So I went 0-for-5 with the Albany Center Gallery’s Photo Regionals. That sucks.
At the same time that I submitted entries for the Albany Center Gallery’s 33rd annual Photo Regional, I submitted five other images to the Albany Institute of History and Art’s Mohawk-Hudson Regionals competition. I didn’t want to duplicate any entries between the two competitions, so the five entries in the Institute’s competition will not overlap the ones in the Center Gallery’s competition.
I am permitted a total of five entries, so long as each artwork was created within the past three years. Three of the submissions for the Institute’s show have won before at other locations; the other two are going into competition for the first time.
My submissions for the Albany Institute of History and Art show are:
 |
THE LAST TOURIST
April 2011 Film: Fuji 400, Agfa 400. Camera: Holga 120N. Photo taken in St-Liboire, Quebec. One of two “split film” entries this year, I like the way this picture turned out, and I think it has a real chance to get a ribbon somewhere. |
| BOND CLOTHES
February 2010 Camera: Nikon D700 Photo taken in Albany, N.Y. I haven’t shown this photo off too many times, but I think it’s time to give it a chance to earn a ribbon if it can. This is a 30-second exposure from an Albany office building. |
 |
 |
NIPPER’S POLAR PANORAMA
June 2010 Camera: Nikon D700 Photo taken in Albany, N.Y. Hey, look who’s back! Since this picture did so well at the New York State Fair last year, what’s the harm in entering it in the Institute gallery show? |
| COCA-COLA RELIEVES FATIGUE
May 2010 Film: Fuji 200 (two rolls). Camera: Holga 120N Photo taken in Schenectady, N.Y. The little photo that I entered as an afterthought in the New York State Fair earned its own ribbon there. Let’s see if it can earn another ribbon. |
 |
 |
THE RAILSPLITTER
August 2010 Film: Kodachrome 64 Camera: Nikkormat FTn Photo taken in Voorheesville, N.Y. One of my first pictures to ever receive a showing at an international art gallery, this picture still has a lot going for it. Let’s see if it has some interest from the Institute. |
And here’s the breakdown of my shots. Two of the five were digital captures; three were film shots. Of the three film shots, one was a Kodachrome shot; the other two were “split-film” shots, using Fuji and Kodak film. Four of the five captures were from the Capital District (two Albany shots, a Schenectady photo and one from Voorheesville); one was from Canada.
On April 15, I burned the five images onto a CD and shipped the disc, along with my $25 entry fee, to the Institute.
On May 5, I received a message from the Institute. It was just a general “We received your submissions” e-mail, just letting me know that the CD arrived safely and was under consideration.
Now I wait.
On May 23, 2011, I will receive an answer as to whether any of these images will make the next round.
And as soon as I hear… you will hear, too.
So once again I ask you – are there any of these pictures (up to three) that you think would make the cut and appear in the Mohawk Hudson Regionals?
Chuck The Writer 
Seb is telling me the selection for this is tougher than for ACG’s photo regional. Don’t know if that’s true, but it makes sense, having seen it last year. I decided to only enter one of the two, and am thinking I should have gone for the tougher one. But I think you may run into the same problem as previously. There’s some question as to how the split film images will actually be displayed, and if you strip away the production gimmick they are not extremely strong shots in thier own right. I think I can’t say anything about polar panoramas that hasn’t already been said, it’s another gimmick that anyone can do with some free software so unless the final result really shifts paradigms I don’t know that a serious show will take it. We’ll see.
The Bond and rail shots seem to be the ones that have a better chance. But again in the Bond shot you have a fairly common touch, the car light trails, which isn’t to say nobody should ever do it but cliches have to be done really well. The putative subject being underexposed compared to the background pulls this down, but mostly the orange cast might hurt you here. I like the composition though, and square format seems to get some attention in the art world, so who knows. It’s nice that railsplitter is on a dead film stock, but as presented here the composition is not strong, appears to have a tilted horizon and I find it a bit messy with the subject cut off on the left and the bit of green in the lower corner.
These two call for entries are not county fairs or the St. Agnes competition. You’re good at making photos with a general mass appeal — which I admire, because I’m not. But a lot of that depends on the “wow” factor, which you don’t get when you put images in front of someone whose livelihood involves looking at art.
But, most importantly, those are just my opinions and I’m not a judge. Probably for good reason. Maybe I’m way off base here. In any case, good luck and I look forward to the next report.
LikeLike
Yes, it is tougher than Photo Regional from what I’ve been told, with more than 1000 submissions from 235 artists this year. Furthermore, this is a two-round process as you know, once you make it to the next round, it’s time to print/frame and present your pieces. You will be judged on that, big or small prints vs. resolution, what kind of mat, frames, etc. You know the drill but in that respect this is going to be a tough sell for the two split-films, especially The Last Tourist with its gray background. I’m not sure about the composition of the Rail Splitter either.
Anyway, out of 5, 3 are gimmicky and that is a bold choice. Out of these 3, 2 are the same technique/gimmick/photoshop, which is really risky, I would think they would cancel each other. So on one hand, I’m not too sure about your choices, but on the other, if that can give you some hope, out of the two that I got accepted last week, one is a total gimmick (to my surprise).
LikeLike