Friday, June 24, 2016

The Good And Bad Of The Day

A couple of things good and bad happened today.  First the bad, my workshop dude did not show up AGAIN. Am done with this guy now, gave him 2 chances both times he was a no show. Last time round he said he screwed up the date, today not sure why but he did not attend yet again. Two days ago I emailed him and asked if he was coming and he assured me he was, even asked how many films to bring etc. (for the developing as part of the darkroom workshop). Why do people say they will do stuff and then not do it? That is not in my make up, when I say I will do something I almost always do it. If you do not want to do something that's fine but do not lead other people on, tell them the truth and stay true to your commitments.

The little bit of a good thing that happened today is I received this email, it seems legit (photo scouts?) :
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 Dear Gerry Yaum,
One of our photo scouts alerted us to your work. It seems to fit with the theme of sexual and gender diversity which is the focus of Pride Photo Award. Please allow us to inform you about the possibility of entering any recent work that's on topic, in the 2016 Pride Photo Award contest.
Pride Photo Award is an annual, international contest for photos about sexual and gender diversity. Photographers can register and submit their photos until July 5th. An international jury of photography experts will select the winners in each of the four categories and one overall winner who will receive the Pride Photo Award 2016.
The Award winner will be invited to fly to Amsterdam for the opening weekend of the central exhibition. Attached you will find the Call for Entries for more information about the contest. Additional information can be found on our website:
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us.

Kind regards,
The Pride Photo Award Team
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This looks like an honest request so I will probably follow through on it and submit some work. As a rule I NEVER enter contests or do submissions to galleries that require a paid fee. I checked this contests rules and there is no fee/no payment so it looks like a go ahead type of thing. I will give it a try, see what happens. Who knows I might end up going to Amsterdam where I could visit the Van Gogh and Rembrandt museums (which would be awesome!).

Note* I have never liked the idea of paying money to have people consider your work, it seems to be a bit of a bribe. Did they like my work? Or did I buy my way in? Is the contest/gallery a scam or the real thing? Is it a money grab? Do they only earn money buy requesting people to submit work. Are they true lovers of art or con artists? The contest-gallery folks always rationalize the payment as necessary for overhead cost reasons. It just seems wrong to me on many levels, so I never enter those pay to enter thingys. For example, there is an annual "Exposure Photography Festival" gallery opportunity here in Edmonton that I never enter for that very reason. I want to be part of  that show but not if I have to pay-bribe my way in. If you want to show the work fine, if you want me to pay to show the work, not fine.

I would rather use that money to buy film and make extra pictures! : ))

Note** Please if anyone reading this has work that fits the themes of this important contest, subject matter, JOIN IN, make a submission.
Update* This contest seems to be a major player with a jury from organizations like the New York Times and The New Yorker etc. Some study, thought and work needs to into this on my part to get it right.