SHOW AND TELL: HALLOWEEN

© Andrew Phelps

snapped a few days ago, athens, ohio
© peter hoffman - 2008

© Blake Andrews

© Elizabeth Fleming

© Aline Smithson

© Luke Olsen

© David Torrence

© Ellen Kok

© Alexis Pike

my front porch, right now.

© Jackie Alpers

"Father Earth" © Aaron Hobson 2006

© Angela Bacon-Kidwell

Poe's Muse © Steven Rood

© Suzanne Revy

Liz Kuball's "UnCritical Mass," yet another Much-Beloved and Heroic Pre-Screener's Feedback, and SHOW AND TELL

Liz has posted the entries to her "UnCritical Mass" group show here. Lots of great work here, folks.

And Rob Haggart, aka A Photo Editor, shares his insight about pre-screening right here.

Also, I've got an idea... I wanted to post up a Halloween picture or two, but having looked at over 6000 pictures in the past couple weeks, my ability to recollect is flat out foggy. I don't exactly know if this is a good idea or not, but let's try adding a new feature to the Photolucida blog: SHOW & TELL. The idea is simple, I'll throw out a theme and give you 24 hours to submit and then post the results here on the blog, as they come in (or as I've got time). Let's limit the size to 500 pixels high (jpegs only) and only one picture per person. Email them to me at shawn@photolucida.org.

today's theme: HALLOWEEN

An Unsolicited Opinion about the Critical Mass results from One of Our Much-Beloved and Heroic Pre-Screeners

"... it was such a difficult task to whittle an amazing group of excellent submissions, to the 180 that remained. I think the ones that weren't chosen could easily be exchanged for the finalists, and it would still be an incredible ensemble of compelling imagery.

So great to feel a challenge in picking from such a vast amount of wonderful talent. Photography is alive and well with the submissions for Critical Mass."

Photo Review Benefit Auction

Harold Edgerton: Pigeon Released, 1965/1985

The Photo Review Benefit Auction is now online. You can preview the work and submit absentee bids.

You can also take advantage of our END THIS AUCTION feature: You may buy any picture instantly and end the auction by bidding the high estimate through November 6, 2008, 5:00 p.m.

A preview at the University of the Arts, Dorrance-Hamilton Building, Broad and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, will be held on Friday, November 7 from 11 AM — 5 PM, and on Saturday, November 8 from 11 AM — 6 PM.

The auction will take place on Saturday, November 8 at 7 PM at the University of the Arts in the Dorrance-Hamilton Building on Broad and Pine Streets in Philadelphia.

Among the work featured are rare prints by Ansel Adams, Édouard Baldus, Edouard Boubat, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward S. Curtis, F. Holland Day, Harold Edgerton, Lewis Hine, Clarence John Laughlin, Will McBride, Barbara Morgan, Sonya Noskowiak, Herb Ritts, W. Eugene Smith, Edward Steichen, Karl Struss, and Clarence White.

Among the contemporary photo stars whose work will go on the block are Elinor Carucci, Raymond Depardon, Brian Finke, Lois Greenfield, Chip Hooper, Henry Horenstein, Thomas Kellner, Michael Kenna, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Mark Klett, Jeffrey Milstein, Joe Mills, Duane Michals, Bill Owens, Catherine Steinmann, George Tice, and Joel-Peter Witkin, while featured Philadelphia-area artists include Susan Abrams, Theo Anderson, Andrea Baldeck, Rita Bernstein, Charmaine Caire, Jack Carnell, Paul Cava, Paula Chamlee, Susan Fenton, Judy Gelles, David Graham, Jenny Lynn, Martha Madigan, D. W. Mellor, Ray K. Metzker, Andrea Modica, Stuart Rome, Bruce Sheftel, Leif Skoogfors, Michael A. Smith, Ron Tarver, and Stephen G. Williams. In addition, a broad range of 19th-century photographs is up for bid.

On November 8 there will also be a silent auction of restaurant meals, museum memberships, computer hardware and software, books, and other collectible items.

A reception at 6 p.m. will honor this year's winner of The Photo Review Award: Gallery 339, Philadelphia.

The annual auction is free of charge. A fully illustrated catalogue is available for $12 from The Photo Review, 140 East Richardson Avenue, Suite 301, Langhorne, PA 19047-2824.

Salon des Refusés

Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe

In 1863, after approximately 3000 paintings were rejected from the official Paris Salon, the main arbiter of the art world of the day, there was such an outcry from rejected artists that Emperor Napoleon III ordered a special exhibition to be held so that the public could have a chance to view the rejected works, which included paintings by Monet, Manet, Whistler, Cezanne, and Pissarro, among others.

James Abbott Mc Neill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862

If you're among the 426 people who are still feeling the sting of not being among the Critical Mass 2008 Finalists, take your favorite photo from your CM submission, the one that you've already looked at once or twice this morning and thought "How could they not see how awesome that is?" and send it to Liz Kuball for her Critical Mass Rejects show.

Liz Kuball, Viviana and Alyssa

The deadline's coming up on Thursday and Liz will post the show up on Friday. THANK YOU LIZ! Such initiative is downright inspiring (and a much better idea than Liz's previous post suggesting a road trip to Portland to TP my house). Believe me, there are many, many great photographers out there who didn't make the list. PUSH YOUR WORK OUT THERE ANYWAY!

They're Here! They're Here! The 2008 Critical Mass Finalists are Finally Here!

Whew... I tell you, it's rough work, but our incredible team of Pre-Screeners dug in and made it through the work of all 606 entrants to winnow the list of Finalists down. Our goal number of Finalists was 175, but due to a tie, that number grew a little, to 180.

OUR 2008 CRITICAL MASS FINALISTS ARE:


Nate Larson & Marni Shindelman, Witness Diptych #2, 2008

Nate Larson & Marni Shindelman
Jeffrey Aaronson
John Abbott
Thomas Alleman
Angela Bacon-Kidwell
Cara Barer
Matthew Baum
David Paul Bayles
Chris Bennett
Damion Berger
Rita Bernstein
Meg Birnbaum
John Blalock
Romain Blanquart
Joan L. Brown
gareth brown
Nan Brown
Allen Bryan
Jörg Brüggemann
Susan Burnstine
Benita Carr
Pelle Cass
Arantxa Cedillo
Tom Chambers

Tom Chambers, Feeding Time

Alejandro Chaskielberg
Céline Clanet
LIVIA CORONA
Katrina d'Autremont
Ellie Davies
Steve Davis
ANA DE ORBEGOSO
Maureen Delaney
Ron Diorio
Karen Divine
Mitch Dobrowner
Matt Eich
Davin Ellicson
Jeffris Elliott


Jeffris Elliot, Islamic Woman Ascending Stairs

NICHOLAS FEDAK II
Virgilio Ferreira
Angela Buenning Filo
Kyle Ford
Tony Fouhse
Andy Freeberg
Amanda Friedman
Joachim Froese
Teri Fullerton
Ricardo Funari
Andrea Galluzzo
thomas gardiner
Karen Glaser
Joy Goldkind
Leah Gose
rebecca greenfield
Carolyn Guild
Ben Handzo
Cig Harvey
maxine helfman
Robert Heller
Lori Hepner
Laura Heyman
Jessica Hines


Jessica Hines, Untitled #15, The Imaginings

Max Hirshfeld
Oyvind Hjelmen
aaron hobson
Brian Hodges
Thomas Holton
Rachael Jablo
Mark Jaremko
Angela Jimenez
Jesus Jimenez
Dave Jordano

Dave Jordano, Sarah and Her Daughter Shelby, Foosland, IL 2008

Priya Kambli
Lola Kantor
Cyrus Karimipour
Martin Karplus
Jessica M. Kaufman
Jim Kazanjian
Amanda Keller Konya
Doug Keyes
Ayoung Kim
Karen Klein
Jaime Kowal
Nijole Kudirka
Galina Kurlat
Ferit Kuyas
Adam Lampton
Lauren Lancaster
christine laptuta
Richard Laugharn
David Leventi
Nancy LeVine
Walter Lockwood
Pablo lopez luz
Michelle Lord
Jean-Claude Louis
Caroline Lovell
Jonathan Luckhurst
Matt Lutton
Tom Mallonee
alison malone
Erin Malone
Rebecca Martinez
Rania Matar
Paula McCartney
Patricia McClung
Graham Miller
Brian Calhoun Minnich
Kevin Miyazaki
Shayok Mukhopadhyay
mike narciso
Finn O'Hara
Lucas Oleniuk
Louie Palu
Lydia Panas
Mary Parisi
Eric Percher
Cara Phillips
Alexis Pike
Peter Prusinowski
Harri Pälviranta
Lou Raizin
Ellen Rennard
Michelle Repici
Suzanne Revy
Reiner Riedler
Johan Rosenmunthe
Charles Rozier
Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Daniel Ernesto Schmeichler
Nathan Schroder
Traer Scott
Christina Seely
Patrick Shanahan
Caroline Shepard
Kelly Shimoda
Dustin Shum
Brian Shumway
Ken Shung
Michael Sibilia
Susan Silas
Nicolas Silberfaden
Charlie Simokaitis
Rebecca Sittler
Sarah Small
Jonathan Smith
Aline Smithson
Jared Soares
Magdalena Sole
Andrew Sovjani
Peter Sramek
Tema Stauffer
Will Steacy
Barry Stone
Hakan Strand
Karen Strom
Hideki Takemoto
Lex Thompson
sonja thomsen
Michael Salvatore Tierney
Brent Townshend
Daniel Traub
Thodoris Tzalavras
Peter Urban
Bill Vaccaro
Ian van Coller
Carlo Van de Roer
Gary W. Vann
Manuel Vazquez
Robert Vizzini
Jeffu Warmouth
Lori Waselchuk
Luke White
Shoshannah White
Scott Whittle
Thomas Wik
Lisa Wiltse
Kimberly Witham
Natalie Young
Mi Zhou

CRITICAL MASS Q & A:

• How many entrants were there total? 606.

• Where did I fall in the rankings? Sorry Charlie, I can't give out that info.

• Hey, I didn't receive a Finalist notification and my name's not on the list above? Have you screwed up and accidentally left me off the list? Nope, I don't think so. Sorry.

• Hey, I didn't receive a Finalist notification and my name's not on the list above? What's up with these pre-screeners, are they on drugs or something?

I'm not sure... maybe, but that's not really the issue. Art is subjective. Critical Mass is designed to be a system that gets your work seen by a wide range of professionals with a wide range of interests. If your work didn't make it into the Finalist category, it's simply because there was a lot of great work to choose from and once the voting was all done, this is how the numbers fell. I can guarantee that there are many photographers whose work did not make the Finalist stage who will go on to successfully exhibit and publish that very same work.

• Hey, who selected these photos that run here in this listing of Finalists? Why does it seem to peter out about midway through?

Well, I started to pick images by randomly selecting names every so often and then choosing pictures that I like, but this always takes more time than I anticipate and I don't have time to select more from the latter half of the alphabet. Perhaps I can make amends tomorrow.

• So, what happens next?

As of this moment, the Finalists have all been notified and have the next six days to determine whether or not they wish to pay the additional fee to have their work go on to the full panel of over 200 jurors. Next week, we'll produce and ship out the cds. One, the "All Entrants" cd which everyone who entered will receive and another, containing just the work of the Finalists and our International Award Recipients, that will go on to the full panel of over 200 jurors. These jurors will also receive a hard copy booklet (that's right, real good old-fashioned paper, folks) with a thumbnail image and contact information for each of the Finalists.

These jurors will then have at least four weeks to view and vote on the work of the Finalists and from those results, we'll announce the Top 50 as well as the Finalists for our Book Awards. Once we've determined the two or three Book Award recipients, every entrant and every juror, will receive the books once they're produced.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Critical Mass... ive!

Alison Malone, Past Worshipful Master Lodge 43

I tell you, you can't see it because it's hidden away in living rooms and offices spread all over the world, but there's some downright HEROIC work that's being done by our pre-screeners at this very moment. I tell you, they deserve roped-off painted portraits. Our pre-screeners have agreed to look through the entire batch of over 600 entrants for Critical Mass and are happily grinding their way through. Word from those I've heard from is that they're really excited about the quality of the work and are loving the new system for viewing it. As of this moment, there's less than a week left for the pre-screening, meaning we should have that listing of the 175 Finalists by next Wednesday or so.

But please, if we don't have a firm tally by Wednesday, don't start emailing. Give me at least until Friday before you start that. Thanks.

In the meantime, you should book your travel to New York for the opening reception of Things Are Strange at New Century Artists in NYC. Curated by Humble's Jon Feinstein, one of our beloved pre-screeners, this show explores "the peculiar, idiosyncratic and often absurd elements of the contemporary world" and features the following photographers:

Matthew Baum, Dan Boardman, Michael Bühler-Rose, Gerald Edwards III, Emiliano Granado, William Lamson, David La Spina, Alison Malone, Rachelle Mozman, Eric Percher, Cara Phillips, Matthew Porter, Amy Stein, Brad Troemel, Christian Weber, Hannah Whitaker, Sarah Wilmer, Ofer Wolberger

You know, they're doing a lot of great stuff there at Humble. Check them out.

Cynthia Greig & Toni Pepe

Toni Pepe, Untitled, from the series "Angle of Repose"

Both of our picks today construct images that play with the expectations of reality inherently tied up in our collective photographic baggage.

In her series, Angle of Repose, Toni Pepe plays with the notions of absence, loss, and memory. "A variety of performative devices from theater, cinema, and literature reconstruct visions and moments only experienced within the walls of the character’s imagination," Pepe writes, "References to memory are embedded in the gestures and body language of the character, whose poses are appropriated from family photographs and at the same time, evoke the classical and art historical. Certain props, specifically the recurring dust material, are also suggestive of the past, calling to mind the idea of remains and decay."

Toni Pepe, Untitled, from the series "Angle of Repose"

In her series, Representations, Cynthia Greig pays playful homage to Fox Talbot's the Pencil of Nature through her explorations of photographic truth. "Examining the illusory nature of representation and the perceptual experience," Greig writes, "the series challenges those assumptions we might have about photography or drawing, and their relationship to what we perceive as reality."

Cynthia Greig, Representations no. 16-18 (matchbook), 2003

As I've written about previously, it's difficult to trace a direct cause & effect when it comes to Critical Mass, but looking through Greig's resume, I do certainly notice some connections. Greig's shown her work at wall space gallery in Seattle, and also has work in the collections of the George Eastman House, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Light Work, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, all of whom are included in our CM Juror list. Wow, congratulations Cynthia.

Cynthia Greig, Representations no. 37 (camera) 2006

International Awards - Mexico!

Photolucida is proud to announce the recipients of our 2008 Critical Mass International Awards:

Yolanda Andrade

Alejandro Cartagena

Kenia Narez

Marcela Taboada

Antonio Turok

Each of these photographers from Mexico will receive free participation in Critical Mass 2008, automatically having their work included among the other 175 Finalists. Many thanks to all of our advisors and finalists.

Jing Quek & Steve Hanson

Jing Quek, Singapore Idols: Schoolkids

If you ask me, one of my favorite aspects of Critical Mass is the diversity of work you find while looking through the cd. With this many photographers, and reviewers, there's not necessarily one dominant style or technique. With a jury as large and diverse as ours, those that make it on to the Final 175 and the Top 50 aren't doing so because their style is necessarily in fashion, but simply because a lot of people agree that their work is interesting.

In his project "Singapore Idols," Jing Quek constructs large-scale tableaus and controls almost every aspect of production; the lighting, environment, props, etc. In some images, Quek even hires actors to create imaginary communities.

Jing Quek, Singapore Idols: Army Boys

"Through the juxtaposition of images portraying real communities and imagined communities," Quek writes, "I address constructions of identity, stereotypes and communities as well as the dynamics of creating fictions and mythologies in our urban social narratives."

Steve Luke Hanson, Rush Hour #4703, Seattle, Washington

But in his project, "Rush Hour," Steve Hanson's control is limited to the camera. Hanson slows things down, photographing busy freeways of major U.S. cities, but without the chaos and speed we normally associate with this place and time. And it does seem important to note that Hanson's doing it all with traditional silver-based processes here. Nope, there's no Photoshop here, folks.

Steve Luke Hanson, Rush Hour #6501, Bloomington, Minnesota

Bill Sullivan & Fernando Montiel Klint

Now that we've got Critical Mass 2008 underway (with a record number of entries, I might add), we can get back to savoring the great work that made it into the top 50 last year.

Bill Sullivan, Turn 13745 April 2004 / Turn 15384 April 2004

In his project, More Turns, and two other related series, Bill Sullivan explores "how icons are created through framing, and how the grammar of portraiture is found in the world around us." With his subjects unaware, Sullivan "stood there turning pages of a magazine observing subjects out of the corner of my eye, waiting for only the moment when they pushed the turnstile bar to release the shutter."

Bill Sullivan, Turn 21139 April 2006 / Turn 20214 April 2006

While he may not have drawn much attention to himself in the shooting, Sullivan's work certainly caught the eyes of our reviewers. Sullivan was one of only 6 to have been a finalist for our CM book awards.


In his project, Nirvana, Fernando Montiel Klint constructs environmental portraits that examine a search for calm in our postmodern world; "an evocation of silence in the middle of the chaos."

Fernando Montiel Klint, Nirvana


Fernando Montiel Klint, Mom

Check out a few more here.

Can you hear that?

It's the relative silence of the calm skies now that the storm is over.

Congratulations. I know it's early, but still, pour yourself a drink or take a leisurely stroll. You deserve it.

A few have written this morning worried that their submissions somehow didn't go through because everything still looks the same. Don't worry... we're tying up a few loose ends and will gather all your images up soon. Again, there's no need for any sort of final confirmation. Anyone with any problem with their submission was notified yesterday.

UPDATE: Oh yeah, the timeline... We can't give you a specific date at this point, but we'll probably have the list of 175 in about two and a half to three weeks. More info as we get things underway.

LAST CALL!

Countdown Clock by Zoodu.com

Last chance to enter, complete, and/or edit your submissions to Critical Mass 2008!

More Technical Troubleshooting

• My text is 1987 characters long, but that comes out to 33 lines. Does that mean I'm going to get cut off?

I've been told by our programmer that you can disregard the line limit, but the character limit of 2000 is still in effect. If you can see it on the page, you're fine.

• I'm having trouble loading my images and getting a message that reads:

Critical Mass Submission
Unable to Process Request
Submissions are not allowed for this event.

What's up with that?

I think we've determined that this is happening when the submission page is "timing out." To correct this, hit the refresh/reload button on your browser and instead of submitting all your images at once, perhaps submit one or two at a time. There is only one "Submit Images" button though, down below the box for image #10.

• Can I submit my ten images for now and then switch out three of them later in the week with this super awesome shooting I did yesterday?

Nope. Sorry, but the deadline's Monday night and Tuesday we gather together all of your work and start building the site & cd's. If all goes as planned, your work will be in the hearts and minds of the pre-screeners about a week or so after that.

• So I've submitted my pictures, changed my mind a couple times, made all the necessary changes, and am finally happy with my submission. What do I have to do to make sure it's final & confirmed?

Nothing. Consider it final. Consider it confirmed. If you do need the satisfaction of pressing a button in order to experience that final weight off your shoulders, we understand. I'll attach one below:


good work.

Introducing the Reviewer's Scrapbook!

Here in the States these days, it's hard to turn on the tv or radio without getting an earful about that particular day's political winners and losers. I suppose it makes sense when it comes to an election and one office up for grabs, but I worry that the competitive tone extends unnecessarily into the rest of the world. Here, for example, with Critical Mass.

One of our goals with Critical Mass is to emphasize its function as a resource and not necessarily a competition. The idea, from the beginning, was never about tabulating winners and losers, but to create a resource for contemporary art photography, allowing photographers from anywhere to get their work seen by editors, curators, and other people who actually use photography. Critical Mass was designed as a way to play matchmaker and then reward some of the photographers who everyone agrees are great with well-deserved monographs that automatically go into the collections of every single person involved. Ultimately though, it's not about the books, but about a process that allows everyone who enters to have a fair shot at having their work seen by people who actually use photography.

This year, in addition to the monographs, we've come up with an idea to celebrate the differences of opinion jurors may have by adding a "Reviewer's Scrapbook" section to our web site. This becomes a place where we can emphasize the individual tastes of select Reviewers. We've got lots of great reviewers but Laurel Ptak, for example, is going to have a significantly different list of favorites than Brooks Jensen, isn't she? The idea is simple- we're selecting 12 reviewers and inviting them to keep a folder on their desktop of their favorite images. After the voting has taken place, these images will then be turned into web slideshows, with one new slideshow coming out each month.

So far, invitations have been extended and are still coming in. Let's see, as of this moment, 86 hours before the deadline for Critical Mass entries, the following jurors have confirmed that they're willing to keep and share their scrapbooks:

Andy Adams, Flak Photo
Paul Buckley, Penguin Group
Roy Flukinger, Harry Ransom Center
Rob Haggart, APhotoEditor.com / APhotoFolio.com
Whitney Johnson, New Yorker Magazine

We'll keep you posted as more confirmations come in. I tell you, we're excited...

Sam's back: Colin Blakely & Patrick Shanahan

Patrick Shanahan, Steam pipes, Moste, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Today it's safe to say that both of Sam's picks use the camera as a tool to investigate the world around them, though with varying degrees of distance. British photographer Patrick Shanahan, in his project "A Momentary Presence- Tales from New Europe" traveled through nine central and east European countries, noting, among other aspects, the "de-centred, peripheral and post-industral landscape often associated with commerce and regeneration." Shanahan's attention to Europe's cultural landscape draws attention to the idea that Europe is increasingly becoming a single entity, while also recognizing the patchwork of cultures in the details.

Patrick Shanahan, Disused saltpans, Fontanigge, Secovlje, Slovenia

Colin Blakely, The Seeming Impenetrability of the Space Between

In his series "Somewhere in Middle America," Colin Blakely has set his geographic parameters a little tighter than Shanahan's, but no less ambitious. Blakely photographs his immediate neighborhood, an area that, due to its proximity to Michigan Stadium and a local park, sees thousands of visitors each year. "Overall, the work tells the story of a community that is holding on to a vanishing way of life…" Blakely writes, "Here, the passing of time is defined as much by the rituals we collectively participate in as by the months on a calendar."


Both photographers have exhibited their work widely, including shows at the Griffin Museum and double inclusion in 20x200 for Blakely (act now, there are only 2 30"x40"s left) and publication in Britain's esteemed magazine Portfolio for Shanahan.

For every one who asks the question, there are probably five who want to

Haven't had a chance to update the blog much in the past couple days as I've been barraged with questions about submitting your images. Here, it makes sense to deal with these as a group, right? A few topics I keep getting questions on:

• PIXEL DIMENSIONS The maximum pixel dimensions are 1000 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. Think of it as the size of the frame that we've built on a webpage to show your work to the reviewers. If your pictures exceed either one of these dimensions, they'll either be refused by the server when you submit (depends on file size), or they'll be accepted, but automatically resized to these dimensions. If that happens, you risk losing a small degree of sharpness in your image thus it's recommended that you submit your images at the proper size.

• SRGB While we're unable to control the viewing conditions for each of our reviewers, we can ensure that all of our participating photographers begin with a level playing field. To that end, srgb is considered throughout the industry as the standard color space used for the web. If you're experiencing issues with your uploaded images becoming lighter, or noticing a change in saturation, it's most likely because you've been viewing and editing your images in a different color space (such as Adobe RGB 1998). For more info on this, see the UPDIG guidelines here.


• HEY, WHERE'S THE SUBMIT BUTTON? Don't worry, there isn't one. It's not necessary. If your images are there, labeled correctly, and you're happy with them, you're in good shape.


• HEY, WHEN'S THE FINAL DEADLINE TO REGISTER AND/OR CHANGE MY IMAGES/MIND? If you live in the Continental U.S. and can call it October 6th, you're fine. 11:59:59 pm Pacific time. If you're somewhere else, well, consult time zones around the world right here.

• MY TEXT IS LONGER THAN 28 LINES, WHAT DO I DO? Again, think of the window analogy... there's a window on the page that allows for 28 lines of text. If you exceed it, chances are that your text will just cut off at some point. Remember that these reviewers are looking at a lot of work here, thus short and sweet is advised.
UPDATE 10/02: It ends up that 28 lines is no longer the limit. If you can see it there on the page, then it'll be there on the page. Still though, keep it within 2000 characters- short and sweet.

Feel free to let me know if you've got any other questions.