This is it!

Registration for Critical Mass 2010 will close in 24 hours.

Approaching the Final Hours

2 1/2 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010!

Critical Mass - A New Route to the Portfolio Reviews!

Have you ever considered signing up for a coveted spot at the biennial Photolucida Portfolio Reviews...but missed the sign up date? Or maybe, you remembered but by the time you registered all of the slots were filled up (last time all filled in less than an hour)? Perhaps, you've always wanted to try it out, but have been a little intimidated?

Regardless, we now have another way to attend the Portfolio Reviews in April 2011!

Five slots to the Reviews will be awarded at random to photographers from the Critical Mass 2010 Finalist group.

That means, if you are a Critical Mass 2010 175 Finalist, you have a one in 35 chance to also attend the Reviews. We'll be announcing the official registration date, soon. In the meantime, we're pleased to offer an alternative route to the Reviews!

ONLY 4 MORE DAYS TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010.

This Just In...

We are thrilled to announce that Todd Hido will curate our Critical Mass 2010 Top 50 Exhibition!

As noted on our website, the exhibition will be on display during Photolucida's April 2011 Portfolio Reviews, at Newspace Center for Photography. In addition, we are happy to share that the exhibition will also travel to San Francisco in May 2011, for display at RayKo Photo Center!

What does this mean for you, you might ask? If you are one of the Critical Mass Top 50, your work will be viewed by Todd Hido and one your images will be chosen as part of the exhibition on display at these two great venues next spring!

ONLY 6 MORE DAYS TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010!

A FEW MORE INTRODUCTIONS

By now, you might have noticed, Critical Mass is a multi-staged juried process. The first round of which is handled by our dedicated pre-screeners. They are the gatekeepers to the 175 Finalists who are then seen by our complete roster of THE BEST JURY EVER. While not everyone can make the coveted Finalist list, rest assured it is a valuable thing to have your work in front of these people, as there are still opportunities to be had with our pre-screeners.

Just to prove the point, check out what a few of these folks are up to when they're not pre-screening Critical Mass entrant photographs...

187. Paula Tognarelli, Griffin Museum of Photography

Paula, one of our most faithful pre-screeners, is the Executive Director and Curator of the Griffin Museum of Photography, which houses three galleries on-site, two virtual galleries and four satellite galleries. Griffin Museum just awarded David Bram (another CM juror), founder of Fraction Magazine, the “Rising Star” of the 2010 Focus Awards.


167. Tina Shelhorn, Galerie Lichtblick

Another tireless pre-screener, Tina Schelhorn is founding director of Galerie Lichtblick, in Cologne, which is celebrating its 20th year as a non-profit organization for contemporary photography. Tina says, “I made a quick check on the number of selected Critical Mass photographers from over the years that I did exhibitions with and, since 2004, it has been 23 people.”


180. George Slade, Photographic Resource Center at Boston University

George is also pre-screening this year! He is the shiny new programs manager and curator at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University. George is a knowledgeable and accomplished curator, scholar, and writer, and we love him for many reasons, including writing the afterward in CM book award winner Priya Kambli’s book, Color Falls Down.


49. Jon Feinstein, Humble Arts Foundation

Also pre-screening is Jon Feinstein, co-founder of Humble Arts Foundation. Humble Arts Foundation gives emerging fine-art photographers exposure by way of exhibition and publishing opportunities, limited-edition print sales, and twice–annual artists grants. Humble has been a pioneering hub for showcasing new fine-art photography, and strives to bridge the gap between ambitious early-career photographers and often-unapproachable art institutions.

REMINDER, ONLY 9 MORE DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010.

TO DRAW A FEW NAMES OUT OF THE DIGITAL HAT

The only problem with offering over 200 amazing jurors is that it's too easy to look at them as a huge list and let their individual accomplishments and affiliations get overlooked. When we're making our list of who to invite each year, our primary concern is to invite jurors who actually use photography and have something to offer our participating photographers. Here, we're going to use one of our favorite internet tools, the true random number generator, to select a few jurors and highlight why they've been invited to be part of THE BEST JURY EVER:

61- Christopher Gianunzio, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center:

The biggest problem with Philadelphia these days is that's the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center is so far from Portland. After opening last year, PPAC, under the direction of Sarah Stolfa and Christopher Gianunzio (two great photographers in their own right), has impressed us with hosting talks from Mitch Epstein, Chad States, Doug Dubois, and Tim Davis, as well as hosting a Photo Book Art Fair with a wide variety of great publishers. Oh, and did we mention that they've got a great digital lab and a handsome gallery space...

75- Elizabeth Houston, Hous Projects:

A NYC / LA gallery with past shows of emerging contemporary work that have included Philip Toledano, Eric Ogden, and Scott Davis and a current group show, The Naked Truth, curated by Ruben Natal San Miguel, blogger/collector/CMjuror and all around super photo enthusiast.

34 - Daniel Cooney, Daniel Cooney Fine Art:

Daniel's the namesake of a great NYC gallery that specializes in the emerging photo scene, both on the walls in the gallery and through his series of auctions of emerging photography. Among the highlights of his past year's shows was Timothy Briner's "Boonville," a project that was described by the New Yorker's Vince Aletti as "an exhibition that begs to be expanded into a book."

139 - Stephen Perloff, The Photo Review:

Since 1976 The Photo Review has been publishing portfolios, reviews, interviews and critical analysis from the likes of Stephen, Peter Hay Halpert, Barbara L. Michaels, and A.D. Coleman. The Photo Review also puts out The Photograph Collector, a monthly newsletter with tips for collectors, curators, and dealers.

ONLY 10 MORE DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010.

About that Blue Sky

When you think about "Blue Sky" what comes to mind? For me, its the clear, cerulean atmosphere that hovers above the rolling Flint Hills of Kansas. Well, that and one of my favorite photography galleries in Portland, Oregon.

Blue Sky is known to the locals as an historic venue that has shown some of the biggest names in contemporary photography during its 34 years and 10 months history (its true, Blue Sky will also celebrate their 35th Birthday in October!) Perhaps you've heard of some of these ladies and gents?

Larry Sultan

Amy Stein

Steven Berkman

Suzanne Opton

Doug Dubois

John Divola

Julie Blackmon

Simon Norfolk

Graciela Iturbide

Linda Connor

Wendy Ewald

Martin Parr

Bill Burke

Nan Goldin

William Christianberry

Robert Frank

And that's just a sampling of the hundreds of photographers whose work has graced their gallery walls. For a complete archive, check their site.

Why should you care about Blue Sky? Photolucida is delighted to team up with this fantastic space to award one solo show to a Critical Mass 2010 Top 50 photographer. The Blue Sky Exhibition Committee will choose one lucky Top 50 artist to exhibit their work in April 2011 thus becoming another entry in the Blue Sky history of stellar photography exhibitions. Not to mention, Photolucida will be holding our biennial Reviews in April 2011. The foot traffic through Blue Sky that month will be especially weighted with photographers and Reviewers from all over the world.

As if just having your work viewed by more than 200 top photography professionals wasn't enough, right?

ONLY 11 MORE DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010.

Did anyone else hear that?

It's the sound of the BEST JURY EVER rolling over past the 200 mark.

You now have MORE than 200 reasons to submit to CRITICAL MASS 2010!

OUR APOLOGIES

We regret to inform you that four members of the THE BEST JURY EVER from previous years have decided that they will not be jurying for Critical Mass 2010.

They've decided to enter instead. That seems like a pretty good endorsement, right?

ONLY 12 MORE DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CRITICAL MASS 2010.

Even though

I missed the opportunity to draw attention to Paula McCartney's lecture and book-signing up at PCNW last Friday (sorry Folks), at least I can still congratulate her on her show at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and the release of her new book, Bird Watching.


It's so exciting to see this work finally break out into the world in a big way, especially because it's so good and I've noticed it coming together and finding an audience over time. Count me among those who have seen and appreciated this work in bits and pieces in a variety of places over the past few years (including CM2008, a year that included Darius Himes and Karen Irvine, the curator at MoCP, as jurors) and I'm excited to finally get to see the whole shebang. Or in this case, would that be a flock rather than a shebang? A huge congrats, Paula.

finite foto

"As a photographer and photography editor, I look at a lot of pictures. When I use the phrase "a lot," I mean thousands upon thousands, every month. This process has made me weary of traditional portraiture..."
- Taj Forer



Our very own Laura Moya has a great interview with Taj Forer and Lisa Law over at Finite Foto.

p.s. note the list on the left. I'm guessing Monday's update will put us up over the magic number.

Critical Mass Updates!

In case you haven't noticed there have been some recent additions to the Critical Mass 2010 Awards section.

Not only will we produce a monograph for one lucky photographer and a curate a group show from the work of all the Top 50 Photographers, we have added so many new Awards, you might think it's Christmas in July...

One Solo Exhibition at Blue Sky

Three complimentary VisualServer websites and portfolios on photo-eye’s Photographer’s Showcase for one year

Five free spots in our popular, sell-out-in-10-minutes, 2011 Portfolio Reviews

More details to follow soon...

And now a word...

from one of our Beloved and Esteemed members of The Best Jury Ever

Thanks Leslie. We heart you.

Critical Q & A

Aside from the excitement of photographers and jurors eager to participate in Critical Mass, CM registration always brings in email from the confused, the curious, and the cynical. Let's deal with these questions together so that we can all benefit:

• Is there a time limit on work submitted? That is, does the work have to have been made within the past year or something?

- Our opinion is that good work is good work and CM is a program designed to put good work in front of good people who actually buy, publish, and exhibit, good work. If you started a project twenty years ago and just finished it up yesterday, you're welcome to submit.

• Can I enter if I'm a student?

- Yes. That good work philosophy applies here as well. In fact, I'd say that if you're a student who's making good work and looking for a way to get people outside your weekly crit to take notice, CM is definitely among the best ways to accomplish this.

• sRGB seems to work for photos with neutral colors, but there is a major shift with any color intensity. Many of the images I intend to send are color-intense. Why srgb?

- Given that our jury of 200+ photo professionals are all over the world, looking at your work on a wide variety of computers, under a wide variety of viewing conditions, the best we can do is keep the playing field consistent for all. Like it or not, sRGB is the industry standard color space for the web. UPDIG is a great resource for more info on the confusion inherent in this brave new digital world.

• Your information concerning pricing does not say whether Critical Mass/Photolucida charges a commission on sales. Do you?

- Absolutely not. Photolucida is, in a sense, a non-profit matchmaking service, not a broker. Our funding comes in from donations and grants, as well as the entry fees from our participants.

• Non-profit? Come on... emerging photographers don't have that kind of money. If you really want to help emerging artists, you should make it cheaper. Those artists have no money for games like these.

- Your cynicism is understood in this day and age, but Critical Mass is a totally unique program, unlike anything else out there. In a sense, it's more of a sourcebook or reference tool for emerging contemporary photography than a competition. Any artist serious about their work can easily recognize the value of having your work seen through CM. Just look at that list of jurors to the left and also peruse the Top 50 from past years and tell me that this program is a game.

As for the cost, yeah sure, I hear you. But in the end, we're a small non-profit and it takes money to build software, publish books and send them out to everyone who participates. We keep the costs as low as we can. As a photographer who entered CM twice before I joined the Board of Directors for photolucida, I always considered it a simple business expense. If I could enter now, I would.

Let's take a little stroll down memory lane. A little CM history from Christopher Rauschenberg, one of the founders of both photolucida and Blue Sky Gallery, and perhaps most importantly, a photographer himself:

When we were inventing Critical Mass, we started with one core principle - everyone who enters must get their money's worth - and with the concern that the total cost of going to a portfolio review was just too expensive for many photographers. We were looking for an affordable way to get the work of photographers into the eyeballs and brains of curators and publishers, and we realized that we could accomplish that by using the power of the digital revolution. Our original deal was "fifty reviewers for fifty bucks" and it was designed to provide reviewers with everything they might need to fall in love with someone's work and to start making something happen for that work. Based on our experience, we asked for ten images from each artist, plus a statement, print sizes and prices, and contact information. We gave this to the reviewers on CD but also in ink and paper, with the thumbnail pages. That first year 600 photographers entered Critical Mass and three of us built a 6600 page document in Quark Xpress, then pdf-ed it and added 24,000 navigational links. We also made a traveling show of work by ten of the highest rated photographers. Things have changed a little since then- we don't paste it up by hand anymore (having hired a web design firm to run an automated process through the website) and we've added the book program and increased the number of curators and publishers to 200, but it's still our vision to try and bring into Critical Mass every curator and publisher to whom it is worth a dollar to show your work, so that you can take care of getting your photographs into the eyeballs and brains of all those curators and publishers in one fell swoop.

AND THE MOMENTUM BUILDS

Avalanche - Click here for the funniest movie of the week


Have you been watching that sweet juror list over there on the left? It's still growing.

And of course, for those skeptics among you (I've always been one too), the list that's especially interesting is that of the pre-screening committee. Well, note that when we invite jurors, we make it clear that they're all invited to be among the pre-screeners, but it takes a special breed of photo enthusiast to really want to dig in and look at every single entry in a condensed period of time. Well, these strong men and women really really want to see great work and know that sometimes great work falls outside the common ground of democratic consensus. In addition to our Executive Director and our Board of Directors, this year's Truly Beloved and Esteemed Pre-Screening Committee (as of 7/5) consists of these true heroes:

Leslie K. Brown, Independent Curator

Crista Dix, Director, wall space Gallery

Jon Feinstein, Humble Arts

Melanie Flood, Melanie Flood Projects/Portland Art Museum Photo Council

Roy Flukinger, Harry Ransom Center

Jim Leisy, Portland Art Museum Photo Council

Kate Menconeri, Independent Curator

Claire Annette Mussard, Curator/Consultant

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Collector

Tina Schelhorn, Galerie Lichtblick

P. Elaine Sharpe, Independent Curator

George Slade, Curator/Program Manager,Photographic Resource Center at Boston University

Christina Speilvogel, Blue Sky Exhibition Committee

Susan Spiritus, Susan Spiritus Gallery

Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director, Griffin Museum for Photography

Laura Valenti, Program Director, Newspace Center for Photography

If you've been around this business for a little while, I'm sure you recognize these names, thus what a coup it is to have these folks stepping up to pre-screen. Looks like it's shaping up to be the best year yet.

THE PARTY JUST STARTED

Yep, Critical Mass 2010 is now open for business. We've tested, retested, and retested some more and it seems the registration machinery is running smoother than ever. And watch that killer jury list grow and grow.

YOU CAN FIND MORE INFO AND A LINK TO REGISTRATION FOR CRITICAL MASS RIGHT HERE

Next week we'll have a little Critical Mass history lesson and address any questions you have, about who we are, what CM is, and why we bother. If you have questions or issues at any point, bring them on and I'll try to address them here to help as many people as possible. In the meantime, go get 'em...