Today I got another rejection letter from a local small artist run gallery called Latitude 53. The work submitted and rejected was from the "Forgotten Laughter" series of photos. These photos deals with the lives of children in the Mae Sot garbage dump. I guess the Latitude jury are more into the fine art, arty farty type stuff. They told me , "The programming advisory committee did not feel that this work fit with Latitude 53’s mandate or audiences."
Will not submit to this gallery again, we have different agendas when it comes to art. Everyone has their own mandate and own view on what art is important. My view simply differs from theirs. I have always found art that deals with human life (real lives) in a realistic way is more moving than art that deals with some high brow conceptual ARTISTE theme. I have also found that the viewer often connects to and are more moved by art they can indentify with and relate to. Anyway, to each their own.
Will I ever get this work shown? Am I the only one who feels the lives and the stories in the dump are important and worth seeing? Feel very frustrated right now. After working so hard to tell these stories, 3 years of shooting on the other side of the world, 3 years of seeing and speaking and being with the families and NO ONE will show the work! At least there was financial and material gifts handed out to the families during the photography.
Still it is so disappointing to have failed the families, failed the children yet again. I let them all down. I let the little boy who held my hand and took me to a birthday party, down. I let the little boy who followed me around the dump and pretended to steal my bag then laughed and ran hoping I would play with him and chase him (he had no mother or father was raised by his grandma), down. I let the little girl who smiled so sweet and hugged me after I gave her a second hand barbie doll, down. I let the young girl who carried heavy pails of water on her head even when she was sick (would pass out), down. It goes on and on, the memories flood back now. It is all too depressing to think about. Need to try and think of something else.
Here is the latest Latitude 53 rejection letter:
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Thank you for your submission to Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture’s Main Space programming call. We were delighted to receive a diverse collection of submissions for our spring deadline; on behalf of our selection committee, Board of Directors and our community, we really appreciate your consideration in responding.
All submissions have been reviewed thoroughly by a selected peer group and I regret to inform you that your specific submission was not selected for programming in our upcoming season.
The programming advisory committee did not feel that this work fit with Latitude 53’s mandate or audiences.
Latitude 53 accepts submission proposals twice yearly and reviews these submissions on an ongoing basis. Our next deadline is 30 September 2016.
We really appreciate the time and effort you put into this application. Thanks again for submitting.
Sincerely,
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Programming & Communications
Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture
Will not submit to this gallery again, we have different agendas when it comes to art. Everyone has their own mandate and own view on what art is important. My view simply differs from theirs. I have always found art that deals with human life (real lives) in a realistic way is more moving than art that deals with some high brow conceptual ARTISTE theme. I have also found that the viewer often connects to and are more moved by art they can indentify with and relate to. Anyway, to each their own.
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| Rejected photograph, young baby and mother from the "Forgotten Laughter" series, Mae Sot Thailand May 2016 |
Still it is so disappointing to have failed the families, failed the children yet again. I let them all down. I let the little boy who held my hand and took me to a birthday party, down. I let the little boy who followed me around the dump and pretended to steal my bag then laughed and ran hoping I would play with him and chase him (he had no mother or father was raised by his grandma), down. I let the little girl who smiled so sweet and hugged me after I gave her a second hand barbie doll, down. I let the young girl who carried heavy pails of water on her head even when she was sick (would pass out), down. It goes on and on, the memories flood back now. It is all too depressing to think about. Need to try and think of something else.
 |
| The young boy (mentioned above) who followed me around the dump, Mae Sot Thailand April-May 2016 |
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Thank you for your submission to Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture’s Main Space programming call. We were delighted to receive a diverse collection of submissions for our spring deadline; on behalf of our selection committee, Board of Directors and our community, we really appreciate your consideration in responding.
All submissions have been reviewed thoroughly by a selected peer group and I regret to inform you that your specific submission was not selected for programming in our upcoming season.
The programming advisory committee did not feel that this work fit with Latitude 53’s mandate or audiences.
Latitude 53 accepts submission proposals twice yearly and reviews these submissions on an ongoing basis. Our next deadline is 30 September 2016.
We really appreciate the time and effort you put into this application. Thanks again for submitting.
Sincerely,
---- -------- - -----
Programming & Communications
Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture
