Jake Rowland, a former Hey, Hot Shot! winner, is exhibiting his work in SVA’s “Mentors”, an exhibition of photographs by emerging artists.

“Mentors” is a show for the 56 SVA students who participated in “a year-long mentorship with leaders in the visual arts.” Students were paired with the city’s “best-known photographers, curators, art directors, publishers, art dealers, critics and writers” to learn how to gain a wider audience for their work. Ms. Jen Bekman is actually a mentor herself; her prodigy is Nicholas Fevelo.

Jake makes pretty rad portraits. The one above is part of a series of photographs called “The River Rock Variations” (the series can be seen on Jake’s website, which can be accessed by clicking up top on Jake’s name). You should head to SVA and check out his work. The show will be up until April 29th.

The exhibition is at the:

Visual Arts Gallery
601 West 26 Street, 15th floor
NEW YORK

Photojojo is a quirky and creative photo newsletter edited by an entrepreneurial duo: Amit Gupta and Kara Canal. They keep their readers both entertained and well informed with DIY projects and tips on how to become a proficient digital camera user. All good stuff.

It turns out they’ve just written a piece entitled “The 7 Best Photo Contests to Enter Today: You’re a Star, Now Show the World,” and Hey, Hot Shot! was on the list! Damn straight.

Salutations.

You met Christine the intern a few weeks ago. I’m Anna, and I’m an intern, too. Jen has asked me to edit a new blog that will focus specifically on the quarterly Hey, Hot Shot! photography competition. We recently had an exhibition for the 10 Winter Hot Shot winners, and it received great press. The opening packed the gallery to the gills and was a wonderful success. Stuff about the competition and the artists will be posted regularly, but first I must introduce myself properly.

This may help:

February 22, 2006
Dear Jen Bekman and friends, When I saw your post on NYFA, I was so excited. I discovered your gallery a few years back and have always appreciated the art you exhibit. I received a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Davidson College in May, 2005, where I discovered a passion for Contemporary Art. As an undergraduate, I studied the works of established Contemporary artists. However, I have always been interested in learning about unknown and emerging talent; your gallery appears to be the perfect venue for this.
You’re a young gallery doing so much! I am interested in learning about how you operate, from the curatorial and research aspects to your web blog and Hot Shot photography contest (I love that you have this contest!). I believe an internship at your gallery would give me the opportunity to understand how the scholarly world of art and that of commercial art are bridged. I am thrilled at the prospect of helping out with upcoming exhibitions. I also have strong research, writing, and computer skills and am able to do any and all curatorial and handy work around the gallery. Below you will find my resume with additional information including education, experiences, skills, and languages. I would love to meet with you and discuss the position in further detail. Jen Bekman is a fresh gallery where I hope to get my wings!
Thanks in advance for considering me as an intern at your gallery.

Sincerely yours,

Anna Wolfgang

I guess you’ve caught on by now that this is the cover letter I sent to Jen a couple months ago asking her to hire me as an intern. What a lame-o. Nevertheless, I think you get an idea of what I’m into and why Jen asked me to edit the Hey, Hot Shot! blog . Exclamation point indeed. I hope the ice has been broken. Phew. With the introduction all wrapped up, I can move onto more interesting things for future posts.

Until very soon, then!

Anna