photography competitions

Are You a Master of iPhoneography? Enter Mobile Masters PROOF Contest

If your iPhone images might rank among the best of the nascent Mobile Photography Movement, consider entering them in the Mobile Masters PROOF contest. The contest will help generate interest in the full-day iPhoneography Mobile Masters seminar that will be held March 26 before the 2014 MacWorld/iWorld Conference March 27-29 in San Francisco.

MM_Artist_2014

The Mobile Masters workshop will be led by three accomplished professionals in photography, design, production, and art direction. All three are passionate and experienced artists in what they consider a fast-emerging genre of photography. The speakers are:

Registered workshop attendees can enter the contest free. If you can’t attend the seminar, you enter a portfolio of images for $30. Entry deadline is March 2.

Each of the 48 contest winners will receive a feature spread in the second edition of the Mobile Masters iTunes eBook along with other prizes.

MobileMastersE-Book“Our aim is to showcase Mobile Photography as a distinctive new movement in the history of the art form,” explains Dan Marcolina. “Last year’s edition was by invitation only. But with so much exciting work emerging from a diverse range of people, we wanted to invite everyone — from novice to pro — to submit work for inclusion. We want to identify the world’s top 48 artists who are breaking new ground in mobile image discovery and invention.”

Since good work is more about a sustained vision across a body of work (instead of one or two lucky shots), the judges want to see e-portfolios of work submitted via a link to Flickr, Instagram or other site.

If your work is chosen for inclusion, the judges will select six of your images to feature in the e-book. The two entry categories include:

  • Image Discovery: straight shots (street photography) with minimal image manipulation
  • Image Invention: images that use app stacking techniques to create abstracted reality, composite images, or painting-like effects.

To help ensure that the results will serve as a historical record of the best work in this emerging new evolution in photography, the Mobile Masters PROOF content will be judged by three experts in traditional photography and three experts in mobile photography. The winners will be announced on March 26 and your images will be shown at MacWorld/iWorld.

iPhoneography Mobile Masters Workshop

MobileMastersImageIf you want to fine-tune your mobile photography skills, the all-day (10 am to 5 pm) workshop can be a good place to start. Marcolina, Hollingsworth and Kuster have researched and refined the best workflows for shooting, using apps, and sharing images. They will not just teach you how they work, but why they choose to do things a certain way.

At the iPhoneography workshop held at the 2013 Macworld/iWorld, the seminar leaders discussed how mobile photography was crossing the threshold of viability and acceptability. Now, they believe the public has begun to recognize that mobile photography is unleashing a vast new genre of art, products and services.

They regard the Mobile Masters PROOF competition as way to prove to the world that mobile photography is maturing as an art form.

LINKS

Mobile Masters PROOF Contest

Mobile Masters Workshop at MacWorld/iWorld

Mobile Masters E-Book on iTunes

RESOURCES

iPhone Obsessed: Photo editing experiments with Apps

See Award-Winning Images at Art of Photography Show

PHOTOGRAPHERS. The Art of Photography Show provides an excellent opportunity to have your best images viewed by some of the top photography curators in the nation.

The images for the 2013 Art of Photography Show were chosen by Julia Doran, curator of photography at the Portland Art Museum. Judges of previous competitions have come from the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego.

The ninth edition of the Art of Photography Show opened this weekend at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park and runs through November 17, 2013. The winners of $10,000 in cash awards were announced at the show’s Opening Reception Gala on Saturday, October 12.

A $2,000 grant was awarded to Iranian photojournalist Hossein Fatemi for his image “Landmine Legacy.” Other grant winners included Simon Mulvaney for “Age,” Keith Sharp for “Curtain Call,” and Marilynn Waters for “The Conversation.”

The exhibition features 201 compelling works from amateur and professional photographers in the United States, Norway, Georgia, Israel, Denmark, Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, Latvia, Netherlands, Germany, Egypt, Japan, Iran, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Sweden, Albania, France, China, Spain, Canada, Turkey, Nigeria, Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, Namibia, Pakistan, and Singapore.

Photos by (left to right): David Eckels, Mark Esper, Klaus Kampert
Photos by (left to right): David Eckels, Mark Esper, Klaus Kampert

The Art of Photography Show was specifically designed to reach a large community of art collectors, luxury consumers, corporate heads, civic leaders, and other influential members of the San Diego community.

“Our goal is to provide as many tangible benefits as possible to exhibiting artists,” explains Steven Churchill, the show’s producer. “The cash awards, accolades, media coverage, and sales revenue that we provide artists who are selected by our acclaimed judge are substantial.”

Artists who traveled to San Diego for the opening weekend mingled with the other winners, met curator Julia Doran, and enjoyed a private after-party and museum outings.

All works at the exhibition are for sale, and sales staff familiar with the works mingled with the patrons at the Opening Reception, answering questions, and introducing artists. Additional events such as artist talks and mixers are planned throughout the show to call attention to works, sell more art, and enrich the community.

If you would like your work to be considered for next year’s event, check the website frequently for details on how and when to enter. Better yet, sign up for a free membership to The Art of Photography Show community.  You will receive emails about entry deadlines, special events, and new Art of Photography Show projects.

“We welcome submissions by any living photographer, young or old,” says Lisa Smith, associate producer of the show, “The photographs do not have to be from a newly created body of work. We are looking for works that are important to the artists from any time in their careers…We want to show the work that you feel most strongly about.”

LINKS

Grant Winners and All Images in 2013 Art of Photography Show

The Art of Photography Show

 

Enter Applied Arts Magazine’s Photography and Illustration Awards Competition

AppliedArtsUntil January 11, 2013, the visual-communications magazine Applied Arts is accepting entries for their 2013 Photography & Illustration Awards. Now in its twenty-third year, the contest is open to creative professionals and enthusiasts from any country. All forms of commissioned, published, unpublished and personal photography or illustration work created between January 2012 and January 2013 can be submitted.

The contest will be judged by panels of highly regarded industry professionals and experts in a rigorous process developed over our two decades of awards experience. Every entry is scored independently by each judge, based on creative merit, technical excellence and suitability for end use.

Winners receive valuable exposure to potential clients who commission original art. If you win, your work will be showcased in the magazine, displayed at an exhibition, and preserved in a database that makes it easy for potential clients to discover current and past winners.

AppliedArtsCoverSince 1986, Applied Arts magazine has been delivering gorgeous imagery, timely information, and industry insight to creative and marketing professionals. You can view past issues and the archives of previous winners on the Applied Arts website.

LINKS

Applied Arts Photography and Illustration Awards

Entry Requirements: Applied Arts 2013 Photography and Illustration Awards

About Applied Arts Magazine

 

Competition Site Helps Employers Find Talented Creatives

DESIGNERS. Pxldust.com is a digital design and photography competition site that was formed to help give creative businesses easy access to talent that has been “battle tested” through public and peer evaluation.

Veteran Los Angeles Graphic Designer/Art Director Matt Ansoorian established pxldust.com as a community for illustrators, graphic designers, and photographers with marketable skills to showcase their work.

The work posted on the competition site is not only voted upon by a general audience of site visitors, but also by other photographers, designers, and illustrations.

At the end of the each quarter, pixldust.com announces the top vote-getters in the three categories (photography, graphic design, and illustration). The top 12 winning entries receive cash and other prizes. For example, the three first-place winners of the current contest will each receive a Wacom Intuous 5 tablet (medium size) valued at $349.

“We believe the voting reveals popularity and salability of individual pieces of art.  Non-members, primarily retail businesses, can see what art can and will sell and how that art translates into a larger market,” Ansoorian said. According to Ansoorian, some artists represented on pxldust.com have been commissioned to work on high-profile projects.

As a creative, you can develop connections with other creative pros while making your work visible to business people visiting the site in search of talent.

You can set up a personal profile page with bio, portfolio, and linkable URL address. In the site’s “Crit Room,” you can post work that is still in progress, and request constructive feedback and problem-solving advice from your peers.

LINKS

pixldust.com

 

The Art of Photography Show Can Help You Get Exposure

PHOTOGRAPHERS. Entries are now being accepted for the eighth annual Art of Photography Show in San Diego, California. Entering the show gives you the opportunity to have your work viewed by an acclaimed museum curator and be considered for a physical gallery exhibition that attracts tens of thousands of people.

In addition, cash awards totalling $10,000 are given to the 15 top participants.

  • First Place Award: $2,000
  • Second Place Award: $1,600
  • Third Place Award: $1,200
  • Fourth Place Award: $800
  • Honorable Mentions (11): $400

The judge for the 2012 Art of Photography Show is Julian Cox, the curator of photography and chief curator at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Images created using any form of photography will be accepted for consideration, including:

  • images shot on film
  • images shot digitally
  • images that have been unaltered
  • digitally manipulated images
  • alternative-process prints
  • mixed-media works
  • montages
  • photograms

All entries must be submitted as a digital file in the JPEG format. The entry fee is $25 for the first entry, and $10 for each additional entry. A 25% discount is available for entries submitted by February 14. The deadline for all entries is midnight PST, June 30, 2012.

If your entry is among the top 200 chosen by Julian Cox, you will be notified via e-mail on August 7 and your work will be permanently displayed on The Art of Photography website.

Gallery Exhibition Attracts Potential Buyers

From the 200 top entries, Cox will select around 100 images to be displayed is the physical gallery exhibition that will run from September 29 through November 11, 2012.

Being in the top 200 means that all artists will have earned the same level of achievement, explains Art of Photography Show founder Steven Churchill, “But the judge will curate which images fit best together in the physical gallery space.”

The Art of Photography Show in San Diego, California is viewed by tens of thousands of people, including more than 1,500 collectors, business owners, architects and designers, and high net-worth residents who attend the show’s opening gala.  All of the top images are published in the catalog that is distributed to at the opening-night gala and other events held in conjunction with the show.

“The 2011 competition surpassed all expectations, attracting entries from 72 countries,” says Churchill.  “About 30,000 people viewed the exhibit, and we are expecting an even bigger response to The Art of Photography Show in 2012.”

“Our goal is to provide as many tangible benefits as possible to the exhibiting artists,” he adds. “The cash awards, accolades, media coverage, and sales revenue that we provide to artists who are selected by our acclaimed judges are substantial.”

The winning entries in the 2011 Art of Photography Show can be viewed on The Art of Photography website.

What Makes a Photograph Art?

If you’re curious about how a top curator evaluates images submitted to The Art of Photography Show, read the transcript of the radio interview that Maureen Cavanaugh conducted on KPBS with Natasha Egan, the associate director/curator, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography.

Egan recalls that as she went through the process, “I absolutely just went for what images stuck with me.” She says that when a certain image stayed with her longer than the others, she realized that “There’s something in that picture that is holding me to it. I want to look at it longer. I want to figure it out.” She also asked herself, “Does it grab beyond me? Is it something more viewers would also benefit from seeing?”

While she didn’t make a conscious effort to select works that would represent a variety of categories, Egan said, “There is a very large diversity of what a curator is attracted to.”

LINKS

Website: The Art of Photography Show

Prospectus for Entrants

Testimonials from Artists in Previous Shows

Award Winning Entries in 2011 Art of Photography Show

Radio Interview: What Makes a Photograph Art?
Maureen Cavanaugh interviews Natasha Egan, the museum curator who judged the sixth annual Art of Photography Show.