Marketing Photos with Mary Virginia Swanson

First email of the new year comes from Magenta Foundations’s MaryAnn Camilleri: ”As has sometimes happened in previous years, so many people tried to submit at once on the day of the deadline that some of them could not get through, or experienced random errors. Additionally, the submission system apparently started putting up the message that submissions were closed a few hours early, due to an error in the time zone settings on the server.

In order to ease the crunch and allow everyone who has been trying to submit to get their work in, the deadline for FLASH FORWARD 2010 has been extended toJanuary 17, 2010. This should allow the remaining submissions to be spread over a longer time and ease the load on the server, but if you still encounter any sort of trouble, please email support@magentafoundation.org and let us know.”

Click here to view the guidelines for submissions, and to begin your submission if you’re ready.

As of this writing there are a few spaces left in my upcoming workshop “Presenting Your Work to the Fine Art Community” for Julia Dean Photo Workshops. We will begin on Friday night, January 8 and conclude by 6 pm on Sunday, January 10th.

From the catalogue: In this workshop, Mary Virginia Swanson provides insights into the most effective avenues for photographers to introduce their work to gallery and museum professionals. She discusses the value of entering national and international juried exhibitions and participating in portfolio review events. Important art fairs are discussed from the perspective of helping artists assess prices and edition sizes, and research the marketplace towards potential venues for their work. Effective self-promotion materials are shared with participants, as are the professional practices necessary to successfully present their work. She will discuss ‘talking points’ when given the opportunity to sign with a gallery for representation. In addition to the collecting market, Swanson will discuss the issues relating to granting the rights to reproduce (license) images and related negotiations. Participants are invited to bring several samples of their work to share with the class (not required). Swanson’s book, The Business of Photography: Principles and Practices will be provided to all participants as the course workbook.

The workshop will be held at JDPW’s facilities on Ocean Front Walk in Venice, California.

If you are going to LA for either Review LA or Photo LA (both of which begin on January 14th),consider coming early and joining us at JDPW for my workshop!

The deadline is rapidly approaching for “The New Documentarian Award for a Long Term Project” established and sponsored by the Julia Dean Photo Workshops. Entries must arrive at JDPW by 5 pm on Monday, January 11th. Cash award to the first-place winner is $1000.00.

Click here for complete application instructions.

Click here to see the work of the 2008 finalists and winner Matt Eich, click here to see the work of the 2006 finalists and winner Keri Collins

I encourage those of you that are working on personal documentary project to apply. The guidelines state that in addition to 15-25 images and an “inventory page” with complete caption information, each applicant must submit a “Statement of Purpose that includes a description of your project, your reasons for doing this project, what you hope to accomplish with this project, and the progress of the project.”

Completing the written component of this Award will be a challenge but one that I urge readers to tackle. This, along with the challenge of editing your project images to a group no larger than 25, will provide you with the materials so often needed for grant applications, and make it easier for you to enter other competitions. As my friend Susan kae Grant tells her students “If you don’t apply, you will have a 100% chance that your work won’t be selected.” Start your edit!