i usually enjoy "burying the lead" to my stories here...putting the "key" to the story somewhere towards the end....to make you read the whole thing!!! or simply to pique your sense of "discovery"...
not this time....
i announce now, to the readers of this forum, the offering of a $5,000. (u.s. dollars) stipend/grant for one exceptional photographer to help support their personal work.....this will be based on the photographs being sent to me now....
the deadline for sending work will now be extended to november 15, 2007....this will be based entirely on work produced between july 15, 2007 and the closing date.....the stipend will be awarded by december 15, 2007...Merry Christmas!!
i have already been flooded with material....good material....but, i have decided to totally max out the influence of our new found collaboration...for my "original bloggers" (and i know who you are) who have already sent in their 20 picture limit, you will be allowed another 20 and this extra time ....but, the limit on essays or singles from any "newcomers" to our forum will still be 20 photographs presented as an essay ( or combo of essays) or 20 single images...
so, for my steadfast loyal readers with whom i have had the most amazing dialogue for the last 6 months, you will be faced suddenly and surely with more competition....but, for you also i will go in, take a look at the work already submitted, and provide you as much personal feedback and guidance as i possibly can....
as you know, i am in the process of creating a non-profit fund so that i can provide funding for some of you to go out and do the work you love....so, this symbolic stipend is coming backwards from the way i eventually want to work...this stipend is coming at the end for many of your projects, rather than at the beginning...but, i just wanted to do something now...it just feels right, that's all...
many of you have in such good faith submitted work, that i just felt i wanted to do something in good faith back..besides, this extra time and maybe little incentive will make some of you do the best work of your life...if that happened to just a few of you, the "reward" to me would be immeasurable....
this grant is, at best, a token stipend....not enough funding to really go do something of major significance...so it is only a gesture...my gesture alone....before the non-profit is actually up and running...while committees are meeting, i will just step out....to the limited extent that i can..
i hope this will be an incentive for future funders to see what can be done with this online collaboration and community which has been growing daily...for them to see what an amazing creative community we now have..this is a bold step for me personally...but, if i am asking for others to take a bold step, i must take one myself...no, i am not a wealthy man with money to give away...my rent is late (among other things)....but, i am some sort of "risk taker"...i will take this risk alone...
please know that i am not "buying" your photographs or "using" your photographs or "selling" your photographs..as a member of the most powerful photographers rights agency in the world, Magnum, i will only try to set as much of an example as an online "publisher" as i do as a contemporary working photographer...i will treat all of you exactly as i expect to be treated...viva photographer copyrights!! period....
in our helter skelter world of diminishing financial returns for our work, and often Kmart style selling of photographs, and almost zero production monies available to many, i just want to go on record as providing just a little bit of light and morality and significance to the journalistic and artistic merits of so many of you out there hungry to do serious photographic work...this is just a tiny "brick in the wall", but this is what i stand for anyway..
ELIGIBILITY
there will be no age,sex,cultural,racial, or religious discrimination of any kind for this stipend....i will be only "discriminate" with the work chosen based on its over all integrity, visual acuity, and authorship components.....lifelong personal friends are not eligible, nor are Magnum photographers or other established agency or magazine iconic photographers...i want to discover someone...by "discovering" one, i will expose many...
WHERE TO UPLOAD WORK
ftp.digitalrailroad.net
login: davidalanharvey-blog
password: upload
OUTCOME
quiene sabe...who knows?? it would be nice to think that some generous funders and/or corporate sponsors would become a part of our overall initiative here....as you know, my thought was to do at least one good annual magazine/book and traveling exhibition both from work presented here and from my workshop students production from around the world...at the very least, we will have a powerful online presentation and exhibition..
also , as most of you know, this has been an online work in progress from day one....our collaboration...and things may shift a bit from time to time just by the nature of this effort...please remember, only one person will receive this hopefully growing stipend this time around, but many of you will be exposed positively to a group of your peers and established editors, publishers, etc etc....
so,if all of us are having fun and all of us our learning, then we should let everything evolve in a natural positive way...if not, we "cash in our chips" and go home...certainly there is nothing lost.... and the experience so far has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career..i want you to feel the same...
your thoughts and questions please....i am sure i forgot to mention something!!!
p.s.
from now on, any purely tech questions i think would be better dealt with by michael courvoisier and off of this site...just to avoid clogging up our more esoteric chat....so please go to: blogquestions@gmail.com....mike is there to help