Let's Get Our Films to Verge

I want to pass along this email I just got from Robert Hooman, and ask everyone to pass it along.

"Hello friends! I've been asked by the Verge International Art Fair to curate a video screening/motion gallery for the art fair this year in NYC. It'll be held in DUMBO March 3-6.

I'm looking at video submissions for the next couple weeks and I would very much like to see your work, or if you've seen and know an artist/filmmaker who may have material for me, please direct them to me. This will be quite an undertaking and I'll be needing all the help I can get to pull together a stellar show!!

Here are my submission criteria:

-I'm seeking work that'll challenge the viewer's visual language and understanding, present a unique narrative and have interesting style and/or technique.
-FINAL SUBMISSION DATE: FEB 21, 2011
-All work must be produced in the last three years
-No restrictions on language or country
-I'll be looking at original pieces from all formats. including but not limited to: Live action, animation, documentary, mixed media, video installations, video art (even slide shows that blow me away).
-Maximum length should be between 4-5 minutes and not a frame longer than that.
-NO trailers, excerpts, cut-downs, multi-segements or REELS will be considered. All work must be self contained and hold up as an individual piece of artwork/story/video (or whatever you want to call it). If you need to re-edit to fit your piece in the 5min limit, that is okay.
-If the screening requires special equipment or additional gear, artist will have to provide the equipment. We will provide security for your equipment (whether its inside or outside)
-Please be ready to submit a final high-res version digital format, if the piece is accepted. So even if I review the work on YouTube, I will need a full resolution and full size version.
-I'm still working out terms and conditions with the organizers
-We are still looking at delivery/screening methods.

Please send a LINK (AND ONLY A LINK) to VIDEO@RobertHooman.com. If you cannot upload or link your work, please contact me directly and we'll figure something out. PLEASE DO NOT ATTACH VIDEO FILES TO THE EMAILS. All emails with attachments will be deleted without consideration.

I'm looking forward to your submission."

Back from the Sunshine

So I'm back from sunny, warm Florida, and I have to say it's a little jolting. I was getting into the t-shirt weather and the great folks I went down with. I want to thank Julie Grahame of aCurator, photographer extraordinaire Jason Florio, Daylight Magazines's Michael Itkoff, Alison Zavos, Feature Shoot's publisher and the exceptional photo producer and blogger Helen Jones-Florio for being on my panel and delivering such terrific information. I hope we can take this on the road sometime soon. You were all really wonderful.

There are a lot of things brewing for me now that I'm back, and I'm getting excited about breaking new ground for myself in this photo world we live in. Next Thursday, January 27th from 4pm - 5pm I will be conducting a webinar, "Build A Better Online Portfolio" at the invitation of Photoshelter. There will be some Q&A, and I'll be offering suggestions to photographers who have submitted their portfolios for review. Don't miss this! You can sign up here

And on February 1, the online gallery I curated for the Griffin Museum of Photography, featuring the work of Sophia Wallace will go live. Her "Modern Dandies" project is really worth a look, so stay tuned for that. You'll be able to see it here.

I'm hoping to create more panels this year, and curate more shows both in New York and around the country. If you have any ideas, please send them to me. I will also expand my consulting, so those of you who have been procrastinating about refreshing and refocusing your business drop me a line. I can offer you straight-forward suggestions and ideas to make your portfolio, website and marketing clearer and more targeted towards success.

We're just starting 2011, and there are some wonderful new things to come. I'll keep you all posted.

If it's Florida it's FOTOFusion

I came down to West Palm Beach just ahead of the newest New York snowstorm to attend FOTOFusion, a photo festival targeted mostly to amateur and semi-professional photographers in the area.

Yesterday I sat on the Alison Zavos panel: "Cut Through the Noise: Smart Marketing Strategies for Photographers," with Julie Grahame, and while the audience was kind of small, it was enthusiastic. I had a really good time talking about what I see as included in the idea of social media: portfolio reviews and promo cards. After all, one-on-one contact with art buyers, photo editors, gallerists and the like is social, no?

It's important that photographers think clearly about what they're looking to achieve when they consider attending a review. Who do they want to meet? Is their work ready to be presented? Does it have a cohesive focus or subject? Is it a real body of work? Can the photographer talk about their work in a clear and concise way?

I know there are those who see portfolio reviews as a rip-off industry. I don't see it that way. So many photographers work in a vacuum, and having trained, outside eyes view their work is vitally important. Additionally, if you chose the right review, you can get person-to-person contact with people who you would not normally have a chance to talk with. It can be the thing that really moves you forward and allows you to pitch yourself to potential clients.

Promo cards were another thing I talked about. Having spent many years as a photo editor sitting in ugly offices or at cubbyholes I loved getting great promo cards to pin up on my walls. These were the photographers I hoped to work with, and their cards were always staring me in the eyes while I worked. I often cannot understand the choices people make when printing promo cards. And I never understand why more thought isn't given to what they expect to come from the card, rather than the graphic design of the card. By that I mean do the image or images you've chosen really represent who you are as a photographer? And if I'm looking right at your card, doesn't it make sense to have all your important info (URL, cell number, email address) right in front of my eyes also?

I came down here with Alison, Julie, Jason Florio and Helen Jones-Florio to do my own panel (with Michael Itkoff as well), and that one is tomorrow. But today we had the most exciting event of the festival so far.

In the middle of Jason and Helen's talk:"A 930km African Photography Odyssey" their presentation of their incredible walk across the country of Gambia, an alarm went off and a disembodied voice announced we had to leave the building immediately due to an unspecified emergency.

We spent about fifteen minutes milling outside with more people than I've seen at this festival, until we were let back in to hear Jason and Helen finish their talk. It was like a grade school fire drill.

Tomorrow is my panel, and I plan on blogging more about what I've seen and done. I like seeing people I know, hanging out and eating meals with my friends, and everyone is really friendly. Add to the fact that Florida is the only state with NO SNOW, and I'm happy as a kitten with catnip.

More to come from here, so stay tuned....

It's a New Year, It's a New Week

Now that we've turned the page on 2010, it's time to get back into the swing of photo openings. Tonight brings some wonderful shows, so get up and get out. See you there!


"I get a sickening feeling every time I think of it" TEN FROM TWENTY TEN where W.M. Hunt selects then images from the recent archive of VII Photo to reflect his view of the past year.
From 6:00pm - 8:30pm
28 Jay St.
Brooklyn

Also in Dumbo tonight is the opening of SPLASH II at Klompching Gallery, a group exhibition of contemporary fine art photographs, by artists represented by the gallery.

Featuring the work of Cara Barer(seen above), Cornelia Hediger, Phillip Toledano, Helen Sear, Sarah Lynch, Doug Keyes, and Odette England.

In the back room of the gallery, they are featuring Lisa M. Robinson, with photographs from her highly acclaimed Snowbound series.
6:00pm - 8:00pm
111 Front St. Suite 206
Brooklyn


Back in Manhattan we have Todd Hido's Fragmented Narratives opening tonight. Renowned as a master of sequencing in book format, Hido juxtaposes images from his influential monographs House Hunting, A Road Divided, Outskirts and Between the Two with portraits and new images never before exhibited.
Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 West 24th Street
6:00pm - 8:00pm


And Yossi Milo presents photos by Ezra Stoller. Based on his background in architecture and industrial design, Stoller used a large-format camera to photograph monumental 20th century buildings, including the Guggenheim Museum, the TWA terminal at Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport), the Seagram Building, the Salk Institute, Yale Art and Architecture Building and Fallingwater.
6:00pm - 8:00pm
525 West 25th Street