A Competitive Annual Publication of Works
of Contemporary Photography and Lens-based Art
and/or Writing about Photography
The INPHA 1 book will be released to the public In conjunction with FotoFocus*, a city-wide month-long 50+ venue celebration of the photographic arts in Cincinnati, Ohio (and surrounding region) in October 2012. The goal of Manifest's Annual International Publication of Contemporary Photography and Lens-based Art is to support the recognition, documentation, and publication of excellent, current,
and relevant photographic art on an ongoing annual basis. INPHA will become the third in a suite of annual Manifest books charting contemporary art around the world. It joins the International Painting Annual and award winning International Drawing Annual as a significant new product of Manifest Press. This project represents a further expression of Manifest's unique process for assembling diverse and compelling multi-national projects, as well as its commitment to a wide variety of methods for visual creative expression. Upon its release INPHA 1 will be the tenth such major volume in the Manifest Press library. It will be formatted to complement the INDA and INPA series, and is expected to weigh in at approximately 200 pages full color.
* learn more about FotoFocus here.
Some may say that time and space are simply aspects of light. Light is a symbol of spirituality, purity, consciousness, and enlightenment. Time and distance are measured by the assumed limitation of light. The phenomenon is considered a particle, like dust, and a wave, like energy. Without light, the warmth of the sun, the nourishment of our planet, we would not exist.
We were born with lenses. We are light-based beings.
The lineage of fascination with, and study of, light is certainly as old as or older than humanity's practice of artmaking, magic, and science. The lighthouse at Alexandria was thought by some to have been able to burn ships at sea by virtue of its focusing of a beam of light. Galileo improved upon primitive telescopic lenses to view celestial bodies, creating a new eye to the heavens and setting loose the devils of science, and aggravating the demons of religion through the Inquisition. Louis Daguerre 'killed' painting when he invented the photographic 'picture' and began stealing souls. D. W. Griffith trumped this by popularizing the moving picture in Hollywood. And the lineage continues.
Today we swim in a sea of light based life. Whole days and weeks are spent interacting with flat screens beaming information across narrow space into our private lenses and brains. The conduit of our communications is light, by many means and many lenses. This is to such a degree as to make photography, light based imagery, nearly invisible. It has become like air. We exist so co-dependently with it that we hardly notice. Yet this does not diminish its power, nor importance. And by way of the INPHA Manifest aims to uncover and contextualize truly exceptional works, those which rise above the every day, which epitomize not only excellent photography (or other lens based work) but exceptional art regardless of the media.
For this call for submissions Manifest is eager to receive works in a wide range of types, including traditional, digital, and experimental photography, video*, and other lens-based work. As with its other Annuals, Manifest is open to unexpected solutions, broad interpretation, and surprise. Works submitted must clearly feature the photographic/lens-based process as a primary, but not exclusive, characteristic.
*note that artists submitting time-based art (video, etc.) must realize that for the purpose of the publication only still imagery will be used to represent the project in print. However, a web-component may be offered for an internet-based presentation of such works.
Eligibility
The International Photography Annual is open to any artist submitting
original works of art created within the timeframe of 2009 - 2012.
Professionals and students in ALL disciplines are encouraged to submit.
Manifest is eager to receive works in a wide range of applications
with the
qualification being that artwork submitted is representative of high
quality "photography or lens-based art."
Note that artists who previously exhibited at Manifest or had work included in our publication projects ARE eligible to submit. Our juries are always conducted blind, and we do not disqualify folks who have success in past juries.
Media (artwork)
Open to any media applicable to the practice of photography or lens-based work, including
but by no means limited to traditional, digital/new media, photography, printmaking, mixed media, collage, etc. All are possibly valid.
Essays and other photo (or light) related writings (including poetry, etc.)
With the inclusion of a call for writing about photography or light, Manifest
eagerly pursues a deeper understanding of how the medium is realized,
discussed, and interpreted in contemporary society. Works of writing
will be selected to complement the artwork chosen for inclusion in
the publication, (independent of any particular work of art). Text pieces are commonly included at the start of the book, as an introduction to the 'exhibit in print'.
Written entries can be in any form (poetic,
historical, technical, philosophical) but should be directly relevant to the practice
of photography or the medium of light and must be original works with proper citation for quoted
material. Length of written entries should be limited to a max. of approximately
1500 words. INPHA entrants may choose to submit either artwork, writing
or both. In either case, written entries should not be mere artist statements, referring to specific works. Artist statements are requested separately after works are selected for the book.
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Jury and Curator
Manifest's selection process involves a complex two-part system. This project will be juried by a 9-12 member panel of professional and academic advisors with a broad range of expertise. Jurors will not be expert exclusively in photography, although some will be. Jurors will include 'image makers' and 'object makers'. The jury will then pass along their scores to the project curator who will assemble the final selections from the jury-approved pool.
Publication
Each artist/author selected for inclusion in the INPHA
will receive one complimentary copy of the publication. The books produced for Manifest's other ongoing Annuals have increased in page count and print quality each year, with the most recent publication reaching over 180 pages in length. The INDA 5 was recently awarded a national silver medal award from the Independent Publishers Association in their New York City ceremony. Manifest's books are distributed to bookstores across the country, including museum bookstores, and are available through Amazon.com as well as at Manifest Gallery and on the Manifest website. Arts patrons, artists, professors, and art students around the world collect our publications.
Online INPHA Resource
An Internet-based online International Photography Annual
Resource website will be published to accompany the printed Annual.
This will feature statements, bios, contact info., and professional
information for each person included.
See (www.manifestgallery.org/inda) for examples.
Entry Fee
Each work submitted (visual or written) must be accompanied
by a $10 non-refundable entry fee. Number of entries is unlimited.
Entry fee must be paid by U.S. check or money order made payable to MANIFEST,
or by credit card via PayPal. Detail images may be included at no additional
cost but should only be provided when necessary to reveal accurate understanding of the artwork. Beyond this nominal fee, the requirements spelled out here, and providing print-quality digital images of selected works, there are NO hidden costs or obligations associated with participation, and NO obligation to purchase additional copies of the printed publication.
How many works can or should I submit?
The average number of works submitted to typical Manifest calls is 3. Some artists like to submit several more, especially if they have a couple different bodies of work which they'd like our jury to consider, or if they have a suite of works that are interrelated. While we have absolutely no minimum number required (other than one), nor do we give an advantage to those who submit more, it is helpful to have a few options to select from. Our jury often gains insight into one work by seeing it in context with a few others by the same artist. And we do routinely accept pairs or sets of work by artists once they are determined to be a finalist. It is also worth noting that our book projects like the INDA and INPA are not limited by size of work nor gallery space, so we are able to more easily include, on average, more works by one artist if justified by our jury scores.
Awards and CASH PRIZES
First, Second, and Third Place awards for VISUAL works will be decided by the
jury committee. Each award winner will have a brief artist's statement
included in the publication. There will be three cash prizes of $700, $200, and $100 for first, second, and third place winners.
Text Entries
Authors can choose to submit written entries in either Word
or PDF format. Written entries must be submitted electronically via
e-mail attachment and file names must follow the guidelines provided below for entry images.
Images
In an effort to conserve resources Manifest accepts only digital images and entry forms for consideration. (see details below). The Gallery will retain the submitted images of accepted artwork and reserves the right to use the images in publications and gallery publicity. CD's of works not selected will only be returned if accompanied by a SASE.
(online entry form required and emailed images preferred over mailed CD)
Digital Format: Digital images can be submitted on CD or by e-mail
(send to: show@manifestgallery.org). The email and online submission process is HIGHLY PREFERRED because it makes our process more efficient and saves postage and materials for the artists. Hi-Res, professional-quality images will be requested for accepted works upon conclusion of the jury process. If suitable images are not provided, the work will not be included in the publication.
To send via email: (send to: show@manifestgallery.org). The email should include the artist's full name as subject along with '1st INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY ANNUAL submission' The images must meet the following specifications:
FILE NAMING:
All entry files (regardless of type or media, including VIDEO) must be named with artist's last name (underscore) first name, followed by the entry number as noted on the entry form
(i.e. Jones_Mike_1.jpg). Please DO NOT include any other information in the file name, such as title of work, etc.
Detail, installation, or alternate view images must include the word 'detail' in the filename (i.e. Jones_Mike_1detail1.jpg). If you do NOT include the term DETAIL as part of the filename for any additional, extra, installation, or closeup images supporting your entry these will be counted as additional separate entries and our system will expect a corresponding fee for them.
EXAMPLE:
Info for detail images should NOT be included on the entry form. The image files should be in HIGH QUALITY JPEG format,
images should be no smaller than 1000 pixels in any direction (about 13”) and 72dpi. This should result in most image files ranging from 700kb to 2mb in file size (this is approximate).
Be ABSOLUTELY sure you are sending files at the correct size AND that your email app. does not automatically downsize the attached images when sending. Apple Mail, for example, provides a setting for resizing attachments in the new message composition window (lower right corner).
Images must be oriented properly (i.e. top of image is top
of artwork) and should not include text info or borders that are not part of the actual work. Video work should be sent with similar naming conventions in a quicktime compatible format file (preferably not DVD format for the jury process). If video work is selected, then print-quality still images will be required for the publication.
Please do NOT submit resume, c.v., bio, or other text info. The only text submitted beyond the entry form should be written entries, should you opt to include one ore more. Written entries must be listed on the entry form.
If for any reason you submit your entry form more than once, only the most recent form will be retained in our system. All previous forms will be deleted. If you decide to submit additional work later, you’ll need to submit a new form containing ALL the works for the exhibit.
Calendar
April 1
May
19
October 2012 |
Deadline for entry
Notifications
sent by e-mail (on or around this date)**
Publication
available and awards announced |
** note that our notification emails are sometimes not received due to aggressive filtering by email servers on the recipient side.
For this reason we also post the results of the jury on the project page of the website soon after sending the notifications (within a week or so). We encourage all entrants to white list (or allow) email from the manifestgallery.org domain to help ensure our communications arrive.
Entry
Checklist
If
sending through the USPS, mail materials to:
Manifest
Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center
Attn: 1st International Photography Annual (INPHA 1)
P.O. Box 6218
Cincinnati, OH 45206
e-mail
show@manifestgallery.org with
questions
PLEASE feel
free to print, share, or forward this information. The success
of this project will rely largely
on word-of-mouth publicity.)
Exhibition Opportunities for FotoFocus at Manifest in October 2012
Three exhibitions are currently in planning stages, which will be presented at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati during the October 2012 city-wide FotoFocus event. Calls for submissions to each of these exhibits will be posted in Manifest's OPPORTUNITIES listings (see link at top of page) soon. The exhibits will consist of one thematic group show, one solo exhibit, and a series of projected 'moving pictures' works for a dedicated screening room exhibit. Solo proposals are already being accepted here.
* learn more about FotoFocus here.
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