on a flat surface with a prescribed viewing point. We do not seek a specific theme for the content, but expect that it should be high visual, technical and conceptual quality and well suited for this unique public space, which is large, but subtle due to the curved glass and location on a downtown building window.

This project is sponsored by the Digital Arts Entertainment Lab. DAEL is a multimillion-dollar entertainment research and production facility located in the heart of downtown Atlanta on the campus of Georgia State University. Through industry and university partnerships, DAEL facilitates the creation and testing of digital media content. DAEL incubates emerging media arts businesses, trains graduate students and engages in user-centered media research.

How to Apply: Please email a brief artist statement, a link to artist website and up to 5 images or videos to: eli@gsu.edu with “The Window Project” and your name in the subject line. If an emailed/internet submission is not possible, a CD or DVD can be sent in the mail.

Elizabeth Strickler
Digital Arts Entertainment Lab
One Park Place South, Ste. 662
Atlanta, GA 30303
eli@gsu.edu

Shit Photographers Say

2012-02-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

Summer Work

2012-02-06T12:00:00.001-08:00

Dear Artists,

The Office of Cultural Affairs’ ARTSCooL program just put out a call for professional artists to instruct and mentor Atlanta-area teens this summer.

Please see the attached flyer and contact Ms. Jessica Gaines of OCA (Project Supervisor-Arts in Education) if are interested.

The deadline for applications is March 2, 2012.

Best Regards,

Anne

Anne A. Dennington

Executive Director

Flux Projects

www.fluxprojects.org

(404) 245-5853

2012-02-06T11:59:00.001-08:00

Fulton County Arts & Culture’s Abernathy Arts Center announces a CALL FOR ENTRY for GA Artists: A Juried Exhibit!

The competition is open to artists 18 and over who are residents of Georgia. Rules attached in 2012 GA Artists Brochure.

2012 Jurors:

Susannah Darrow, Executive Director/Co-Founder of Burnaway and MA candidate in Art History at Georgia State University.

Sam Parker, Painter, Sculptor, Graffiti Artist, and Tattoo Artist. Holds MFA in Drawing and Painting from Georgia State University.

2012 Judge:

Annette Cone-Skelton, President/CEO/Director of MOCA GA and prominent Georgia artist.

Important Dates

Deadline for entry: Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Notification letters: April 10, 2012

Delivery of work: April 24 – 27, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday, May 4, 2012

Awards

Best in Show

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

Honorable Mentions

People’s Choice

Weddings, What are you gonna do?!!

2012-01-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

Why Wedding Photographers’ Prices are “Wack”

Earlier today my friend and fellow photographer posted a link to a craigslist ad from a woman in Seattle looking for a wedding photographer. The woman was upset because she thought that $3,000 for a wedding photographer was “wack” because all we do “is hang out at a wedding taking tons of photos and editing them” and that we are “making so much money its crazy.”
I first read this post earlier today while I was running errands and my head almost exploded. I immediately started drafting a horribly mean and punishing response in my head, but by the time I got home, I realized that this is probably a common misconception and that maybe I should try to explain why photographers charge what we do for our work.

Before I post my response, I want to thank all of my brides who appreciate my work and think that I am worth the price. This response is not meant to offend anyone. I understand many people are on a budget — especially in this economy — and I understand planning a wedding is both expensive and overwhelming. I always try my best to work with my couples and offer customized and discounted packaging options for those who are on a tighter budget.
I just want to state again, that being a photographer doesn’t mean that we wake up in the morning, photograph a wedding for 8 hours and then go home and our job is done. Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to support ourselves as full time photographers don’t just work as photographers. We are also small business owners, which also comes with the job of doing all of our own marketing, sales, accounting, scouting, art directing, managing our offices and studios, being our own webmasters, doing our own post production, designing, blogging, being students, being mentors, researching, etc…
Sorry for the novel. Here was my response:

Dear Bride,
I am a wedding photographer in the Erie, PA area. Wedding season only last about 4 months here, so I photograph an average of 20 weddings per year for an average of $2,500/wedding (which totals about $50,000/year).

That being said, I am a small business owner, so I pay all of my taxes, totaling about $15,000/year, which leaves me with a gross income of around $35,000
Of that $35,000 I pay $600/month in rent for my small house and garage which I converted into my studio (which is where I would be editing your wedding images). $35,000 – $7,200 = $27,800
Then I have my car, which I would use to get me to and from your wedding, which I pay $400/month for the lease, plus $200/month in car insurance. $27,800 – $7,200 = $20,600
To get to your (and my other brides) wedding consultation, second wedding pre-consultation, the wedding itself, and to and from the printers I spend $840/year in gas money. $20,600 – $840 = $19,760
I also have $500/year insurance in case you sue me, or if any of your drunk guests would happen to break any of my equipment. $19,760 – $500 = $19,260
You also probably found me through my website, which I pay $30/month for hosting, and another $30/month so that you can view your photos online and share the images with your friends and family. $19,260 – $720 = $18,540
Or perhaps you found me through my advertisements in the newspaper or local bridal magazines, or a bridal show that you attended that I paid to have a booth at. $18,540 – $1,000 = $17,540
I also pay $250/month for my own health insurance in case I were to get hurt at your wedding. $17,540 – $3,000 = $14,540
I pay $200/wedding for a second shooter for your wedding, so that you can have more images and different angles, as to make sure you get the best images possible at your wedding. $14,540 – $4,000 = $10,540
I also need to have a new pair of shoes ($100) every season because my shoes get worn out and dirty from season to season. $10,540 – $100 = $10,440
I need high speed internet so I can upload all of your images online, my home phone for my business and my cell phone so I can communicate with you. $10,440 – $2,500 = $7,940
Oh yes, and I also pay a lawyer to make sure my contracts are iron clad and an accountant to make sure that I am paying all of the taxes I need. $7,940 – $500 = $7,440
Sometimes I attend workshops and seminars to teach me how to better my business, and make my client happier (that would be you), as well as keep up on the trends and learn new techniques so that I can make sure you have the best quality images available.

That would technically leave me with about $7,000/year to feed myself, buy groceries, pay for my heat and electricity, clothe myself, etc. But, usually I end up reinvesting whatever I have left on upgrades and new equipment:
During your wedding, I bring my professional equipment that I use so that I can make sure you have the highest quality images.

I have 2 Canon 5D Mark II cameras (because you always need a backup in case of a camera malfunction, which would ruin your big day’s photographs) which cost $2,500/camera = $5,000
I also have quality lenses which can capture your special moments in low light situations:
Canon 24-70 f/2.8 lens = $1,200
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens = $1,300
Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens = $500
Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro = $600
…and I have speed lights to catch the fun moments at your reception:
2 x Canon 580EX II = $1,200
Also multiple battery backups and memory cards, lens filters, light stands, umbrellas, light boxes, external battery packs and a bag to carry everything in = $1,500
Because this is equipment, sometimes I need to have it serviced or cleaned to make sure it is all working properly = $200

After spending 8-10 hours at your wedding, I then come home to my home office and spend about 20-25 hours editing your images, creating your album, blogging about your wedding, posting pictures on Facebook, ordering you prints and burning your DVDs.

I edit your photographs using a 27-inch iMac computer = $2,500.
I edit your photographs on Adobe Lightroom ($200) and Adobe CS5 ($400 for the upgrade and $900 for the new program).
I print your DVDs on a printer which costs $300 and which uses $200/year in ink.
I buy the DVDs and jewel cases you’re getting printed for $300/year
I archive all of your photographs on 2 x 2TB external hard drives = $500.
I also back up all of my photographs online so if there was ever a fire in my office, you would never lose your photographs = $400/year.
I also have office expenses as far as buying paper, staples, envelopes, packaging, filing cabinets and files, etc…
I also spend time and money ordering your prints and albums, paying for shipping, going to the post office etc.

All of that being said, I’m usually in the hole at the end of the year, and take on many family portraits, senior portraits and corporate jobs in order to make ends meet.
Photography is my passion and my livelihood, and it is also expensive. Yes, it seems like a lot of money for one day, but one day isn’t all we spend on your photographs or on our business. You will spend thousands of dollars on a wedding dress or flowers or a venue or on catering which you are going to have for only one day, but your photographs will be the only thing you have to remember that one day for the rest of your lives.
I’m extremely insulted by your craigslist post and hope this sheds a little light on why we charge $3,000 for one day of your memories that are going to last you forever.
– Nikki Wagner, Photographer

About the author: Nikki Wagner is a wedding, portrait, and event photographer based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Visit her website here.

Opening at JFA

2012-01-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

Do not miss our spectacular exhibition featuring Todd Murphy, Chip Simone & Vivian Maier opening THIS FRIDAY, Jan. 27th from 6 - 8 pm. Below are some of the most recent articles written about Vivian Maier in the New York Times and Chip Simone in Atlanta Magazine. Artists Todd Murphy along with Chip Simone will be attending the opening reception. Signed copies of Chroma by Chip Simone will be available for sale.
Please join us for an informal artist talk and discussion with Chip Simone, Saturday, January 28th at 11 am. We look forward to seeing you there!
If you plan to attend the artist talk or would like to reserve a signed copy of Chroma please contact Cristina: cristina@jacksonfineart.com

Best,
Anna

Click the articles below to view full pdf.

Full Press Release

Here are some more good art world lessons

2012-01-25T07:47:00.001-08:00

The Career Benefits of Boycotting Charity Art Auctions

Posted: 6/8/11 01:25 PM ET

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There is a tradition of auctioning original works of art donated by artists to raise money for charitable causes. There are many good causes that hold such events. No matter how good the causes, though, I have come to the conclusion that artists must stop donating to every single one of them.

Don't ever donate your art to a charity auction again. Half a century of charity art auctions have changed the way collectors buy art. These fundraisers have depressed prices of art across the board and kept artists in a subordinate position that has no career upside or benefits.

Instead of tossing away another great artwork to a good cause, join the good cause of boycotting charity art auctions. When you join this cause ...

•You stop taking revenue out of the art world
•You stop shifting art collector dollars to the bottomless pits of recurring annual Beg-A-Thons
•You don't contextualize your art as being a synonym of pretentious panhandling
•You don't announce that your art is worth low bids
•You don't risk that your work will be publicly seen getting no bids
•You don't empower strangers to devalue your artwork
•Most importantly, you stop publicly proclaiming that you give your art away

The argument against me is simple: Donations of art to charity auctions raise money for good causes and raise the profile of artists who put their art in the public eye. It is a good argument. It has worked well. This seductive sales pitch has pulled in countless millions of dollars over the past few decades.

Problem is, this argument has not lived up to its bargain. Sad news: Your profile got humiliated because the collector got such a bargain on your art. If your art was one of dozens of trinkets on a wall with a hundred other artists, your profile actually disappeared there in the crowd anyway.

I would love to hear the story of the artist whose career rocketed to success because he or she donated a work to a charity auction and this act alone tipped the first domino toward an avalanche of success coming his or her way. This narrative is always implied. I've never seen it happen.

Charity art auctions are the emptiest of promises to artists: you give us your work, you get nothing in return except a party invite to an event where you are a second class citizen. Watch as the price of what you really will let your work go for is nakedly advertised to the select group of people to whom your work is meant to be seen as rare and desirable.

Suppose you want to at least deduct a donation of your art to the charity, guess what? The law only allows an artist to deduct the cost of materials. Meanwhile a collector can buy your work for the minimum bid, have it appraised at its full retail value and donate it to some other good cause for that top dollar amount.

As for the merits of the infinite number of good causes out there, what is the value in giving up a painting that would sell for a thousand dollars retail in order to see it raise 50 Bucks for that cause? Pick one charity, donate generously and keep the collectors assuming that the price you ask at the gallery is the best and only price they are going to get.

Someone has to be the bad guy here, so you can blame me for inspiring you to donate cash to a good cause and to keep your art career safe from the bargain bin. Print this out and send it with your regrets to anyone asking you to devalue your work in the name of glamorizing their efforts on behalf of yet another worthy cause in a world of infinite and endless good causes. Tell them the art stops here.

Follow Mat Gleason on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CoagulaMagazine

Get your Flux On!!!

2012-01-25T07:21:00.001-08:00

Opportunities for Artists

Flux Projects currently has three exciting opportunities for artists! The Freedom Park and FLUX 2012 calls for proposals are open to national and international artists. Unlike most of our opportunities, the Core Weekend Workshop is only open to Atlanta area artists, but we encourage artists in other cities to seek this Creative Capital workshop in your own area.

Freedom Park Project
A joint call with the Freedom Park Conservancy
Deadline to submit: January 27
Notification: February 15
Installation: Summer 2012
Information + Application

FLUX 2012
Our one-night public art celebration in the Castleberry Hill Arts District
Deadline to submit: February 29
Notification: April 30
Event: Saturday, October 6
Information + Application

Creative Capital Core Weekend Workshop
This highly acclaimed workshop has been described as "a crash course in self-management, strategic planning, fundraising, and promotion." Co-hosted withPushPush Theater and supported in part by a grant from Creative Capital and sponsorship by Atlanta Celebrates Photography.

Deadline to apply: March 16
Notification: April 16
Workshop: June 8 - 10, 2012
Information + Application

fluxprojects.org

Want some Advice?

2012-01-23T15:29:00.001-08:00

35 Magnum Photographers Give Their Advice to Aspiring Photographers

by Eric Kim on September 26, 2011

(Above image copyrighted by Alex Majoli)
Bill Reeves, a passionate photographer who is fortunate enough to have Magnum photographers Eli Reed and Paolo Pellegrin as his mentors, told me about a blog post that Magnum had a while back regarding advice to young photographers. It was put together by Alec Soth, who has done a series of fascinating projects such as his most popular, “Sleeping by the Missisippi” which was done on a 8×10 view camera. An interesting excerpt that Bill put together about Alec is below:

Alec writes up lists of things to shoot. Some normal objects, like suitcases, and others more weird, like unusually tall people. He would tape this list to his steering wheel, and be reminded to shoot those things when he saw them. When he found someone to shoot, he would talk to them, and from that conversation find the next thing to go looking for. An example is he did a portrait of a guy who built model airplanes, and then a portrait of a hooker. The link? She had airplanes painted on her nails. He then went to photograph Charles Lindberg’s childhood home, which led him to photograph Johnny Cash’s boyhood home and so on and so forth.

I found the advice that these Magnum photographers is golden–and have shared it here to spread the love and knowledge. Keep reading to see their inspirational images and advice. You can also download the free PDF here.

Abbas

What advice would you give young photographers?
Get a good pair of walking shoes and…fall in love
» Abbas’ Magnum Portfolio

Alec Soth

What advice would you give young photographers?
Try everything. Photojournalism, fashion, portraiture, nudes, whatever. You won’t know what kind of photographer you are until you try it. During one summer vacation (in college) I worked for a born-again tabletop photographer. All day long we’d photograph socks and listen to Christian radio. That summer I learned I was neither a studio photographer nor a born-again Christian. Another year I worked for a small suburban newspaper chain and was surprised to learn that I enjoyed assignment photography. Fun is important. You should like the process and the subject. If you are bored or unhappy with your subject it will show up in the pictures. If in your heart of hearts you want to take pictures of kitties, take pictures of kitties.
» Alec Soth’s Magnum Portfolio

Alex Majoli

What advice would you give young photographers?
I would advise to read a lot of literature and look as little as possible other photographers. Work everyday even without assignments or money, work, work, work with discipline for yourself and not for editors or awards. And also collaborate with people not necessary photographers but people you admire. The key word to learn is participation!
» Alex Majoli’s Magnum Portfolio

Alex Webb

What advice would you give young photographers?
Photograph because you love doing it, because you absolutely have to do it, because the chief reward is going to be the process of doing it. Other rewards — recognition, financial remuneration — come to so few and are so fleeting. And even if you are somewhat successful, there will almost inevitably be stretches of time when you will be ignored, have little income, or — often — both. Certainly there are many other easier ways to make a living in this society. Take photography on as a passion, not a career.
» Alex Webb’s Magnum Portfolio

Alessandra Sanguinetti

What advice would you give young photographers?
I could use some good advice myself…but first thing that springs to mind is Bob Dylan’s': “keep a good head and always carry a light bulb.”
» Alessandra Sanguinetti’s Magnum Portfolio

Bruce Gilden

What advice would you give young photographers?
My advice: “Photograph who you are!”
» Bruce Gilden’s Magnum Portfolio

Carl De Keyzer

What advice would you give young photographers?
Give it all you got for at least 5 years and then decide if you got what it takes. Too many great talents give up at the very beginning; the great black hole looming after the comfortable academy or university years is the number one killer of future talent.
» Carl De Keyzer’s Magnum Portfolio

Christopher Anderson

What advice would you give young photographers?
Forget about the profession of being a photographer. First be a photographer and maybe the profession will come after. Don’t be in a rush to make pay your rent with your camera. Jimi Hendrix didn’t decide on the career of professional musician before he learned to play guitar. No, he loved music and and created something beautiful and that THEN became a profession. Larry Towell, for instance, was not a “professional” photographer until he was already a “famous” photographer. Make the pictures you feel compelled to make and perhaps that will lead to a career. But if you try to make the career first, you will just make shitty pictures that you don’t care about.
» Christopher Anderson’s Magnum Portfolio

Chris Steele-Perkins

What advice would you give young photographers?
1) Never think photography is easy. It’s like poetry in that it’s easy enough to make a few rhymes, but that’s not a good poem.
2) Study photography, see what people have achieved, but learn from it, don’t try photographically to be one of those people
3) Photograph things you really care about, things that really interest you, not things you feel you ought to do.
4) Photograph them in the way you feel is right, not they way you think you ought to
5) Be open to criticism, it can be really helpful, but stick to you core values
6) Study and theory is useful but you learn most by doing. Take photographs, lots of them, be depressed by them, take more, hone your skills and get out there in the world and interact.
» Chris Steele-Perkins’ Magnum Portfolio

Constantine Manos

What advice would you give young photographers?
Try not to take pictures, which simply show what something looks like. By the way you put the elements of an image together in a frame show us something we have never seen before and will never see again. And remember that catching a moment makes the image even more unique in the stream of time. Also, try to do workshops with photographers whose work you admire, but first ask around to make sure they are good teachers as well as good photographers. Taking good pictures is easy. Making very good pictures is difficult. Making great pictures is almost impossible.
» Constantine Manos’ Magnum Portfolio

David Alan Harvey

What advice would you give young photographers?
You must have something to “say”. You must be brutally honest with yourself about this. Think about history , politics, science, literature, music, film, and anthropology. What affects does one discipline have over another? What makes “man” tick? Today , with everyone being able to easily make technically perfect photographs with a cell phone, you need to be an “author”. It is all about authorship, authorship and authorship. Many young photographers come to me and tell me their motivation for being a photographer is to “travel the world” or to “make a name” for themselves. Wrong answers in my opinion. Those are collateral incidentals or perhaps even the disadvantages of being a photographer. Without having tangible ideas , thoughts, feelings, and something almost “literary” to contribute to “the discussion”, today’s photographer will become lost in the sea of mediocrity. Photography is now clearly a language. As with any language, knowing how to spell and write a gramatically correct “sentence” is , of course, necessary. But, more importantly, today’s emerging photographers now must be “visual wordsmiths” with either a clear didactic or an esoteric imperitive. Be a poet, not a technical “writer”. Perhaps more simply put, find a heartfelt personal project. Give yourself the “assignment” you might dream someone would give you. Please remember, you and only you will control your destiny. Believe it, know it, say it.
» David Alan Harvey’s Magnum Portfolio

Donovan Wylie

What advice would you give young photographers?
Never stop enjoying it. Try and not “look” for pictures but keep yourself always open and allow yourself to be stimulated by whatever hits you. Work towards a goal…book, exhibition… but more importantly work towards finding your own voice, your subject and your application. Accept that your work is more about you than what you represent, try to bridge that balance, without resorting to photographing your feet! In other words try and translate personal experience into a collective one, it is very possible and I think the key quest of any art form…(study the book “Waffenruhe” by Michael Schmidt) – study all the great photographers and love doing it, start at the beginning, look at early American, and German, then French, then take a close look at artists using photography in the sixties, Rusha etc. Don’t get bogged down in theory, but respect it, read Robert Adams on Photography, in fact embrace Robert Adams generally and you will learn a lot. Read literature, especially early Russian, French and modern American, (and Irish, Joyce), the journey literature has taken as an art form in terms of description and representation is very similar to photography. Don’t rely on style for the sake of it, if you have your own subject, you can adopt other peoples styles if it helps, and visa versa, if you photograph something every one has, then adopt an style, execution, that can only be yours, eventually you will achieve both, your own voice will come through, but it can take time. Study the book ‘How You Look at It’…Important essays there will help you. Always try and be honest with yourself… for example, is the idea of being a photographer more exciting to you than photography itself, if this is true think about becoming an actor…………………..if you genuinely love photography don’t give it up. Understand and enjoy the fact that photography is a unique medium. Respect and work within photography’s limitations, you will go much further.
» Donovan Wylie’s Magnum Portfolio

David Hurn

What advice would you give young photographers?
Don’t become a photographer unless its what you ‘have’ to do. It can’t be the easy option. If you become a photographer you will do a lot of walking so buy good shoes.
» David Hurn’s Magnum Portfolio

Dennis Stock

What advice would you give young photographers?
Young photographers should learn their craft well and don’t expect to make a constant living at taking pictures. But they should FOLLOW THEIR BLISS. Find time to pursue themes that indicate their concerns, big and small. Above all when shooting, MAKE AN ARTICULATE IMAGE.
» Dennis Stock’s Magnum Portfolio

Eli Reed

What advice would you give young photographers?
Stop talking theory when a camera is in their your and do not over-think the image. Lose the ego and let the photograph find you. Observe the life moving like a river around you and realize that the images you make may become part of the collective history of the time that you are living in.
» Eli Reed’s Magnum Portfolio

Elliott Erwitt

What advice would you give young photographers?
Learn the craft (which is not very hard). Carefully study past work of photographers and classic painters. Look and learn from movies. See where you can fit in as a “commercial” photographer. Commercial: meaning working for others and delivering a product on command. But most of all keep your personal photography as your separate hobby. If you are very good and diligent it just may pay off.
» Elliott Erwitt’s Magnum Portfolio

Lise Sarfati

What advice would you give young photographers?
Read a lot and create your own universe. Learn how to construct and create a series. Do not be impressed by other works. Try to innovate or simply to be yourself.
» Lise Sarfati’s Magnum Portfolio

Martine Franck

What advice would you give young photographers?
My advice to photographers is to get out there in the field and take photographs but also if they are students to finish their course, learn as many languages as possible, go to movies, read books visit museums, broaden your mind.
» Martine Frank’s Magnum Portfolio

Harry Gruyaert

What advice would you give young photographers?
Be yourself, Don’t copy anybody.
» Harry Gruyaert’s Magnum Portfolio

Hiroji Kubota

What advice would you give young photographers?
Study the works of the greatest photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertesz. Try to travel to many parts of the world and understand what a diverse world we live in.
» Hiroji Kubota’s Magnum Portfolio

John Vink

What advice would you give young photographers?
Don’t stop questioning yourself (it’ll make you less arrogant). Push. Push, scratch, dig… Push further… And stop when you don’t enjoy it anymore… But most of all respect those you photograph…
» John Vink’s Magnum Portfolio

Jonas Bendiksen

What advice would you give young photographers?
Throw yourself off a cliff. Figuratively speaking, I mean. Photography is a language. Think about what you want to use it to talk about. What are you interested in? What questions do you want to ask? Then, go for it, and throw yourself into talking about that topic, using photography. Make a body of work about that.
» Jonas Bendiksen’s Magnum Portfolio

Larry Towell

What advice would you give young photographers?
Be yourself and look outside of yourself.
» Larry Towell’s Magnum Portfolio

Mark Power

What advice would you give young photographers?
Although there are far more people trying to ‘be photographers’ than there were in those heady days of 1980, there are also far more opportunities. Gone are the days, thankfully, when a commercial assignment, or even a picture in a newspaper, can damage the chance of gallery representation.
Yet what is clear is that a number of ‘good pictures’ are no longer enough; today it has to be about ideas, and about the intent of the work. If you have something to say, and even better you have an innovative way of saying it then opportunities are out there.
I sense that photography is concerning itself with real issues again. For some time much of photography seemed to be about itself, and while this was fine, and interesting in some cases, it’s not what photography is really good at. Understand this by familiarising yourself with the rich and wonderful history of our medium. Be proud of it, what it has, and what it can, achieve. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. Be inspired. Try and copy, if you like (because no one can).
Find a subject you care about. Something that moves you. Something which stirs your rawest emotions. And then have patience.
» Mark Power’s Magnum Portfolio

Martin Parr

What advice would you give young photographers?
Find something you are passionate about, and shoot your way through this obsession with elegance and you will have potential great project.
» Martin Parr’s Magnum Portfolio

Mikhael Subotzky

What advice would you give young photographers?
Stick to one project for a long time. And keep working on it through many stages of learning, even if it might feel finished. Its the only way to break through what I think are some vital lessons that need to be learnt about story-telling and how to combine images.
» Mikhael Subotzky’s Magnum Portfolio

Olivia Arthur

What advice would you give young photographers?
My main piece of advice for young photographers who have just come out of college is to get away from the ‘hubs’ of photography like London and New York. There are so many photographers touting their portfolios round in places like this that people end up fighting to do jobs that are not what they really want, just to make ends meet. It’s the kind of environment that doesn’t fuel anyone’s creativity (well mostly anyway…). My advice: go out and do the things they really want to before getting tied in…if they don’t take the risk at the beginning they’ll find it much harder to come back and take it later on.
» Olivia Arthur’s Magnum Portfolio

Paolo Pellegrin

What advice would you give young photographers?
I believe photography – like many other things one does in life – is the exact expression of who one is at a given moment: every time you compose and release the shutter you give voice to your thoughts and opinions of the world around you. So other than the obvious patience (photography is a complex medium, a voice which requires time to develop) and perseverance and the necessary humility when dealing with others, I would recommend working to become a more developed and informed individual, a more knowledgeable and engaged citizen. This will translate into a deeper more complex understanding of the world around you, and ultimately into a richer and more meaningful photography.
» Paolo Pellegrin’s Magnum Portfolio

Patrick Zachmann

What advice would you give young photographers?
You have to fight for beeing a photographer! More seriously, my advice for young poeple is to go to exhibitions, to see books and try to do a personal project which they feel they have a unique approach of it because they are close the subject and need to express and understand urgently things about it.
Photography has something to do for me, like with Diane Arbus, with oneself through the others and with unconsciousness (sorry for my English: I mean “l’inconscient”) a psychoanalytic approach. I will answer to a third question because it’s linked with above: why did you become a photographer? I became a photographer because I don’t have memory. It took me quite a long time to understand that trough my personal researches (“Inquest of identity or a Jew in search of his memory”, “Chile. The roads of the memory”, “My father’s memory,” etc…), I was looking for the “missing” pictures. Making my book “Inquest of identity”, I found out that my aunt-my father’s sister who was a Nazi camp survivor- had at her home a picture of my grand-parents deported and killed in Auschwitz that my father never showed to us. Thanks photography, I met my father’s parents that I never knew. That’s what I like with photography. It helps me to understand myself and the past through the present.
» Patrick Zachmann’s Magnum Portfolio

Peter Marlow

What advice would you give young photographers?
Be yourself, get up early, and don’t try too hard, as whatever is trying to come out will come eventually without any effort, learn to trust your instincts and don’t think about what others will think or about the process too much. Work hard but enjoy it.
» Peter Marlow’s Magnum Portfolio

Steve McCurry

What advice would you give young photographers?
If you want to be a photographer, you have to photograph. If you look at the photographers’ work you admire, you will find that they have found a particular place or subject, and then have dug deep into it, and carved out something that is special. That takes a lot of dedication, passion, and work.
» Steve McCurry’s Magnum Portfolio

Stuart Franklin

What advice would you give young photographers?
Follow your heart and never give up.
» Stuart Franklin’s Magnum Portfolio

Susan Meiselas

What advice would you give young photographers?
Dig in and follow your instincts and trust your curiosity
» Susan Meiselas’s Magnum Portfolio

Thomas Dworzak

What advice would you give young photographers?
Try live something intense, at home, abroad… it does not matter. It has to be passionate. And once you know the basics forget about photography.
» Thomas Dworzaks’s Magnum Portfolio

Thomas Hoepker

What advice would you give young photographers?
Avoid all photo schools and courses. Most will give you lofty ideas and twist your mind in one direction. Find your own way to photography, nobody will ask you later if you have a diploma. Visit as many museums as you possibly can. The images you see (painted, drawn, etched or photographed) will stay with you for the rest of your life. They will help you to discover good pictures in real life. Suppress any silly ambitions of becoming a great artist. Being a good photographer is difficult enough.
» Thomas Hoepker’s Magnum Portfolio

Trent Parke

What advice would you give young photographers?
To photograph what is closest to you and the things that you enjoy and have an interest in. Make the whole process as fun and least difficult as possible.

Job

2012-01-23T15:25:00.001-08:00

Date: January 23, 2012

Fm: www.southeasternartgallerynews.com

Re: Part time Job opening for SCAD student or recent art school graduate

Job Description:

Southeastern Art Gallery News needs a research assistant to at their Norcross, GA location. The pay is $18 per hour. This is part time work.

This is open to current students or recent graduates. The work is 2-3 days per week depending on your schedule.

If you are interested in this contract position send an email to jmrapp7@yahoo.com with the words “Art Research Assistant” in the message subject line. Include short description on why you think you will be good for this job. Include your resume as an attached file or paste into the message. Please include links to your web site and your Facebook account name.

Here is a great local call for entries

2012-01-20T17:32:00.001-08:00

Good afternoon! Attached is the annual call for Collage submissions.

Collage is an art and art history program that invites any undergraduate
students enrolled in ARCHE schools to submit artwork and/or art history
papers. Please encourage all of your students to apply.

Friday, April 13th, 2012
Department of Art and Art History
Agnes Scott College

This year’s Collage committee invites you to participate in the 6th annual
art colloquium for students in metro Atlanta. Please submit works for a
juried exhibition at The Dalton Gallery and/or for presentations of art
historical scholarship and studio practices.

Digital Submission Deadline: February 15, 2011

Please Include On All Submissions: Full name, e-mail address, phone number,
academic affiliation, and supervising instructor Images: Up to 8 works in
jpeg format, no larger than 3 MB, with an image list (title, date, medium,
dimensions) and an artist statement (up to 250 words) Paper Presentation: an
abstract (up to 250 words) Send submissions to: collage@agnesscott.edu
Students may submit work for both the exhibition and the presentations.

For more information please direct all inquires to: collage@agnesscott.edu
We look forward to your participation!
Find us on Facebook: Collage Arts Colloquium

These should be the new laws of the Art World

2012-01-20T05:35:00.000-08:00

Mat Gleason

Twelve Art World Habits to Ditch in 2012

It is 2012, but in the art world it is often still 1966. Some of the "traditions" underlying the business side of the gallery and museum world date back decades. Don't let 'em fool you that they are hip. The art world is a bunch of stubborn ninnies who learn to do things one way and insist that things never be done a different way. Everyone has great career advice for you that is current for 1979, or 1985 or 1994, whatever year they broke into the art world -- that is the master plan they insist everyone must follow; they assert you will not succeed unless you, too, do things like they did back then. Understand two things: The art world doesn't replace its dinosaurs, it gives them retrospectives, and two, the first caveman who left the cave was the first performance artist and nobody has topped him since. Here are 12 things about the art world that need to disappear for good.
Consignment
Painter Mark Kostabi's slogan sums it up "Ending Lending is Beginning Winning". Artists have traditionally consigned artwork to galleries. When the artwork sells, the gallery and the artist splits the sale 50/50. When the work does not sell, the artist gets the art back. This is the way the game is played and it is ludicrous. In this scenario, the artist literally loans the gallery collateral at no risk to the gallery and with no interest on the loan. An alternate way of doing things might be to imitate, oh I dunno, how about... the way every other business on earth operates: The gallery should just buy the art from the artist. How hard is that? If the gallery cannot afford it, either they should find an artist who will sell them work for what they can afford or they should get out of the gallery business, which they are not in if they cannot afford to purchase inventory. Of course, this works in the benefit of the gallery too -- you can mark up the work 200 percent if you like. Buy 10 paintings for $100 each. Sell them for 20 grand each.
Academic Curators
The realm of the visual is inherently non-verbal. Academia is a lecture-based system of auditory and linguistic learning. Pretty much the polar opposite of art. And yet here come the pinheads with their Ph.D. theses (rhymes with feces) getting every damn thing wrong about the art and making sure none of their presentation is enjoyable nor accessible to people outside their peer group. Their ruse is the implication that art is intellectual. Art is sensual. Academics are not. Sleep with a few (your grad school professor is almost always willing) and tell me I am wrong.
Marketers
Who gets paid first in the art world these days? Promotional idiots with tired gimmicks and antiquated postcard mailing lists. The marketers are taking the cream off the top of the art world latte. Marketers are people who know nothing abut the creative process and feel happier watching an episode of Friends than they do looking at new and exciting work or having an interesting gallery space experience. Art is the antidote to culture, not another client of the machine.
Paid Writers
Think about it. A painter struggles in his or her studio with a stack of canvasses, tubes of oil paints and nothing but time. It is a romantic vision we can all accept. It is also pretty much the only way that great painting takes place. But ask an art writer to write about your art and they want $3 a word. Where is the romance and pursuit of pure artistic vision for the writer? Suddenly the slob at your opening is quoting prices like your 401K advisor. Writers have become sharks because, like the academics, people who are good with words either manipulate you with them or exclude you from the discussion. Verbosity is often used as a weapon to seize power in the arts, populated as they are by visual learners and masters of non-verbal expression. Beware of the writer whose desk has blank invoices in the drawer.
Charity Auctions
I ranted about this on the Huffington Post last year. Bottom line is the price your art goes for at a charity event is the golden "what the market will bear" amount. Do you want the world to know that in a roomful of millionaires eager to support a good cause your donated painting could not get a minimum bid of $50? And of course, if your piece did not sell, don't expect the non-art non-profit hacks to know how to handle and return it to you.
China
I can make a lousy painting today of George Bush performing a sexual act with Barack Obama. Nobody is going to like it or buy it but nobody is going to knock on my door tonight and take me away for painting it. Call me when you have two billionaire army general art collectors bid up the price on your painting of Hu Jintao having a threesome with Confucius and Mao Tse Tung. Until then, you can let a thousand sub-par Thomas Kinkades bloom -- it is the only way to stay out of jail.
Diploma Mills
Tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt used to at least get you a diploma that led to a decent job. Those jobs are gone now. Long gone. They are not coming back. No matter how prestigious the school and how fantastic the program, MFA art programs are just a summer camp experience with pretense and attitude. The art they produce is not demonstrably better than art produced outside of academic dialogues. Many people enjoy MFA programs. Cut-throat capitalist bankers at student loan portfolio departments love them more than any student or faculty member would ever realize, until it is too late...
Rules
There are too many of them. You do whatever you want. You can even be so great that you actually achieve a complete and total failure. Then you can make art. But you never have to follow any of the rules and anyone who says you do... well he or she just hasn't failed enough to realize this.
Experts
Art is subjective. There inherently cannot be experts.
Series
Artists are told to work in series. It is one way of doing things. To posit that it is the only way or the best way is as dumb as saying every painting should be 40 percent earth tones. Huh? Yeah, that dumb.
Reading Graffiti Art
Street art is the best abstract painting of the past 60 years. Rationalizing one wall as somehow better because of individual authorship (instead of innovative composition) misses the whole point. Let's not take the people's medium against the power of property and make it into another celebrity manufacturing game. Enjoy abstract vandalism at its most beautiful without obsessing over who authored the specific letters on the wall. And what is closer to the bottom of the barrel: Street art gallerists, street art curators or street art academics? On what sad date did aerosol spray paint become synonymous with cotton candy?
Artists As Their Own Manager
You gotta do this, and you gotta do that, and most of all you have to buy the art advice book on how you can make it on your own as an artist by doing all of this stuff on your own. Advice is now an industry. Just make the art and sell it for whatever it takes to get it out of the studio and make more. Don't buy the book. It is probably rehashed if not flat-out plagiarized from the other books. There is no blueprint for a masterpiece and there is no blueprint for a successful art career. Like Gandhi said, "What you do will not be important but it is important that you do it." he didn't add "...so buy the overpriced book and DVD series on how to succeed at doing that unimportant important thing."
Happy New Year to all the artists and art appreciators. Let's hope 2012 is a masterpiece in which all can exalt the fruit of the creative process and ignore the pretense and hype.