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....

Leaving 2010 Looking Towards 2011

Since we’re just about at the end of the year I thought I would take this time to look back at 2010. This is something I usually hate to do, because it seems as if I’ve never accomplished enough, and time is shooting by. But looking back this year is different. And that’s pretty exciting for me.

This has been a year full of activity and new experiences for me, as I navigated this new photo world landscape. As I’ve said to others, it is no less uncertain and confusing for me as it is for any photographer. What I have tried to do is make my own opportunities and say “Yes” more than “No” this year.

As a result, I was invited to “Atlanta Celebrates Photography” as a portfolio reviewer, visiting the city for the first time. Besides meeting some fantastic people, I got to make a personal pilgrimage to a place that had deep meaning for me. And for all of that I am grateful.

I was also invited to “FOTOfusion” in West Palm Beach, Florida, where I sat on a couple of panels and got to reconnect with some really wonderful and accomplished photo people. And you can’t beat Florida in January! I’ll be going again in 2011—January 11-16. Check it out, it’s worth the trip.

MY APA panel, "Multi Platform Editing-Presenting Your Work to the New Media Landscape" was a great success, and introduced me to Roberto DeLuna, Alison Zavos, Chris Owyoung, Erin Rabasca, as well as Alex Wright and Joe Pritchard.

Through this blog I was able to feature the works of Les Stone, Judith Fox, Michael Itkoff, Peter Turnley, Robert Herman, David Arky, Julie Grahame, Helen Jones-Florio and Jason Florio, Manjari Sharma, Nick Gleis, Bryce Lankard, Jennifer Shaw, Kyle Bravo, David Halliday, Stephen Mallon, Sara Keith, Vicki Hunt, Jimmy Williams, John May, Susan Barnett, Paul Hagedorn, Joseph Guay, Tim Hetherington and Peter Sekaer.

I had a wonderful opportunity to speak at the Apple Store in SF, and met a photographer I worked with for years, but had never met in person before. That was a great added bonus for a fun event.

With my fantastic gang of four (Jason Florio, Andrea Fischman, Helen Jones-Florio and Sari Goodfriend) we blogged PhotoPlus Expo and really enjoyed most of the exhausting experience (except for the naked girls at the PDN party). Along with blogging the NYPhoto Festival in Dumbo, I’m having a good time examining the photo scene here in New York.

I’ve also done several other portfolio reviews and contest judging (thanks En Foco, APA and ASMP), seen some fantastic work and met some wonderful new photographer friends. I’ve gone to openings, been quoted on other blogs, written artistic statements, worked with some exciting clients, and moved into curating in a grander way.

For that I want to thank David Bram of Fraction magazine, who has included me as a curator for Fraction J, the every other month photojournalism section of the magazine. It was great discovering and showing the work of Benjamin Lowy, Matt Slaby, Stacy Krantiz and Colleen Mullins here.

There are more new great things to come in 2011, which I will write about as they come together, including the opportunity of curating for the Griffin Museum of Photography, and holding more workshops and seminars. I’m learning more, meeting more people, and looking for more opportunities and chances to create.

So look for Stellazine to grow as I do, and preview some changes in the New Year. Stay positive, stay warm, and dream new creative dreams. I know I will.