Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson

The Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, Colorado is celebrating its fifth anniversary. With a new facility, and a growing roster of events and educational offerings, I’m sure the next five years will bring more opportunities for photographers to connect, in person and on line.

I want to draw to your attention an upcoming deadline for a competition to by judged by my colleague DARIUS HIMES:

“Fifteen photographers will be chosen to display their twelve-image portfolio in The Center for Fine Art Photography’s special Online and Print Portfolio Show and be included the Center’s new book publication Artists ShowCase, volume 1, issue 1.

The show will also be featured on the Center’s web site at www.c4fap.org from September 1 – September 30, 2008 and will remain online for the next two years.

The Center is pleased to provide artists with an economical means of having their work reviewed by an international juror and exhibited with no printing, framing or shipping costs involved.

Theme: Open - There is no theme for this exhibition. The images will be evaluated as a cohesive body of work, rather than individual images.

Juror: Darius Himes
Darius Himes was the founding editor of photo-eye Booklist, a quarterly magazine devoted to photography books, from 2002-2007. He is a founding member of Radius Books, a Santa Fe- based company created in 2007 that publishes books on the visual arts, where he works as an editor. He is also a lecturer, consultant, educator and writer, having contributed to Blind Spot, Bookforum, BOMB, PDN, and American Photo. Himes is an occasional adjunct professor of photographic arts at the College of Santa Fe. He earned his BFA in Photography from Arizona State University, Tempe, and a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Santa Fe campus, and actively pursues his own photographic image-making.

The Center for Fine Art Photography invites photographers working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought to participate in this exhibition. Traditional, contemporary, avant-garde, creative and experimental works that include old and new processes, mixed techniques, and challenging personal, emotional or political statements are welcome. The exhibition is open world wide to all professional and amateur photographers working with digital or traditional photography or combinations of both.

See ‘Calls for Entry‘ on the Center’s website for more opportunities.”

News this week from, and about, NEW ORLEANS

Jennifer Shaw from New Orleans Photo Alliance to say registration for PhotoNola 3 will open to all on August 15th, and that the reviewer invitations are complete and posted on the PhotoNola event blog. I can’t wait to be back in New Orleans, and applaud NOPA for bringing such a diverse group of reviewers together for this weekend-long portfolio review event. Portfolio Reviews will take place Dec 6 & 7 at the International House Hotel. Registration will open on August 15, and be filled on a first come first served basis. Check the PhotoNOLA website in the next few weeks for more information. Bring yourselves and your work to PhotoNola!

David Bram, Fractionmag.com, Albuquerque, NM
Alejandro Castellanos, Director, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
Jörg Colberg, Conscientious, Northampton, MA
Rose Courville, Curator, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
Crista Dix, Owner/Director, Wall Space Gallery, Seattle, WA
Roy Flukinger, Curator, Harry Ransom Research Center, Austin, TX
Pascale Giffard, Exhibitions Manager, Les Recontres d’Arles, France
Reuel Golden, Executive Editor, Photo District News (PDN), NY
MaryAnne Golon, TIME, New York, NY
David Houston, Curator, Ogden Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Russell Joslin, SHOTS Magazine, Minneapolis, MN
Stella Kramer, Photography Consultant, New York, NY
Melanie McWhorter, photo-eye, Santa Fe, NM
Charles Megnin, Owner, The Darkroom, New Orleans, LA
Ann Pallesen, Photographic Center NorthWest, Seattle, WA
Doug Parker, Times Picayune , New Orleans, LA
Kira Pollack, New York Times Magazine, New York, NY
George Slade, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
Susan Spiritus, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach, CA
Mary Virginia Swanson, Marketing Consultant, Tucson, AZ/NYC
Hannah Watson, Trolley Books, London
Clint Willour, Executive Director & Curator, Galveston Arts Center, TX
Jack Woody, Twin Palms Publishers, Santa Fe, NM
Del Zogg, Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonHouston, TX
And today Aric Meyer wrote to tell me “My paper, “Aesthetics of Catastrophe,” in which discuss the aesthetic dimensions of visually depicting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and some of their political implications, is in the current issue of Public Culture (Duke University.)” Click on the above link to read an excerpt. Regaring his photographs of New Orleans, Meyer shares that ” My objective was (and continues to be) not only to present the images of the storm’s aftermath, but to critique our reception and expectations of them as well.”

I’m a fan of Weekend Edition on NPR. This morning, just after hearing Daniel Shorr sing “Brother Can You Spare A Dime?” came the familiar voice of photojournalist ED KASHI. Ed spoke with Weekend Edition Sunday’s host Liane Hansen about his newest book Curse of the Black Gold about the effects of the oil industry on the Niger Delta. You can hear the 5 minute segment, and view the “Web Extra” short video within this page view.

Ed has produced an incredibly informative website for the book: www.curseoftheblackgold.com.

Selections from this project were accepted into the 2008 Communications Arts Photography Annual (coming in August).

Be sure to visit Ed’s great website, organized by PORTFOLIOS, PHOTO ESSAYS, PUBLISHED, MULTIMEDIA/FILMS, BOOK PROJECTS, LICENSE IMAGES and more - reflections of an interesting career, one rich with completed projects and broad audience reach.

Don’t miss NIGERIAN OIL: The Great Spoiler the multimedia piece National Geographic produced with Ed’s photographs and audio.

Ed and his partner Julie Winokur were early adopters to multimedia in order to give voice to their subjects; they have collaborated with Brian Storm on many groundbreaking projects. They include The Sandwich Generation, Friends for Life and most recently Iraqi Kurdistan. I never miss the chance to hear them speak about their important work, and look forward with great anticipation to their next project. They are role models for the next generation of photographers, photojournalists and filmmakers.

PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK NOW: DEADLINE July 14th

This new publication competition has a great roster of Judges, and a $25,000 first price. If you are interested in entering, create the book you would love to have produced (using BLURB’s free Booksmart software) and either digitally or in hard copy.

To me, there are two great benefits of entering.

First, it will cause you to think seriously about the book you want, to edit, sequence, think about captions, text, EVERYTHING related to the book you would love to have to showcase your work.

Second, your dream book will be seen by this group of Judges:

Darius Himes, Head Judge, Co-Founder, Radius Books, Santa Fe

Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Gallery, NYC

Elisabeth Biondi, Visuals Editor, The New Yorker

Frish Brandt, Director and partner, Fraenkel Gallery

Charlotte Cotton, Curator and Head of Department, Photography. Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Stephen Gill, Photographer

Lesley A. Martin, Aperture Books

Alan E. Rapp, Senior editor of art, design and photography books at Chronicle Books

Kathy Ryan, Photography Director, The New York Times Magazine

Brian Ulrich, Photographer

Denise Wolff, Commissioning Editor for Photography, Phaidon Press

There will also be an educational component that lead juror Darius Himes is organizing called “The Photography.Book.Now International Salon and Symposium which includes a half-day program of panels and presentations exploring the modern photography book movement. You’ll hear working photographers talk about their books, hear industry practitioners discuss how to curate and design books, and learn how to market a successful book.”

If you have been thinking about a book of your work, now is the time…

Good luck!

Please note: Due to the high volume of requests, it is not possible for Aperture’s editors to review unsolicited material outside of the Portfolio Prize competition. Thank you for your understanding.

There was a segment on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” show on the centuries old art of bookbinding that you all might enjoy; here’s the link to the six minute segment:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4217772n

My colleage Darius Himes at Radius Books tells me there are a few spaces left in his one-week publishing intensive that is part of the Santa Fe Workshops this summer. His course begins the evening of the 13th and wrapping up the morning of the 19th. Click here to view the course description.

And those of you in the Santa Fe area - remember that the Monday and Tuesday evening Santa Fe Workshop Faculty Lecture Series is free and open to the public - take advantage of these inspiring presentations!

From the press release:

“The faculty speak each Monday and Tuesday evening at 8:30 p.m. now through Tuesday August 5th, held at in the are held in the newly remodeled and air-conditioned auditorium of the Santa Fe Preparatory School on Camino Cruz Blanca. These lectures present three or four photographers each evening and are free to the public. For up-to-the minute scheduling, call the Workshops office at (505) 983-1400, extension 11.”

I’m in Houston this week and will be giving a lecture on Thursday evening at the Houston Center for Photography to honor the memory of my late friend John Cleary. HCP is currently exhibiting of selection of images from his collection, and will host an official naming ceremony for the John Cleary Library this coming Saturday.

To learn more about my lecture June 26th to benefit the John Cleary Library, click here.

To learn more about the John Cleary Library at HCP, click here.

To learn more about attending the Library’s naming Ceremony on Saturday, June 28th, click here.

To learn more about the exhibition of images from John Cleary’s collection, click here.

I hope to see many of you later this week in Houston!

From the Corcoran website:

ACCESS TO LIFE

Exhibition on view at the Corcoran from June 14 - July 20, 2008

In 2007, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria initiated a joint project with Magnum Photos to graphically document the positive impact that free antiretroviral drug treatment is having on the lives of millions of AIDS patients around the world. The AIDS pandemic is the greatest public health challenge the world has ever faced. It has had a particularly devastating impact in many parts of the world where access to even basic health care is limited. Internationally, the story of AIDS’ toll on communities is better known than the efforts financed by organizations like the Global Fund. Through carefully-monitored grants, the Global Fund supports treatment for millions of AIDS patients, individuals who would face certain death if antiretroviral drugs were not made available for free. Access to Life is an artistic and educational response to the lifesaving success of this effort.

To document its efforts, the Global Fund turned to photographic cooperative Magnum Photos in order to utilize the talents of the some of the best photographers in the world. An international team of eight noted photographers traveled to nine countries to document the transformative effects of treatment on more than thirty individuals and their families. The photographic team included Americans Jim Goldberg, Eli Reed and Steve McCurry; Canadian Larry Towell,; Norwegian Jonas Bendiksen; Italians Paolo Pellegrin and Alex Majoli; and Frenchman Gilles Peress. In India, Haiti, Mali, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Vietnam, the photographers created visual chronicles that encompassed their subjects’ lives both before and after drug treatments. The resulting exhibition, curated by William Horrigan, director of media arts at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, is a powerful document of the strong spirit of each patient, of the life-changing impact of the drugs and of the crucial benefit of international funding.

After opening at the Corcoran in June, the exhibition will travel to Mexico City, Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome throughout 2008 and 2009. A book will be launched to coincide with the European launch of the project.

Magnum Photos is a photographic co-operative of great distinction owned by its photographer-members. Acclaimed for their powerful individual vision, Magnum photographers chronicle the world and interpret its people, events, issues, and personalities with empathy for their subjects.

Founded at the Museum of Modern Art upon the close of World War II (1947) by legendary photographers Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David “Chim” Seymour, Magnum Photos celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007. Today, the agency encompasses more than 70 members of extraordinary talent and diversity and reflects a long-standing tradition of individual vision. Through its four editorial offices in New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo; a digital library of 450,000 images; and a network of 15 sub-agents, Magnum Photos provides photographs to the press, publishers, advertising, galleries, and museums across the world. Its Cultural Department produces more than 200 exhibitions per year worldwide. By capturing defining moments of the 20th century with iconic images that have shaped our collective memory, Magnum Photos continues to set a standard for photographic integrity and authorship.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is supporting lifesaving treatment with ARVs for more than 1.4 million people worldwide. The Global Fund is a unique global public/private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector, and affected communities was founded just over six years ago and represents a new approach to international health financing. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases.

Apart from a high standard of technical quality, the Global Fund attaches no conditions to any of its grants. It is not an implementing agency, instead relying on local ownership and planning to ensure that new resources are directed to programs on the frontline of this global effort to reach those most in need. Its performance-based approach to grant-making is designed to ensure that funds are used efficiently and create real change for people and communities. All programs are monitored by independent organizations contracted by the Global Fund to ensure that its funding has an impact in the fight against these three pandemics.

On Friday morning, May 23rd, our photography community lost on of its strongest voices for authenticity and education. Cornell Capa was an outstanding photojournalist but will be best known among photographers young and old for his contributions as president of Magnum Photos and founder of the International Center for Photography, both pillars of excellence. The number of photographers who have been inspired by all that ICP offers is impossible to count. And, Cornell’s loss comes painfully close to the recent losses of his long-time Magnum colleagues Philip Jones Griffiths and Burt Glinn.

To read the ICP remembrance click here

To see read about Cornell’s life and view the prepared slide show on Magnum’s Blog, click here.

Read the New York Times remembrance written by Philip Gefter here

Read the LA Times obituary here

Read the International Herald Tribune obituary here

To read the PDN Obituary, click here.

Read and listen to the remembrance of NPR’s All Things Considered here

When print dealer Peter Fetterman produced a catalogue of Capa’s work in 2001, it featured this piece written by the late Richard Whelan, biographer of Cornell’s older brother Robert Capa:

“During the course of his life, Cornell Capa has had three major and interrelated careers: (1) as a photographer who worked extensively for Life magazine and who has long been a member of the influential Magnum agency; (2) as the champion and editor of his brother Robert Capa¼s work; and (3) as the founder and director of the International Center of Photography in New York. After the opening of ICP in 1974, Cornell Capa had no time to pursue his own career as a photographer. Furthermore, his modesty and ethics prevented him from using his position to promote the photographs that he had made during nearly thirty years with Life and Magnum. Thus Cornell Capa the photographer has been overshadowed- indeed, almost completely hidden- by Cornell Capa the founder of ICP and by Cornell Capa the brother of Robert. Cornell Capa coined the phrase “concerned photographer” to signify a photographer who is passionately dedicated to doing work that will contribute to the understanding or the well-being of humanity- work that focuses with compassion, with intelligence, with warmth and generosity of spirit upon the human condition. Cornell Capa is himself a deeply concerned photographer. To all his work he brings his love of people and his profound concern for the plight of humanity. Robert Capa never photographed war as a dispassionate observer but rather always as a partisan. He used his camera not merely to make an accurate record but also to help the side in whose cause he believed. Cornell Capa has done the same as a photographer of peace. He has photographed, as a partisan fighting the cause of humanity, what he loves and what he hates. He often quotes the words of reformer-photographer Lewis W. Hine: “There were two things that I wanted to do. I wanted to show the things that needed to be corrected. And I wanted to show the things that needed to be appreciated.” That is precisely what Cornell has dedicated his life to doing. As a teenager, Cornell wanted to become a doctor so that he could help humanity. Instead, he became a humanitarian photographer. It is very revealing that he became deeply involved in photographing the work of missionaries in Central and South America, for he himself is a kind of missionary, dedicated to advancing the cause of human decency through the power of photographic images to changed the ways in which people look at their world. Cornell Capa is above all else a photographer of people. No landscape or citiscape interests him unless it is populated. Robert Capa once remarked that the best advice he could give to other photographers was: “Like people and let them know it.” That phrase could easily serve as the motto for the entire professional career of Cornell Capa. Without any doubt the quality that characterizes and unites all of Cornell¼s work is his extraordinary rapport with the people he photographs. Like his brother, Cornell puts his subjects at ease with his friendship, his sensitivity, his sympathy, and his enthusiasm. Cornell never exploits his subjects to make a sensationalistic picture; to him a good picture is one that does justice to its subject. Similarly with John F. Kennedy, Cornell was an enthusiastic supporter. After having covered Kennedy’s campaign, he was so moved by the new president’s inaugural address that he conceived- and was able to put into immediate execution- a project for nine Magnum photographers to cover every aspect of the administration’s first 100 days. Cornell himself covered the White House, where he was warmly accepted by Kennedy and his wife. (Indeed, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis became an important early supporter of ICP.) In a completely different area of experience, Cornell’s photo-essay about an elderly woman living with her son and daughter-in-law in Philadelphia certainly derived much of its effectiveness from Cornell’s great sympathy with the old lady. His own beloved but demanding mother had lived for many years with him and his wife, Edie, and he was thus well aware of the difficulties on both sides of such a situation. When Camera magazine asked Cornell in 1963 to make a selection of his own photographs for publication, he replied, “Single photographs are not what I do best. My most effective work is groups of photographs which hand together and tell stories. My pictures are the words which make up sentences which in turn form the story… I hope that as often as possible my pictures may have feeling, composition, and sometimes beauty- but my preoccupation is with the story and not with attaining a fine-art level in the individual pictures.” Nevertheless, although Cornell nearly always set out to shoot groups of pictures that would cohere to form a factual and revealing narrative, the fact remains that within most of his photo-essays certain pictures stand out so strongly- because of the feelings that they capture, because of the effectiveness of their composition, and because of the beauty of the impact of the subject as seen and recorded on film by the photographer- that they sum up the entire story and even transcend it. They remain imbued with the very essence of the specific situation or person that they portray, and yet they simultaneously resonate with universal human experience. In other words, they are art. Even in isolation they speak whole sentences, and indeed whole volumes. They stand very solidly on their own and engrave themselves permanently upon the memory. © Richard Whelan, 2001. All rights reserved. From to the book, Cornell Capa, published by The Peter Fetterman Gallery, September 1st, 2001″

The Press Release from ICP is downloadable from this page as a pdf and informs us of the following:

“Buriel is private. A memorial service will be held on September 10th at 10 a.m. at The Times Center at 242 West 41st Street in Manhattan. Contributions in the memor of Cornell Capa may be made to the Cornell Capa Legacy Project, International Center for Photography, 1114 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY 10036; or by calling Chuck Ferrero at 212-857-0036.”