call for women photographers, juried by Roy DeCarava

cheers
bob

i guess annie leibovitz, lauren greenfield etc are all at the hairdressers that day. that must be it.

I am wracking my brain and bookshelf for a relevant Paulo Freire quote…

Marina will enter: GO LADIES: we’d love to come down too for the show! :)))))….

b

I am very excited for all of you who participate….would be an honor to have him take a peek-peak at any of my own pics…

Im excited for all y’all :0)

cheers
b

sorry, but your conclusion about the nature of the awarding of this award to DeCarava as some invidious and tacit acknowledgment/endorsement of the current administration’s politics is an erroneous one, and unfortunate, particularly given Mr. DeCarava’s work (and im not talking now here about photography but his work in harlem and his work in the civil rights movement)….im not a fan of Art awards either, but these types of awards have nothing to do with the administration which bestows them…

“how soon the young forget their parents’ sacrificies”

How soon the self-righteous forget the right….

the struggle for equality was born of the embrace of not the separation of distinction based upon gender but the acknowledgment that characters is born of the content of one’s humanity not by the color of their skin nor the bend of their chromosome. ….

opinion and sermonizing are quite two different distinctions…one that, i would have guessed you’d understood, the Bushes have failed to discern…

have you considered, irony aside, that the penandbrush (and organization situated in my old childhood hood, constituted by women and for women, made the Affirmative Decision (the decision makers there ARE women, to choose him based on merits)…

the irony of the choice who have been had men organized the exhibition and chosen a man….actually, the fact that the Women who run the organization choose DeCarava is actually an example of their enlightenment and their “not forgetting” what the dream of equality means…

peace

running
b

I have no problem with a women judging all men, or a women judging a mixed event, or vice versa or any which way, I don’t think it should matter. I don’t think any line should be drawn in. But I will concede to the argument that certain fields are male dominated and until that changes then having all women contests has a place to provide them with a forum and a voice.

Though I agree with Bob entirely that the all women panel choosing a man to be a judge is proof of their enlightenment and how true sexual equality should be expressed.

Because sex shouldn’t bloody matter, nor race or any other stupid thing. What matters is ability!

What about transgender individuals, or gays or lesbians. Where do they fit into an all women contest, what can they judge or participate in.

I think the problem arose when you suggested that concerned parties should petition for “"a fair woman co-juror/curator involved to balance out the “All Woman” issue being presented "”.

I too have problems with the exclusion of any category of people, though as I did admit there are still cases where it might be needed (for the time being)** in order to represent an under represented group. The flip side is that I also have problems with the unnecessary inclusion of any category of people and I would argue that there is no need for an exception to this. The judge is chosen for their abilities and as the discrimination has already been done for them by the interested parities they are free from any further discrimination. The forced inclusion of any other judge from some alternate group sets a double standard on equality and should be avoided.

You yourself mentioned the possibility that the judge may be of any gender regardless of their external qualities so why bring up the idea of an additional judge for “balance”. The bottom line is that the judge was chosen due to their qualities as a judge and not their gender/sex, which is what was praised as a testament to equality.

( Just a general note but I would like to state that I am a long time advocate for argument, which I define as “two or more people conversing in order to come to a better understanding of their world” and not any sort of negative or personal attack. So often, especially online people take things entirely in the wrong way and I do my best to avoid this. )

• Internal classification aside it could be argued that females are discriminated against and because of this there is still a place for a female only competition in which the female/male bias will be removed and individuals will be judged on their abilities and not their sex. In this equation the sex and inclination of the judge is totally irrelevant and should be (and was) chosen solely on grounds of ability.

as for ’women’s exhibitions’, it seems to me there could be at least 2 reasons for undertaking such a thing: one is that women have something unique – and uniquely gendered – to bring to photography. annie leibovitz may not be an especially good example (just the first high-profile name that came to mind), but lauren greenfield (of whom i am a big fan) defines the type – i.e. her work could not and would not ever have been produced by a man. if that is what penandbrush have in mind, then the question arises (to me at least), in what way is any man qualified to judge the specifically gendered qualities of women’s photography? on this score i maintain that mr decarava is a bad choice, regardless of how talented he undoubtedly is.

the second motivation would be simply to help redress the gender imbalance in a male dominated field. but if this implies that there is nothing specifically gendered about women’s photography and they are just marginalised by patriarchy, then ’women’s exhibitions’ might also seem a wee bit patronising. in this case i find myself agreeing with sascha: photography by women should be regarded and judged in exactly the same light and alongside photography by men. the work stands or falls on its own merits same as anyone elses, without the self-victimisation of saying (or implying) that poor downtrodden women need and deserve some extra help in the form of roy decarava’s nod of approval.

finally, although i find these issues both fascinating and important, i do not feel as militant about it as gayle and certainly did not in any way mean to dissuade anyone from entering. i dont doubt for a second that penandbrush are well-meaning, just that i find their choice of juror ‘problematic’, to say the least.

Sorry my batteries just run out and I am not recharging them!

For me, the involvement of Roy DeCarava speaks volumes. Races does not need to be explicitly mentioning in the press release for that elephant to jump out at me.

I hope that those not familiar with his work, both as a photographer and an advocate of civil rights, are catalyzed by this conversation to investigate his contributions.

You are right though, the matter being discussed does not take race into account.

2. Lighten up, people, it could be worse; you could be selling life insurance for a living.

or is there a difference, being an idiot vs. stupid?

that might be an idea, set up a rival agency, IPA, though the international police association already have the website.

i figure SPA will be an agency with a lot of clout due to its vast number of members and we all know there is safety in numbers.

Freedom!

To each his or her own….

Faye

“We have just learned that the juror for the 2008 Juried Photography Exhibition will not consider color photography; only black and white photography will be juried into the show. In addition, digitally enhanced or manipulated photos are not acceptable.”

I guess some posts have been deleted here as the discussion seems kinda skewed ?!?

• Submitted work must be created by Women Artists in the last 3 years.
• Only black & white photography (film or digital) will be considered.
Classroom instructed work and published photographs are not acceptable.
• All work must be for sale. Sales are made to the Pen and Brush, which takes a 25% commission, and makes a
check out to the artist for the balance of the cost of the work. Sales tax will be collected and remitted on all sales.
• Submissions should include:
1. Entry Form (below). Please type or print and fill out form completely and clearly. Please do not use
unnecessary formatting or punctuation in the titles.
2. Slides or a CD of up to 3original images. Slides must be labeled with the artist’s name and the title and size
of the work. Please indicate front and top of slide. The CD and its case must be labeled with the artist’s name
and the titles of the works. Digital images must by JPEG’s and formatted for MAC’s.
3. Non-refundable Entry Fee (check, credit card, or money order). $40 for members and $50 for non-members.
• Slides or CD’s of accepted work will be retained until the conclusion of the exhibition.
• The Pen and Brush will not accept submissions sent by Priority or Express mail, or by any method that requires a
signature from one specific individual.
• Acceptance or rejection notification by e-mail, phone, or letter will be made at least 3 weeks before Receiving Day.
Non-Members may become Pen and Brush General Members for an additional $40, which will serve as the
artist’s 2008 dues (normally $60). This discount is only available in conjunction with a completed entry for
this exhibit. General Membership is non-juried and is not dependent on acceptance in this show.
More information can be found at www.penandbrush.org/membership.htm.