Fine Art Photoblog Opens the Door to New Photographers
By Brian Auer • May 19th, 2008
I’ve been hinting at this for about a week, but it’s now official. The Fine Art Photoblog will be accepting portfolios for review in search of one or two new photographers to join us. Before you get too excited, be sure to read this entire post and soak in everything that we’re asking for.
Back in December, I posted the first call for portfolios. We had 30 people submit their work, vote on each other, and 6 of the top photographers were accepted. By early February, we had finished building and testing the site and we had a hugely successful site launch thanks to the help of many people in our community. OK, so that’s the history in case you missed it a few months back.
And now we’re doing it again. But this time, we’ll only be bringing on a few new photographers to supplement our existing team. We’re looking for upcoming artists who want to gain exposure for themselves while contributing to something larger.
WHAT WE’LL EXPECT FROM YOU
Before we even talk about portfolio guidelines, we want to bring up a few thoughts about what is expected of a “Fine Art Photoblogger”. We don’t require many things, but we’re very passionate about the guidelines we do set. Here are some basic commitments you can expect within the group:
- Post at least one new photo per week.
- Have the ability to sell unsigned prints on your own via “print on demand”.
- Have the ability to produce signed (and optionally) limited edition works.
- Participate in our private forum by bringing up issues, voicing opinions, etc.
- Come up with new ways to market the site and put the plans into action.
- Plan on sticking to it for at least 12 to 18 months.
- Be a team player and treat the website as an equal share democracy.
If you’re still interested in being part of the team, read on.
HOW WE’LL RUN THIS SHOW
This time around will be a bit different from the first time. Portfolios will be accepted for a period of two weeks from now (DEADLINE: June 2). The seven of us at the Fine Art Photoblog will judge the portfolios alongside a few guest judges. Then we’ll bring in the selected photographers as outlined by the “Break-In” period. Here’s the basic rundown:
- You submit portfolios
- We select up to 2 photographers
- The new photographers will be “broken-in”
- If everything works out, they stay
- If not, they don’t
We know it’s a little different from the first portfolio review, but the site is in a different place too. So if you’re alright with the terms so far, read on.
ABOUT THE “BREAK-IN” PERIOD
Maybe this sounds bad, but it’s just something intended to protect the photoblog and those already involved with it. After some discussion, we all decided that the following plan would be best for any new photographers brought into the website. If you are selected to join us, here’s the process you can expect to go through:
- You will post 3 photos under a guest account. This will help us evaluate how well you fit in with the blog.
- After your first post, you’ll be brought into the private forum. We’ll then be evaluating your interactions with the other photographers and getting a feel for your level of commitment to the site.
- After your 3 photos are posted and you’ve been active with the forum, the seven of us will decide if it’s right to bring you on full time.
- If you’re asked to join, we’ll make you a full account on the blog and transfer ownership of your 3 photos to your account. You’ll also get an email address and we’ll add your contact information and bio to the website.
I know, it’s probably a bit like a hazing period with a fraternity, but it’s just to give us some options in case things don’t work out. So if this still sounds like something you want to do, read on.
AND ABOUT THOSE PORTFOLIOS
We’re going to be a little more strict with the portfolio entries this time around too. If portfolios don’t meet the requirements outlined here, they won’t be considered for review. In addition to some general portfolio guidelines, here are the requirements:
- A maximum of 20 photos, and a minimum of 10 photos.
- The photos must be your own work and should represent you as an artist.
- Must be accessible in the form of a web address — don’t send us loose photos.
That’s it really… just a small set of photos. We’re limiting to 20 photos because we may end up with more than 30 portfolios for review — even at 30, that’s 600 photos that all of us have to review.
Once the portfolios have been reviewed, I’ll post all the entries we have this time around — that way everybody can see some other portfolios and see all the great work. We’ll also announce the photographers who will begin their trial period.
SUBMIT YOUR PORTFOLIO HERE
DEADLINE: June 2
UPDATE: The entry form has been closed and portfolios are no longer being accepted. Keep an eye out for the results in the days to come!
CURRENT PORTFOLIO ENTRIES
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Brian Auer is a photography enthusiast from North Idaho. He's also the guy behind the Epic Edits Weblog. As a hobbyist photographer since 2003, his passion has been to constantly improve his photography skill set, to share his own knowledge with others, and to become an integral part of the photographic community.
Visit the author's homepage | View all Epic Edits posts by Brian Auer
I’m really excited about the second round admissions, and I look forward to exploring lots of great portfolios, and eventually making new friends with another one or two new fine art photobloggers. Now go knock our socks off!
I missed the first round, but will definitely have something together to submit this time!
Well you guys will sure be lucky to be looking at the Best of the Best.
If possible and the submitters don’t mind, maybe you can show a few of these entries.
Niels Henriksen
That’s probably a good idea Niels — I think I’ll update this page each evening with the latest portfolio submissions (if the photographer wants their work seen).
I feel since I don’t even have a year of photography that I can’t quite compete with the other portfolios submitted. However, I do have the time for it, considering I’m a stay at home mom, and photography enthusiast, and have a passion for both, I think I’m going to go ahead and submit something, if anything it will let me know if I’m going anywhere with photography or not.
I was just wondering what kind of money this position paid.
It pays whatever you can manage to sell. The photographers are their own business entities and keep all of their own earnings. The photoblog is just a gathering place for us to promote our works.
SO excited that you’re accepting new submissions!
I am really happy to be able to submit my portfolio, even if I do not get chose it is great to see my name with other great photographers.
Hi every one
It is very pleasure to me as an Iraqi amateur astronomer and photographer to join with you. I will try to do my best I could to show my co-photographers that there is another (bright side) of Iraq in these hard days of my country.
Thank you again,with my very best wishes.
Azhy Hasan
Fine Art Photoblog is a favorite destination…what an awesome opportunity. Portfolio submitted!
WELL, i don´t know if is have seen sended, it gave an error twicw and now…well any way good luck for all
I picked up your feed several months ago and have followed it since then. I thought Fine Art Photoblog was a brilliant way to drive traffic and get exposure for the member photographers. And now you are taking in two more photographers?! Did I tell you how brilliant you were? Portfolio submitted.
@javiy I got your portfolio, don’t worry.
@Craig Thanks! I got yours too, I just need to get through some of the recent ones sitting in my inbox.
I decided that I may not get another chance, that I can make time, if selected, and that this is a great opportunity that I shouldn’t miss.
Hopefully it went through.
hi, I’ve heart about this very late…
I’ve submitted very late… it was still the 2nd here in austria
hope it’s working for me.
it would be great to work with you.
nice greetings from vienna, karola
I will let me art students know about it, out of 4,000 students about a 1/4 are into photography too, including the boss.
Are you still accepting submissions?
No, we’re not at the moment. When we do, I’ll be sure to post a new announcement here on the blog.
Darn, unfortunately I missed the first round of submissiions, and now I missed the 2nd round. I love this blog, and am very passionate about fine art photography and blogging and think I would make a great addition. I guess in the meantime I will be adding more quality photographs to my portfolio and fine-tuning it in order to produce the best possible work to submit when you have a 3rd round of portfolio submissions for review. Thanks for providing these opportunities to photographers like myself. I enjoy the blog very much, keep the good stuff coming