Finally Got My Rejection Letter

Finally got my grant reject letter today from the Foundation For The Arts people. The letter is almost exactly the same wording as last time but this time they just put in "The Family Of The Mae Sot Garbage Dump" where last time it said "Issan Portraits". I also received the same generic unhelpful jurors comment list as last time, the list where you cannot really figure out why your submission was unsuccessful.

This was very disappointing like last time but not as unexpected. I guess they did not think the project was important enough. Telling the story of the Burmese refugees families living in a dump was not important to the jurors of at the Alberta Foundation For The Arts. It would be interesting to find out which projects they thought were more important and why.

I will apply again  for the "Families Of The Mae Sot Garbage Dump" project with slight modifications for the Feb 1/2013 grant deadline. If they decide again that the project is not worthy of a grant, then f-ck them I will do it on my own somehow, on a smaller scale. I will try to create whats right with my photographs even if the grant jurors would rather close their eyes to the project.

I have to follow my heart when it comes to what I photograph, even if others are blind to my vision, I need to keep it.

One glimmer of hope in this rejection letter is that they included this paragraph that is different than last time.

"I regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful. However, the jury identified your project as highly recommend for support should more funds become available at the end of the AFA,'s fiscal year.. If funds do become available for this program, they may be used to award grants to some or all of the highly recommended project applications identified and ranked by the jury. You will be contacted no later than April 30, 2013 should funding become available for your application."

This bold lettered part was different than the first rejection letter for the Issan project. Guess I made it a bit closer this time round but a no is a no is a no, no matter how much sugar you put on it!! If they thought my work was strong and the project was worthwhile they would have funded it.

 I wonder where my project fits into the highly recommended rankings by the jury. It seems a very long shot at best to get any funds for this. I will try again in February with another grant request, who knows maybe I will wear them down with my persistence or if I beg long and hard enough they will throw me some scraps.

It can't hurt to try the February submission process, at worst I will be rejected yet again and it will make me more angry, and inspire me to prove the jurors wrong. If (when) the second grant submission request goes bad. I will scrounge and scrape to save the money needed, I will work a second job or take on extra security shifts to get this project funded (probably on a smaller scale, 3 weeks instead of 7?).

I will create compassionate, strong photographs that tell the stories of these important people, nothings going to stop me. The creation of the work, the telling of the families stories is all that matters, it is all I need to concern myself with, everything else is secondary.