The self-published photobook is an exciting new avenue for photographers to present their work directly to the public. In addition, the photobook itself can be a work of art.

As part of the Davis Orton Gallery’s commitment to showcasing the work of contemporary photographers, the Gallery is sponsoring a juried photobook competition culminating in a gallery exhibition and sale.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

The Submission period begins August 1, 2010 and ends on October 1, 2010.

Entries must be in-hand or postmarked by October 1.

SUBMISSION FEE

The fee for submission of up to three books is $25

via Photobook competition for photographers who self publish | Davis Orton Gallery

This is not a photo contest and not about a web design contest in San Francisco but it might be of interest to designers out there. I showed some of my photos at a photo event in Lodz a few years ago.

Portfolio review is a very popular and attractive form of presenting own work to specialists in a given field. The 4th International Festival of Design in Łódź – LDZIGN 2010 offers, for the first time in Poland, such an opportunity in pattern design. The event is directed to students and graduates of art schools and designers who have been present in the market for some time. Meetings with design professionals, like curators, product managers, designers and producers, give a chance to verify skills, knowledge and ways of presentation of projects. Submitting a portfolio to evaluation by reviewers creates an opportunity to verify the presented ideas and may result in the implementation of an idea into a production process, an exhibition offer or a publication. Participants will be chosen on the basis of submitted applications.

via ŁódźDesign 2010.

• The Grant competition officially begins Thursday, July 1st at 9:00 am EST

• The deadline is Wednesday, September 15th at 12:00 noon EST

• Final results will be published on November 1st, 2010

• $30 for a yearly membership, only members can submit

via Grant Information & Prizes | FotoVisura Grant.

I recently came across one plugin they list that was very impressive in it’s scope but a bit hard to use:

Role Scoper is a comprehensive enrichment for access control in WordPress, giving you CMS-like control of permissions. Assign reading, editing or administration roles to users or groups on a page-specific, category-specific or other content-specific basis.

via 40 Exceptional “CMS Enabling” WordPress Plugins – Noupe.

Arts Benicia Artist in Residency (ABAIR) Program for Installation Artists

Request for Proposals

Overview:
Arts Benicia will provide installation artists with an opportunity to work out installation ideas in its 2,000 square foot space from 7/20-8/20, 2010. Our gallery is located in the heart of a large artists’ community that is situated in an former military arsenal built in the 1800’s. Arts Benicia has a pristine gallery in the heart of the historic Benicia Arsenal. It is well lit, has white walls and concrete floor.

What you get:

• Access to Arts Benicia’s gallery space from 7/20-8/20 to create an installation-in-progress.

• An artist’s reception on August 12, 7-9 pm.

• Publicity, email and card.

• $200 maximum supply budget.

• Access to a 10′x40′ storage container.

• An opportunity to take the time to do your most adventurous and interesting work in pristine gallery within a supportive artists’ community environment.

Project Dates:

• Installation and Residency Phase: July 20-August 12, 2010

• Reception: August 12

• Exhibition Phase: August 12-August 20

• Deinstallation and cleanup: August 21-24

Artist’s responsibilities:

• Artists must ensure their own and audience member’s safety.

• Artists must respect the gallery space and community and “do no harm”.

• Artists will sign “hold harmless” waiver.

• Artists must leave the space clean and undamaged by August 24. Artists will be responsible for any repairs, repainting, etc.

What will not be considered:

• Traditional exhibitions like painting, sculpture, photography, etc., though installations may include traditional elements. Site specific installation is required.

• Any project that will damage our space or will take staff time to clean up. Artist must leave the space in the condition in which it was found.

• Any project that poses a safety risk.

• Any project that disturbs the work of Arts Benicia. Our office is upstairs, but we will not be available to help with the installation, and we do not want to be disturbed by loud noises, offensive smells, etc.. The gallery is very acoustically reflective.

What will help your proposal (Not required):

• Unusual, recycled and clean materials are encouraged.

• A clear, specific proposal.

• Good use of available space.

• Community involvement potential.

• Possibility of programming children’s experiences in the space.

* Interactive or kinetic work is encouraged.

• Friendliness and flexibility on the part of the artist.

Eligibility:

All artists and artist teams are welcome to apply.

To apply please provide the following by July 1:

1. One page proposal. Tell us your ideas for the installation. You may attach drawings or other images used for planning, small jpegs please.

2. At least four images of relevant work. Links to online images preferred, or email no more than four small jpegs.

3. Current resume. Link to online resume preferred or email small pdf.

Email materials to: info@artsbenicia.org and put “ABAIR Program” in the subject line. No phone or email inquiries please.

RFP Release Date: June 26, 2010

Deadline for Proposal Submission: July 1, 2010

Evaluation Process: July 2-5, 2010

Artists will be notified by July 6. Depending on the applications, we may choose one or more applicants, or none.

This program sounds like a great opportunity for an intensive work and training experience in fine art photography in one of my favorite cities – Berlin.

It’s like an intensive workshop only it lasts almost a full month. April Gertler is the director.

What can I gain from this program that other programs wouldn’t be able to give me ?

Picture Berlin is a unique chance to experience the international artistic community from the inside. The focus of the program is to have a feeling of what it is like to experience art and discussions about art in a context that might be new and unfamiliar to you, with people you do not know. The challenges of considering your artistic practice and simultaneously being exposed to cultural differences is an enriching experience which can further your work in leaps and bounds that might be astonishing. Participants create a portfolio ready for presentation after the program is completed, and have exhibition experience ready to put on their artist resumes. Also, each participant will gain insight in the way the European art scene works, ranging from an overview of the European artist residency network, to how to prepare a portfolio. You’ll also engage in discussions on contemporary art and gain a basic understanding of artistic practice happening in Europe today.

via Picture Berlin

Lots of buzz around apple’s Thoughts on why they don’t support flash.

BashFlash is more evidence of the anti-flash momentum.

And this was a funny take on “The pot calling the kettle black”

A blog called Hoopty Rides decided to see what would happen if you copied the text of the letter into your word processor and replaced the word “Adobe” with “Apple” and “Flash” with “closed.” The results are pretty funny.

One of the best paragraphs to do this to is in the section that specifically addresses Adobe's closed system. Here it is before the search and replace shenanigans:

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

And after:

Apple’s closed products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Apple, and Apple has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Apple’s closed products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Apple and available only from Apple. By almost any definition, closed is a closed system.

via Jobs Lashes Out At Adobe, Oh The Irony – Mobile Blog – InformationWeek.

IMAP in Mac Mail (aka Apple Mail or Mail.app) is flaky. But this tip saved me in trying to rebuild my setting after mail crashed and forgot (deleted) all my outgoing servers. Then older messages disappeared from folders because it was mapping to “inbox” twice – or something crazy.

The point of IMAP is to make more mail available on more devices. This was a bigger issue for me as I started to rely on my iPhone for mail. Having access to older emails can be very handy, even with iPhone Mail’s limitations.

A next step is to replicate other MobileMe “push” features for calendar and contacts.

So I started doing some more research online, and quickly discovered that I wasn’t the first person to run into this problem. The general consensus was that Mail’s support for IMAP is a little flaky, but several people offered their solutions and workarounds. One of the necessary steps is to tell Mail that the IMAP path prefix is “INBOX”; the other necessary step is to set up a mapping between the remote “Drafts”, “Sent” and “Trash” folders to the same folders in Mail.

The part that I got wrong was the order of these two steps, and to make a long story short, it apparently matters. If you define the IMAP path prefix first, it doesn’t seem to work properly. In my case, the “Drafts” folder would just disappear altogether with no way to get back to it. So wait to do that after you’ve set up the mappings. It took me most of the day to get this working, but it does seem to be OK now.

(now, a few weeks later, it’s still working although mail asks me on startup each time if i want to add the ‘inbox’ prefix)

via Setting up IMAP in Mac Mail • Blog Archive • Lovable Lyle.

this is a blog from a pro hollywood director of photography:

http://hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/

he’s a big proponant of using dslr’s for video.

i found a couple others too
http://www.cinema5d.com/

with detailed techinical discussions

here’s another with details about image stabilization
http://www.canon5dtips.com

Now to the point.  The HDSLR technology recycles, it is small, it requires less space, less crew, less light, less power, less fuel, and less food.  I can go on and on for a long time about how this technology produces less waste. The most important point is that with less waste also comes the power for infinite creativity.  I have coined the phrase “small footprint, big vision.”  Isn’t that what we want to teach our children and the world? Leave a small footprint, but have a big vision.

via HDSLR Cameras | Hurlbut Visuals.

here’s a summary:

Hookworms. That’s right. Meaning, in order to get this relief, one has to intentionally invite a hookworm infestation into their own body.  And unbelievably, this isn’t that new of a concept.

Almost a decade ago, a scientist by the name of David Pritchard visited New Guinea and found that those inhabitants infected with a small amount of hookworm seemed to exhibit far less allergic and asthmatic response than those who were not.

via Hookworms for allergies? Would you infest your own body to be symptom-free?.

see also this interesting video testimonial