Picture Black Friday is an open call for photographers throughout the U.S. to go out and produce images that document “Black Friday” – how you see it, on your terms.

The panel of jurors for this year’s Picture Black Friday contest includes Joel Meyerowitz (Photographer), Brian Ulrich (Photographer), Andy Adams (Editor and Publisher of Flak Photo), Amy Stein (Photographer), Jon Feinstein (Photographer and Curatorial Director, Humble Arts Foundation), Shane Lavalette (Photographer and Editor/Publisher, Lay Flat) and Matt Stuart (Photographer and Founder, In-Public).

Photograph on Friday, November 26th.
Submit up to 5 images by Monday, December 6th.

More info can be found at www.pictureblackfriday.com.

In the new year, he will be expanding to auction works in other mediums (its name will be the “Emerging Artist Auction”) and now artists can submit pieces for consideration. Here’s some info for those who are interested:

These auctions include a curated selection of works of art by promising emerging talent. The auction is a showcase before an audience of collectors, dealers, museum professionals and gallery owners. To ensure equal and fair representation all works are presented with reserves set at $200.

Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis. To submit you must meet the following requirements:

- Undergraduate student works will not be accepted
- All mediums are welcome besides installation works
- Artists cannot have gallery or commercial representation
- Some prior exhibition or publication experience is required

More info and the submission form can be found here.

The deadline for the first 2010 auction is December 14, 2009.

Photolucida’s Critical Mass competition has just opened for registration. If you don’t already know, Critical Mass is a fantastic way to get yourself out there – not to mention the chance of receiving one of the “Book Award” prizes and having a monograph of your work published by Photolucida.

This year, I am absolutely honored to be on the panel of jurors and am looking forward to seeing all of the work that comes in. I urge you all to register.

Registration will remain open until October 6th.

Cara Phillips made great post on her blog a few days ago titled “What’s a Lady to Do?” where she considers the challenges of being female in the photo world. The post seems to have sparked a call for action to create more support, discussion, and opportunities for women. Cara wrote me, excited to report that there is a new blog started by Amy Elkins called Women in Photography which will focus on addressing these topics through the showcasing of work.

Women In Photography contains a simple concept:

To showcase work, news and ideas from women in the contemporary photo world.
To create a collection of strong work by women actively creating work.
To reach new audiences collectively.

The blog is now accepting submissions by practicing women photographers for a “group show” to kick things off. Those of you interested in submitting should send 5 images from a cohesive project or a work in progress (saved as “myname_title.jpg”, 5×7 @ 150 dpi) and a short statement/bio to womeninphotography [at] gmail.com.

Visit the blog for more information and to follow the posts.

Laurel Ptak wrote to inform me of a call for entries for her latest I Heart Photograph curated exhibition, “Is it possible to make a photograph of New Jersey regardless of where you are in the world?” The deadline for submissions is February 22. The selected work will be on view at Pierro Gallery in New Jersey from April 6 – May 25, 2008.

More info here. Love the website.

Ethan Jones e-mailed me about a photography competition that he has started with David Wright called Pause, to Begin.

Pause, to Begin is a unique, new photography competition currently accepting applications now until April 1, 2008, and the selected finalists will be announced online April 15, 2008. Ethan Jones and David Wright, the founders of Pause, to Begin, will hit the road in May, 2008 to visit the selected finalists and record the time they experience together.

By traveling to meet the selected finalists in-person, Pause, to Begin becomes a publication that reflects not only the visited photographers and their process for creating, but also the journey of making the book.

The word “pause” implies a stop to see, feel, and understand what one is photographing. We believe that by pausing the true potential of a photograph can be realized, discovered, and expanded upon. This allows one to “begin” to explore one’s own photography.

The first year of Pause, to Begin culminates in November, 2008 with the release of a limited edition, hard-bound fine art book that is distributed to important creatives in the photographic industry and available online for purchase. The selected photographers will also be exhibited at a to-be announced gallery that will coincide with the book release celebration.

Find out more here and also check out their blog – it’s a good read.

The Ones We Love highlights “young and talented” photographers from around the world who all share something in common: an appreciation of the people in their lives (and an interest in photographing them). Each artist contributes six photographs of the individuals(s) most important to them, taken outdoors in a natural setting.

There are plenty of uninspired portfolios on the website but also a number of very nice ones as well. Take a look for yourself. Those of you interested in contributing to the project can find submission info here.

A while ago, Andy Adams of Flak Photo e-mailed me to pass on information about an interesting photo contest called The 36 Exposures Challenge.

In the words of Stephen Shore, “[Today] there seems to be a greater freedom and lack of restraint… as one considers one’s pictures less, one produces fewer truly considered pictures.” FILE Magazine, Flak Photo and Coudal Partners have joined together to create a contest to get photographers to think about this idea:

We are asking you to use a film camera to explore Shore’s concept of “conscious intentionality.” Broadly speaking, we are challenging you to do two things: articulate a concept, project, or theme and then use a film camera to photograph the images to accompany it. There are, then, two parts: creating the idea and then acting on it.

Sound interesting to you? Submit your concept by January 6th.

If your project is selected, they send you the 36-exposure roll of film of your choice. You then have two weeks to shoot the roll and then return it to them undeveloped. All of the images from each finalist will then be put online in the order they were shot on the roll for judging (prizes to be awarded). The negatives will be returned to the photographers at the end of the contest. Ownership of all images is retained by the artist.

Find out more here.

It’s all about family lately. Just a few days ago I recieved an e-mail from Garth Risk Hallberg which was inviting me to participate in what seems to be an ambitious book project planned to be complete by early March. The book promises to be lavishly designed and printed by Mark Batty Publisher, an art and design press based in New York.

A Field Guide to the North American Family, a novella by Mr. Hallberg, “tracks two families through the wilderness of modern life.” The story unfolds in 63 seperate entries, each with a chapter of text and then a visual artist’s response to the entry’s title (Adolescence, Adulthood, Family Values, and so on). On the official website, artists are provided with the 63 chapter titles as ‘tags’ where one can upload images and tag them as one sees fit. Already, there is a great list of contributors.

If your work speaks about family, home, or other themes that would be relevant to this publication, submitting would a nice way to contextualize the images and participate in an interesting collaborative project.