B&W Magazine's Spotlight Competition....

Pride 2025

A
Pride 2025

  • 0
  • 0
  • 18
Tybee Island

D
Tybee Island

  • 0
  • 0
  • 28
LIBERATION

A
LIBERATION

  • 5
  • 2
  • 81

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SusanK

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I suppose I should be psyched that my work made to the "last phase of the judging process" before being cut from the selection of finalists... and I am, really. I take it as an extreme compliment, especially when considering the more than 16,000 images they had to choose from. Yet, I'll admit, I am a little bummed about not being chosen for a B&W Magazine spotlight section. Below, you may read the "email flush letter" that I just received this afternoon. :smile:

I've bought the $225/quarter page ad space in the back of this magazine on three ocassions. It generated a lot of email compliments but, no sales. It also generated a few calls from self-proclaimed gallery owners (out-of-state) who were interested in showing my work. However, I've done enough juried exhibitions and local gallery shows to know that there's, at least, a little bit of legal paperwork that comes with such proceedings. When these "gallery owners" balked at insurance and itemized lists of the images I'd ship them... I walked. I'm not decorating someone's house for free.

Alas, I'm still in search of marketing strategies and print sales opportunities. I've worked with a few local galleries... one sold very little of anything, another is out of business for not paying state sales tax, and the third is in deep poo-poo for not paying the promised commission to their stable of artists (I know one painter who is owed $4,000+). Thankfully, I removed my work from all of these galleries prior to them closing up and/or not paying. Not much of an art market in Iowa so, I'm focusing on bringing more traffic to my website. This is where the majority of my print sales come from.

Don't forget to read my flush letter... :smile:

SusanK
http://www.susankopecky.com


*****(email today at 3pm)*************************************

Dear Ms. Kopecky:

We have now entered the last phase in the judging process, and I regret to inform you that your submission was not chosen for inclusion in the ultimate group of portfolios from which the winners will be selected.

If you have kept an eye on my editorials in the recent issues of B&W, you will have learned of the enormous response: We received 935 entries, which added up to a total of 16,000 images. As you can imagine, the selection process became an overwhelming task, and this consequently delayed our ability to communicate results to entrants. I apologize for this delay.

I can tell you that the judging has been very difficult due to the high quality of the work submitted. You should absolutely not feel that your submission was in any way substandard—unfortunately, in a contest with so many entries, a majority of the submissions will have to give way in order for the winners to rise to the top. So I encourage you to continue your personal photographic quest, and I invite you to submit your new work in our future contests.

With appreciation for your participation, all of us at B&W send our best wishes.

Henry Rasmussen, editor
 

roteague

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Congratulations Susan, glad to hear you did so well.

I can sympathize with you about the gallery market, there isn't much of one on Oahu either.
 
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SusanK

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Thanks Robert,

BTW, I envy your goeographic location ! :smile: I visited Kauai several years ago... gorgeous place. I shot nothing but b/w film while there.... and would've been happy to stay there for the rest of my life !

Tell me, is it still raining in Hawaii ? I've heard that the past 4-6 weeks have been unseasonably wet... mudslides, broken sewer mains, damage to the beaches, etc.

SusanK
 

roteague

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SusanK said:
Thanks Robert,

BTW, I envy your goeographic location ! :smile: I visited Kauai several years ago... gorgeous place. I shot nothing but b/w film while there.... and would've been happy to stay there for the rest of my life !

Tell me, is it still raining in Hawaii ? I've heard that the past 4-6 weeks have been unseasonably wet... mudslides, broken sewer mains, damage to the beaches, etc.

SusanK

Hi Susan,

The weather is back to normal now, although there are still a few beaches on the island closed - the city had to pump 48+ million gallons of raw sewage into the ocean during the rain storms of last month, and it is still causing us problems. We had 43 days and nights of solid rain - where I live we had 480% of normal rainfall. Kauai is recovering, but not sure how fast that will happen.
 

Alex Hawley

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Congratulations Susan, for making it to the final stage of selection. I entered and got my rejection notice last month, very simialr to the e-mail you received. I replied to it, thanking Henry for considering my work. Just a few hours later, I got a reply from one of the staffers thanking me for thanking them. I thought that was nice.

Galleries are few and far between here in Kansas, but that's my next move. If I can get off my duff and make myself do it. :rolleyes:
 
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SusanK

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Thanks Alex,

Are you, or anyone else who reads this, entering anything in B&W Magazine's "single image contest" ? I'm thinking about throwing a few images into that arena as well. However, at one time, I thought B&W said something about considering all rejected "portfolio competition" entries for their "single image" competition. Has anyone heard something similar ???

SusanK
 

aj-images

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My girlfriend and I submitted to the spotlight last year. They held our work for months, sending a letter that said they were considering some for the single image contest. They had the submission for 4-6 moths before returning and we didn't make the cut. - Jim
 

Alex Hawley

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SusanK said:
However, at one time, I thought B&W said something about considering all rejected "portfolio competition" entries for their "single image" competition. Has anyone heard something similar ???
SusanK

Not sure Susan. It does ring a bell, but maybe that's what was done last year.
 
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