Call for Entries Details
Prizes
How to Enter
Entry Fee
Entry Requirements
Judges
Eligibility
Important Dates
About SDN
SocialDocumentary.net congratulates the winners of its documentary photography contest, The Art of Documentary. First Place Winner is Spanish photographer Miguel Candela for his exhibit on Bangladesh's Brothels. Honorable mentions were awarded to: Brian Driscoll of New York City, Leslie Ashleimer of Santa Fe, NM; Laura El-Tantawy of Cairo and London; Diego Ibarra Sánchez of Spain, now living in Pakistan; Enrico Fabian of India, and Angelo Merrendino of New York City.
Click here to view and read about winners.
Opening reception
Thursday, May 17
8:30 pm
New York Photo Festival
powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street
Brooklyn, NY
Gallery talk
Saturday, May 19
1:00 pm
Brian Driscoll and Angelo Merendino will discuss their work in the exhibit.
SDN Founder Glenn Ruga will introduce the artists and provide a brief overview of SDN.
The exhibitiion will remain up at powerHouse Arena through end of May.
The Art of Documentary
This is the third SDN Call for Entries. The theme this year is The Art of Documentary. The winners will be exhibited at the New York Photo Festival, May 16-20, in Dumbo, New York. The theme, The Art of Documentary, is paralleling the theme of the 2012 New York Photo Festival, "The matrix of art photography and social documentary."
SocialDocumentary.net, from its beginning in 2008, has been committed to featuring the finest of documentary photography to explore themes of the human condition. In all work accepted to the SDN website, form and content must work together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Fundamentally, isn’t this what art is?
Entries to this competition should focus on photography that is founded in the traditions of fine art to give us insight into the underlying content of the image. In one sense, this is what all work on SDN should be. But now we are asking of you to pay particular attention to this and submit work that you think makes a case that the formal qualities of the image are essential to communicating the underlying content.
Any existing exhibit on SDN can easily be converted to a submission to this Call for Entries.
The winners of this Call for Entries will be exhibited at powerHouse Arena during the New York Photo Festival, May 16-20, 2012.
Up to six photographers will be selected from the entries:
- Exhibition of their work in a group show with other winners at powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn, NY, beginning May 16. End date has not been determined.
- A featured exhibit on the SDN home page for two weeks
- Featured in SDN email Spotlight
- Acknowledged at the New York Photo Festival
Beginning March 6, 2012, you can submit your entry via the standard online tools available for submitting any exhibit on SDN. The difference is that you will see an option to designate the exhibit as a competition entry. You can also convert any existing exhibit on SDN to a competition entry simply by pressing a button in your exhibit edit page and paying the competition entry fee. There are three ways to submit an entry to the competition:
- Click link below to begin process
- If you are already a member, login to your account, and in your account, click link to create a new exhibit. You will see a link to create a competition entry
- If you have an exhibit already on SDN, go into the exhibit edit page. You will see a link to submit this exhibit to a competition entry. You will be required to pay the entry fee.
$25 for one exhibit entry of 6 – 36 images.
Upon submitting, your entry will become a standard SDN exhibit for one year. After one year you will have the option of renewing at the standard rates at the time.
All fees must be paid using a credit card on the SDN website. International credit cards are accepted. All entry submissions and fees are final and non-refundable.
All entries must follow all rules and regulations regarding exhibits on SDN. See SDN website for further information on fees. www.socialdocumentary.net
Exhibits on SocialDocumentary.net need to be approved before going live. In the event that an entry to the Call for Entries is not accepted for the SDN website, the photographer may make changes to their exhibit and re-submit, at no additional cost, up until the entry deadline.
Photographers can submit multiple contest entries but individual photographs may only be submitted for one entry.
All entries will be viewable to the public on the SDN site.
Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships are available for residents of developing countries. To apply, photographer must first have or create a free membership with SocialDocumentary.net. Send request to scholarships@socialdocumentary.net with name, email address used for membership, your country of residence and your country of citizenship. Expatriates from developed countries living in a developing country are not eligible for scholarships.
All entries must have between 6 and 36 photographs related to the theme of the Call for Entries, have an abstract to provide context (150 words maximum) and captions to accompany the photographs. Photographer may also submit additional text about the situation being documented, a bio, and information on organizations working with affected communities.
Judges are required to view only the first 9 images. At their discretion, they may review all images in the submitted exhibit. Photographers can submit up to 36 images that will be part of their online exhibit.
Photographs must have been taken after March 1, 2007.
All work must be submitted via the SocialDocumentary.net website at http://www.socialdocumentary.net.
Winning photographers must be able to provide within 7 days of award announcement digital files of at least 3000 pixels in one dimension. Exact specifications on providing digital files for exhibition will be provided at a later date.
All entries and communications from entrants must be in the English language.
Printing and Mounting of Exhibit
Winning photographers must choose one of the following options:
- Prepare work for exhibition and ship to powerHouse Arena, arriving by May 9, 2012. Exact number of prints, size, and framing requirements to be determined in discussion with SDN curator.
- Pay a printing and mounting fee for SDN to produce images suitable for exhibition. The cost of this production will be split by SDN, the New York Photo Festival, the photographer, and a partial donation by the production service, Digital Silver Imaging, located in Belmont, MA. The cost to photographer for a 16 inch x 24 inch print with flush mounting to black gator board is $30 per print. At the conclusion of the show, the SDN has the option of retaining the work to use for a traveling exhibition, with the agreement of the photographer, or offering the work to the photographer. In the case of the latter, the photographer would be responsible for any shipping charges.
Curating
SocialDocumentary.net will work with winning photographers to choose the work from their entry that is most appropriate for exhibition.
Traveling Exhibition
SocialDocumentary.net may choose to travel the exhibition and will discuss this with winning photographers.
SDN reserves the right to use alternate judges if necessary. The decision of judges is final. Judges will give attention to the photographs and the text. Judges are required to view the first nine images of an entry, but may choose to view additional images.
Barbara Ayotte
Barbara is a communications strategist, writer, editor, web developer and lifelong human rights activist. She currently serves as the Director of Strategic Communications for Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a nonprofit global health organization working in over 30 countries. She came to MSH with more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, non-profit management, and international campaigning for global health issues including human resources for health, health systems strengthening, maternal and child health, and access to HIV prevention, treatment and care programs. Prior to joining MSH, Barbara directed the communication efforts for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, co-recipients of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines was a successful global effort to ban the production, sale, use and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines, resulting in the landmark international Mine Ban Treaty that has over 150 government signatories. She has proven ability to raise the visibility internationally of global health issues through grassroots and grasstops advocacy and a range of communications tools including the media, photography, social media, websites, videos, publications, events. She is a published writer and has traveled and worked extensively in the Balkans, Thailand, Africa, Israel and West Bank, Jordan, and Western and Eastern Europe. She serves as SDN's Communications Director.
REZA
As a photojournalist for National Geographic since 1991, Reza has criss-crossed more than a hundred countries, photographing conflicts, revolutions and human catastrophes but also the beauty of the humanity. His eyewitness testimony has been distributed through the international media (National Geographic, Time Magazine, Stern, Newsweek, El Pais, Paris-Match, Géo…), but also in his books, exhibitions and documentaries made on him and his works. Visit Reza's full biography on the SDN website at: http://www.socialdocumentary.net/about.php?id=3
Glenn Ruga
Glenn Ruga is the Founder and Director of SocialDocumentary.net. In February 2010 he was appointed the Executive Director of the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University.
Ruga has created traveling and online documentary exhibits on the struggle for a multicultural future in Bosnia, the war and aftermath in Kosovo, and on an immigrant community in Holyoke, MA.
Ruga is the owner and creative director of Visual Communications, a graphic design firm located in Concord, Mass. His clients include Physicians for Human Rights, the International and US Campaigns to Ban Landmines, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, the Civil Rights Program at Harvard Law School, the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, and other non-profit, educational, and human rights organizations.
From 1993 through 2009, Ruga was the founder and president of the Center for Balkan Development, a non-profit organization established to help stop the genocide in Bosnia and create a just and sustainable future in the former Yugoslavia.
The Call for Entries is open to all professional and amateur U.S. and international photographers. SDN staff, volunteer, advisory committee members, judges, and their families are not eligible to enter the competition.
Winner Notification
Winners will be contacted by phone or email by April 15, 2012.
Important Dates
- Entries accepted on SDN website: Beginning March 6, 2012.
- Entries deadline: April 6, 2012. Must be submited by midnight, PST.
- Judging: April 9-13 , 2012.
- Winners Notified: April 15, 2012.
- Winners Announced: April 17, 2012.
- Winners submit high resolution images: April 23
- New York Photo Festival: May 16-20, 2012
These dates may be subject to change.
Use Rights
All entrants and winners retain copyright of their work. By submission for jurying, photographers whose images are chosen grant SDN a royalty-free license to use their images for the purpose of subsequent display on the SDN site or in SDN promotional materials. Entries grant SDN the right to use their name for promotion in any medium including radio, newspapers, publications, television, videotape, and/or distribution over the internet. Samples of the winning work will be released to the press for promotional purposes. Photographers grant use of their images as stated without further contact or compensation from SDN other than the prizes listed above. Photographer’s credit will be provided with all use. Winners grant SDN the right to use the work in a related exhibition gallery book and in a possible traveling exhibition.
Release
Entrant acknowledges that SDN may not be held liable for any loss, damages, or injury associated with this contest. Entrant agrees to indemnify SDN for all costs, damages and attorney fees resulting from any third party claims, including copyright infringement, arising from entrant’s participation.
SDN reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant that fails to comply with contest rules and guidelines. This Contest is void where prohibited by law.
SocialDocumentary.net (SDN) uses the power of photography to promote global awareness. SDN members include photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and students who create and explore documentary websites investigating critical issues facing the world today. Recent exhibits have explored oil workers in the Niger River Delta, male sex workers in India, Central American immigrant women during their journey north, and Iraqi and Afghan refugees in Greece.
Questions? Email us at info@socialdocumentary.net.