Call For Entries- Rendering the Spirit: The Personal Image in Alternative Media

Render (v): to distill, to cook down to its essence, to translate, to represent.

Rendering: an act of bringing into being, of distillation, of translation, of representation. By aiming our gaze at works created using “alternative” processes, we aim to show the diversity of work being created at this nexus of the 19th and 21st centuries and engage in a dialog about what it means to create work using anachronistic techniques.

Curators: Scott Davis and Malcolm Cosgrove-Davies

Scott Davis is a faculty member at Photoworks where he teaches alternative processes, portraiture and studio lighting. He received formal training at Maryland Institute, College of Art. His specialty is platinum/palladium printing, and he is an avid collector of 19th century photography. He has exhibited his personal work locally, nationally and internationally, and has served as curator at the former Art Reactor Gallery in Hyattsville.

Malcolm Cosgrove-Davies is a self-taught photographer who since 1978 has been practicing historic photographic processes including gum bichromate, cyanotype, VanDyke, palladium, and carbon printing. Mac’s images derive from his extensive travel to developing countries as well as everyday life. Using antique and hand-made film cameras in various large & panoramic formats he seeks to match the image to the beauty and elegance of the selected photographic process. In addition to building the occasional camera, printing frame or other useful photographic gadget, he also creates books and presentation portfolios for his prints. He is represented in various collections such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Library of Congress, Maier Museum, and Lehigh University Art Galleries.

Submissions:

Works to be considered must be made using an alternative/historic process, including but not limited to lumen prints, tintypes/ambrotypes/melainotypes, daguerreotypes, gum bichromate, platinum/palladium, kallitypes, Van Dyke Brown, cyanotypes, carbon prints, calotypes, salt prints, albumen prints, bromoil, gumoil or some combination of the above. Silver Gelatin prints are not accepted. Original capture of the image can be from in-camera negatives or digital capture or some combination thereof, but the final image must be a physical object made using one or more historical processes. For a submission fee of $40, each artist may submit up to five examples. Send jpegs at 72dpi, 1000 pixels on the long axis. JPEGs should be named ArtistName_number (i.e. JohnBrown_1 ).

Also include an artists statement, brief bio and an explanation of the work(s). All required documents (JPEGS, Artist statement/bio/explanation of works) should be emailed to photoworks.gallery@gmail.com no later than February 21st. Notifications will be sent by email to all selected artists by March 1. Works must be received by March 14. The opening reception will be held on March 26.

Explanation:

The explanation should enumerate the title of the work, the file name of the associated JPEG, the size of the piece (including frame dimensions), the year it was made, and any pertinent details about the creation of the work.

Example:

All works accepted must be framed/mounted and ready to hang. Outside dimensions should be no greater than 24 inches on the long axis. All works must be available for sale – Photoworks takes a 35% commission on any sales. Artists are 100% responsible for shipping to and from Photoworks.

PHOTOWORKS
7300 MacArthur Blvd.
Glen Echo, MD 20812 ( 1st floor Arcade Bldg.)

You must include a pre-paid return shipping label with your work; any work shipped without a return label will be considered a donation to Photoworks, and will not be returned to the artist. Artists are responsible for insuring their work – while Photoworks endeavors to take every precaution to protect and care for works while on display, they will not be liable for any loss or damage.

Artists Statement:

Please send us a one paragraph statement about your work, and in particular describe why you are using the alternative process(es) you are using; what do they mean to you, to the work, how they shape meaning, their aesthetic impact.

Artists Bio:

Please send a one paragraph biography.

Forty years ago, in a derelict building hidden among the abandoned amusement park rides of Glen Echo Park, four young photographers founded Photoworks with little more than a shared passion for the daily work of seeing, shooting, and printing images of lasting beauty and artistic integrity. The day-to-day collaboration, creative dialogue, and informal mentoring that led those artists to successful careers as fine art and commercial photographers established the values of experimentation and collegiality that define Photoworks today. Offering a diverse combination of educational programs, gallery exhibitions, and community initiatives, Photoworks is a vibrant and unique resource for student and professional photographers – an arts community in the very best sense of the word.

For more information about Photoworks, visit their homepage: Glen Echo Photoworks