the 2019 emerging photographers showcase

Exposure supports alberta's Emerging Photographers!
selected work will be exhibited in calgary and shared with our international online community.

The Exposure Photography Festival 2019 is now accepting submissions for the annual Emerging Photographers Showcase, juried by Lindsey V. Sharman, Curator, Art Gallery of Alberta.  Accepted work will be shown in a feature exhibition hosted by the Exposure Photography Festival during the month of February. 10 artists will be chosen to participate, and the juror will select one artist who will be awarded a solo exhibition during the 2020 Exposure Photography Festival!

Where?

The exhibition will take place in the galleries of the historic Pioneer Building on Stephen Avenue in Calgary (former home of Contemporary Calgary and the Art Gallery of Calgary).

Here’s what you need to do:

Submit a series of photographs that best defines your unique style, vision and point of view, along with a written statement about the images. The series must be a substantial, interconnected body of work, including a minimum of 10 images and a maximum of 15. 

Submission Deadline: October 17, 2018
Notification: November 1, 2018
Fee: $35 for 10 images; additional images may be submitted for $5 each, up to 15 total.

2019 Emerging Photographers Juror: Lindsey V. Sharman

Lindsey V. Sharman is a curator with the Art Gallery of Alberta and adjunct professor with the Department of Art at the University of Calgary. Sharman has studied Art History and Curating in Canada, England, Switzerland and Austria, earning degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of the Arts, Zurich. From 2012-2018 she was the first curator of the Founders’ Gallery at the Military Museums in Calgary, an academic appointment through the University of Calgary. Her primary area of research is politically and socially engaged art practice. Curatorial projects of note include Seeing Soldiering: in theatre with those who serve by Althea Thauberger; TRENCH, a durational performance by Adrian Stimson; Felled Trees an exhibition deconstructing national identity at Canada House, London; Gassed Redux by Adad Hannah; and the nationally touring retrospective The Writing on the Wall: Works of Dr. Joane Cardinal Schubert. Sharman has contributed to academic and non-academic publications including Galleries West, n.paradoxa, Blackflash, the Canadian Journal of Military History, and The Writing on the Wall published by the University of Calgary Press.

THE FINE PRINT—RULES AND REGULATIONS

To qualify for the Emerging Photographers Showcase you must reside in Alberta. Many definitions of “emerging artist” exist. We are guided by the definition used by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation:

Emerging Artists are defined as those, of any age, who have mastered the basic techniques of their art form through education or apprenticeship and are in the early years of launching a professional career. Emerging artists have created and publicly presented a modest body of independent work and are ready for the next steps in their artistic development.

Each image file can be a maximum of 5MB in size. All images must be submitted as JPEGs—any files submitted in any other format (including TIFF, PDF, PSD, etc.) will not be reviewed. The file name of your image must include your last name and correspond directly with the title of the work. For example:

Artist name: John Smith
Title of work: Balloon Dog
Image filename: smith_balloondog.jpeg

If you submit a series for which all images have the same title, each image file should be numbered. Your image file name would look like this:

Title of work: Balloon Dog 1
Image filename: smith_balloondog1.jpeg

Images can be shot in any format, using any camera, on film or digital. There are no restrictions on when the submitted images were made.

Applicant Bio

This is where you get to tell us about yourself as a photographer. Are you a student who enjoys capturing the mundane aspects of life and turning them into something beautiful? Are you a self-taught photographer who documents the lives of others? While this isn’t the space for you to delve into your practice, this should provide us with a little bit of information about you. You can also briefly describe your career as a photographer thus far. We’re interested in learning about YOU.

Statement About the Work

Submissions must include a statement about the work, approximately 250 words. This is your opportunity to introduce us to your work. What ideas are you exploring? What's your approach? Who are your photographic heroes? Share what you want us to know about the work you do.

Etc.

Submissions that fail to follow these instructions will not be reviewed.

The juror will select at least one photograph representing each finalist’s submission. 

Instructions for the submission of high resolution files for printing will be included in the acceptance notification sent by email. Exposure reserves the right to decline work that, in the juror's judgement, does not match the online image submission.

All exhibiting artists will be paid $115 in artist fees in accordance with CARFAC guidelines. Our Exhibition Presenting Sponsor, Resolve Photo, will print and frame all of the work at no cost to the artist. Artists will receive their print(s) at the end of the exhibition.

Work chosen will also be promoted online at Artsy.net, our official online partner, which receives 2.5 million monthly visitors. Any sales inquiries collected from Artsy will be sent to each artist in real time, and it will be the artist’s choice and sole responsibility to conduct any potential sale (Exposure and Artsy take 0% commission).

Digital files of the winning images will be used for press and publicity purposes. A selection of winning images will be displayed and promoted on the Exposure Photography Festival and Resolve Photo websites, social media platforms, and Artsy.net, reaching millions of viewers worldwide. Exposure and Resolve Photo reserve the right to display, reproduce and publish in any media, any entry, without payment, for the sole purpose of promotion and publicity for the Exposure Photography Festival and Resolve Photo, now and in the future. No copyright is transferred to the Festival in respect of any works entered or accepted. Each entrant will be deemed to warrant they own the entire copyright for the work or that they have permission from the licensee and/or copyright owner(s) for the uses. All relevant clearances and/or model releases must have been obtained for the use of the photographs for publication and exhibition.

For more information and questions please email us.

"Emerging photographers are special. They are actively exploring the world and establishing their own visions and voices. While they may often build on the contributions of masters who have gone before, they also bring a freshness of expression and an enthusiasm that makes them a joy to work with. Supporting early career photographers has always been a priority for Resolve Photo. The challenges they face are multifaceted, from refining their vision to the point of producing finished works, to balancing concept with the constraints of physical materials and budget, to carving time away from everyday responsibilities in order to produce a body of work. As sponsors of the Emerging Photographers Showcase, Resolve Photo will cover the expenses of printing, mounting, and framing the work accepted for the exhibition. In addition, each photographer will keep his or her mounted photographs after the exhibition ends. Good luck with your submissions, and we look forward to working with you!"

~Costas Costoulas, Founder, Resolve Photo