“I’ve never seen so much world-class photography under one roof. The work I saw was uniformly exceptional. The level of craft and technical accomplishment was very high, as I’d expect from an international juried review. It was humbling to be among this group of talented people.” - Michael Sebastian, photographer
Okay folks, I have some epic news ! My series "Cosplay in America" has been accepted into Review Santa Fe. This is one of the more well-known portfolio reviews in the country. Every year, this event brings photographers as well as curators, publishers, photo editors and others in the photo industry together for a two day event in ... where else ? Santa Fe, New Mexico !
First of all, I'm very excited I was chosen. I know many photographers submit every year and only 100 photographers are accepted. I admit, when I threw my hat into the ring, I didn't think I would make it all the way to the end. Back in Jan. 2011, there was photo LA held in Santa Monica as well as the Review LA portfolio event. Now, I've always loved going to photo LA but vastly enjoyed Review LA more for the interactions with the photographers. Usually the reviews are private but for one night, the public is allowed to see the photographer and their work whom are being reviewed here. After talking to one of the volunteers, she suggested I submit for Review Santa Fe that was to be held in June. I figured why not ? So I went home, paid my fee, submitted my work and promptly forgot about it. Truth is, I enter many photo competitions and I've learn to not think about it unless I was accepted.
This year's selection committee are Karen Irvine from Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Whitney Johnson, Director of Photography for The New Yorker magazine and Alan Rapp, former Senior Editor of Chronicle Books based in San Francisco. You can read the committee's statement of the selections here.
So here's how it works. There's a list of reviewers and you select nine you like to have a sit-down with. A lottery system will determine your selections but I hear in most cases, you should get more than half of whom you've selected. There's a 20 minute review session with 9 reviews over the course of 2 days.
What I hope to get from this review are opinions about the series. I've been in my own little world for the past 2 years with cosplay so I haven't had the foggiest clue what say someone from a museum or gallery would respond to my portraits. At the same time, I am planning to talk to a lot of independent photography book publishers there with hopes that one day, I'll be able to find someone to help front the cost of publishing a second volume.
Yes, you heard it, a second volume. You see, when I did the first book, I realized that I've only touch the tip of cosplay. Besides anime conventions, there are comic book conventions (SDCC, C2E2) as well as gaming cons (PAX, Blizzcon). At this point, the book is at least five years away at the earliest so y'all have to wait a bit, alright ?
Wish me luck !
