The difference between Nymphoto and some other collectives is that we are a close knit community of just a few members. (Our meetings run hours long.. food keeps us sane.) We strive to keep each other motivated and it’s especially valuable to me since I was fresh out of college when I was asked to join. Although we are committed to promote women working in photography and creating a voice for them, we are mostly artists too. We have work that wants to be shown and recognized.We have full time jobs but are motivated to keep our goals and intentions going strong.

I’m pleased to announce Nymphoto’s newest projects.

We’re publishing our first book! The Conversations in book form! Also, we are happy to collaborate with gallery owner and director, Sasha Wolf, to put on a physical exhibition coinciding with the book. The title of the book and show is simple called,”Nymphoto: Conversations Volume I.” Join us on May 6, 2009 at the gallery for our book launch and opening reception.

Ladies! We’re also doing a Call for Entries for an group exhibition following the book launch exhibition. Deadline is April 7th. Please go to www.nymphoto.com for details and to submit. We’re looking for the best in contemporary photography by women so please pass the word on.

Grandmother, © Jane Tam

Happy Inauguration Day!

It’s amazing how much has grown within the past year for Nymphoto. The blog has brought on a slew of new readers. We’re hoping to stay on this train and open up the opportunity for Op-Eds. There’s always talk among bloggers that criticism is on the down-low while self-promotion is the road to take and be safe. We want to share the struggles or successes of creating art and make sure it’s heard. For this Tuesday, I wrote a post about being 22, being financially strapped, being unmotivated after college, and how in the end, art-making is my priority. Read it, share your thoughts, and contribute an Op-Ed.

Leopard Lady, © Juliana Beasley

Juliana Beasley recently emailed me about her ongoing print sale from her “Last Stop: Rockaway Park” series. I was first introduced to Juliana’s photographs a couple of years ago when she applied for Jen Bekman’s Hey, Hot Shot competition during my time interning at the gallery. It was one of the most memorable entries and she continued to the Fall 2006 edition of the HHS competition.

She’s selling four of her prints from her website at quite affordable prices. Quick, “Freida” and “Leopard Lady” are selling fast too! She also joined the blogging world too!

from “Breathing In” series, ¬© Rona Chang

Fellow Nymphoto cohort, Rona Chang, has opened up Plum and Lion, a print shop with 8.5×11″ prints from her ongoing series, “Breathing In.” At $25 a piece and archival quality, it is a steal. So buy art. It’ll make the heart better.

Come back for a real personal update and an end-of-the-year review of sorts next week.

Untitled, from the series, Angle of Repose © Toni Pepe

Sorry for the lack of posting. My day job as a retoucher has taken full swing on my mental capacity. Anyways, the current Nymphoto Conversation is with another dear friend, Toni Pepe. We met at a SPE Regional Conference last year and spent some time wandering through Woodstock, NY. Early this year, we traveled to Denver for the national SPE Conference and trekked the Rockies. Photo friends and travel, a great combination! Go check out the interview.

From the series, Fauna, © Nina Buesing

Fellow Nymphoto member, Nina Buesing updated her website which includes extraordinary work. She’s been getting buzz from fellow bloggers since the update too! Congrats!

Okay, let’s try to get back into this again.

Kotama Bouabane’s Let It Go

This week I bought Kotama Bouabane’s Let It Go and Linzie Hunter’s Coney from 20×200. As broke as I am, trying to save money for a 4×5 outfit, I could not have resisted purchasing these two pieces. I have a tendency to come close to maxing out my credit card these past few months (my limit is very low..).. buying what? A few pieces every once in awhile from 20×200, a light meter, film, packing supplies, stuff that do not pertain to art, food, etc.

Tis the season to buy art, most of which are for good causes.

From the series The Human Stain by Will Steacy
Digital C-Print
Negative Made 2006, Printed 2008
Signed & Numbered
Limited Edition of 15
8”x10” Paper Size
6.5”x8.2” Image Size
$150

I received an email from the talented Will Steacy about the ridiculous, I mean insane, increase in his rent. With the hope of community helping him out, he’s started selling limited edition prints of his work.

from his email:

I am writing to ask for your support in helping me spread the word about a Limited Edition print sale I am offering through my blog (please see link below). My landlord recently raised my rent by $600 a month and I can not afford this. I have no other choice than to move. And here lies my dilemma, I do not have the money to pay for a move. So, in a last minute effort to raise money for a move I am now offering a Limited Edition sale of 5 images, each in an edition of 15, for $150 each. I would be honored and most grateful if you posted something about this on your blogs, told your friends, passed this along to any collectors you know or forwarded this email to anyone who might be interested. Anything would help. In my eyes, the power and strength of the blogs, the art world community and all of my friendships is the ability to get the word out there and to help me spread this message anyway possible. I thank you, your support means a great deal!!!

http://willsteacy.blogspot.com/2008/10/limited-edition-prints-for-sale.html

Much Obliged,

Will

Many of you have contributed to buying prints from me earlier this year for the sake of funding for my senior BFA show. I was overwhelmed by the support and hope the community can do the same for Will.

Also, there is Art for Obama (rescheduled bidding for Oct. 3rd). Big names, big money, all for a good cause.

Nina over at Nymphoto has compiled a great interview with Tema Stauffer as part of the weekly featured artists on the blog. If you don’t subscribe to the blog, do so now. It’s worth it.

Noel from We Can’t Paint has big news for his blog.

Back in December 2007 I started a blog called We Can’t Paint, a project that has since grown both in scale and in readership. I’ve enjoyed the continuing discourse between fellow bloggers and those of you who have submitted work and ideas. Not only have these past months been extremely interesting but they have opened my eyes to a whole new avenue for the examination and promotion of photography.

By September 2008 We Can’t Paint will no longer simply exist as just a blog, it will also be an online magazine (a future print version is in the works) and online gallery (as is a physical space). This was ultimately my goal from the beginning (the expansion of We Can’t Paint), to build upon a promotion of emerging photographers and those select few Canadian’s who often go unnoticed. I truly believe in the artists I showcase and I respect all of you who continue to produce interesting and thoughtful projects both in and out of school.

We Can’t Paint Magazine and We Can’t Paint Gallery will become extensions of my blog, permitting both a lengthier viewing experience and a broader forum to contemplate issues concerning the medium. For me these two new additions are not replacing the We Can’t Paint blog, but they are natural progressions of expanded ideas and collaborations. That being said, I’m hoping that you can post a notice on your blog and pass along this e-mail to those who may be interested in submitting (you included) writing, ideas, and photographs to We Can’t Paint Magazine and Gallery. I have temporarily set up a hotmail account specifically for submissions. Here is the info:

Send all work and writing to wecantpaint@hotmail.com

All work should include a brief bio (one or two sentences).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Send a selection of 5 – 8 images:
- All images should be 72 dpi
- Sized to10 inches on the longest side
- Saved as a .jpg file and labeled with no spaces or punctuation like this:

your_name_here_1.jpg

- In the body of the email you may list the titles but only if they are absolutely relevant
- No image should be over 5mb

Note: A link to your work is also accepted but strongly discouraged.

WRITING

All articles and/or essays should be 500 – 1000 words in length.

Send a brief summery and intent of your article/essay in the body of the e-mail with the actual article/essay formatted for Microsoft Word.

BOOKS AND ZINES:

If you would like We Can’t Paint Magazine to review your publication, please contact noelrodo@hotmail.com for more information on where to send your “review copy”.

For future details please visit:

http://wecantpaint.com

Over the past week, I’ve received gigantic amount of traffic from a couple of blogs (Conscientious and NYMPhoto) linking my gallerina post. While I hope many people can understand the problems, I also wished there was a discussion formed from the post. But being completely unaware I had a buggy problem with comments, no comments were posted. Anyways, it’s all fixed now. So, if you have any thoughts, please leave me a note.

I do find it interesting how some prominent female photo bloggers are not initiating into the conversation.

Let me get back to some head-scratching decisions. Edit thumbnails down to 15 images for my thesis show.

Store still open for business!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with the Chelsea gallery scene. When I started sending my resumes out to galleries looking for internships two- three years ago, I did my research in choosing galleries I knew showed work I enjoyed. Along with the galleries, I enjoyed, there were a handful of places I was hesitant about as I either never been to the place or knew it had large spaces and pieces of pretentious art with pretentious people. Being young, I thought, “what the hell.. it’ll be a learning experience.”

Let me take you through one of my interview sessions at one such “pretentious” place.. where the walls echo.. and gallerinas’ heels click with annoyance… and nobody gives a crap who walks through the doors.
Fashion-wise, I am a t-shirt and jeans type of person and slap on a pair of sneakers and I’m good to go. Knowing I was heading the Chelsea for an interview, I snazzed it up a little bit with dress pants, a button down shirt, a pair of ballet flats, and my portfolio. Nothing too fashionable, nothing designer-made.. nothing close to what gallerinas wore on that day at that top Chelsea gallery.

The gallery was featuring a video piece that month, so after opening the huge and heavy door into the space, you get to deal with the very busy “gatekeeper” who’s usually either typing away or on the phone. No “hello, how may I help you.” Nada.

“Hi, my name is Jane Tam. I have a meeting with blah blah.”

You couldn’t see the space because there was a floor-length curtain blocking you from entering the space.

You hear the heels click and out comes your interviewer, dressed to impress, topped off with a red lip. She was wearing 3-inch heels, some fancy dress, and had perfect highlights to her haircut. From that.. I already knew.. “fuck, this place is not for me.”

When the art doesn’t impress you, and that video that was playing definitely did not impress, and the woman interviewing you seemed to spend a fortune dressing herself.. as well as the rest of the staff, not giving two shits about a new intern, please, just walk away.

Sure, I thought,” Jane, suck it up and maybe you’ll be able to expose yourself to lots of important people.” I’ve tried it. For two weeks, I tried being good and gritting my teeth while I filed for the 50th time and ran to get lunch and researched where to get concrete for some new piece going up, but I just couldn’t get over how a gallerina I worked with flirted with every guy who came in and looked like he had money, how she complained about her high heels that she wore everyday, how my black jeans and flats just didn’t look professional enough, and how every job I was given was in no way challenging. I hated how fashion was as important as the job and how fashion and trend was a priority to hiring.

Now I know interns do get all the grunt work.. but when you see the gallerina above you on a smoking break, clicking her shoes, and fondling over her blackberry, and you’re compiling the represented artists on file.. and there are 10 male artists and 2 females.. you wonder, where the hell are we?

I don’t know… I just could not deal in that environment.

(People know I interned at Jen Bekman.. and by far, one of the friendliest, most welcoming, and diverse gallery. I chose Jen over Chelsea.. just from the environment, the opportunities/responsibilities given to me, and the feeling.)
Read Cara Phillip’s “What’s a Lady to Do?”

Submit: Women In Photography contains a simple concept:

-To showcase work, news and ideas from women in the contemporary photo world.

-To create a collection of strong work by women actively creating work.

-To reach new audiences collectively.

Those interested in participating can submit as follows:

-5 jpegs from a cohesive project or a work in progress.

5×7 @150 dpi named “myname_title.jpg”

-short statement/bio

Email submissions to
womeninphotography at gmail dot com

Submission deadline for first monthly spotlight: May 1st. 2008 (11:59)

The 4 selected photographers will be given a week each to showcase a current project or a work in progress.

Psst… Prints are still for sale!

Grandfather’s chair, 2008 ¬© Jane Tam

After awhile, you really get tired of seeing the same few names float through the photography community. It’s not “emerging new artists” anymore, rather it is a community that selects the popular trends and joins the train. While this is great for those on the train, what about taking risks and allow the many “new artists” on board? After all, are we not a little bored?