Independence Day #5 by Paccarik Orue

Peruvian contender, Paccarik Orue, whose name means "tomorrow" in Quechua sends us images from his series Independence Day, which focuses on American SUV culture. He looks at the irony of Americans celebrating the Fourth of July in their fuel-charged vehicles, blind to the implicit dependency on oil and resources created by the vehicles they drive. He writes,

In the 1990s, Sport Utility Vehicles (S.U.Vs) became extremely popular in the United States, due in part to low gasoline prices. These vehicles became a cultural symbol of the country's dedication to the motto "bigger is better." That was until the price of oil reached record highs in the mid-2000s...for many, the S.U.V. is a way of life and there is no other type of car that will do. This work is a portrait of Shelter Cove, a small town in northern California, taken July 4, 2009. The American way of celebrating Independence Day involves S.U.Vs, illustrating the irony that people celebrate freedom and democracy with vehicles which further our dependence on cheap, foreign oil, which mostly comes from places where there is neither freedom nor democracy.

The recently introduced Cash for Clunkers bill, which offers $3,500 - $4,500 of government rebate money to those who trade in their current cars for more fuel-efficient vehicles was so popular in its first 24 hours that it expended the entire $1 billion dollars allotted to the program. The senate voted to add another $2 billion to the program, suggesting that the trend towards bigger, faster, and gas-guzzling cars may be coming to an end. But, in order to bring the ever-present lust and cultural acceptability of the SUV to an end, their normalized omnipresence in American suburbs and role as vehicles to aspire to owning must also come to an end. Perhaps in another decade, the image of kids running a muck next to flags and having a barbecue—as depicted in Paccarik's images—will no longer feature the SUV as an symbol of identifiable Americana as well.

p.s. Haven't applied to HHS! yet? Why wait? Apply here!

X-mas tree, Mojave, California by Stephen Antonopoulos

Australian photographer Stephen Antonopoulos writes, "I try to examine bonds formed amongst people and the places they inhabit. " In the case of the photo featured above, the absence of people illustrates their relationship with the Mojave and the harshness of its climate. The scalding light and withered state of the tree and surrounding "live" plants also make clear the unforgiving nature of the desert.

The abandoned Christmas tree is a bit of an emblem of Western culture, even without the tree-stand still attached to its base, the origin of the acutely out-of-place vegetation would be clear. In this photo, a seemingly benign tradition appears to be odd and maybe even sinister—the remains of something that might be stumbled upon in a Coen brothers film.

Take the photo below, from 2009 First Edition Hot Shot Mike Sinclair, as a "before" image to Antonopoulos' "after":

Antonopoulos' image is from his series Mojave. See more of the images on his website.

I know it's early in the year to be talking about the holidays and you may be thinking it's also early in the season to consider submitting your photos to HHS! But, it's not! We'll be seeing turkeys and tinsel before we know it and even before that, this round of HHS! will come to an end.

uncl jimmi s hog crossin by Tom Swanston

Hey, Hot Shot! contender Tom Swanston hails from Chattachoochee Hills, Georgia, a place we imagine from his submission is rife with slow-moving rivers and long dirt roads. Describing himself only as a "southern man," Swanston's images offer a sepia-toned glimpse into slow bodies of water and land that perhaps dictate his days. One imagines characters like Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer floating down river on a raft, drifting between fallen trees and weeping willows while the sun beats down from the sky.

With titles like, walkin by em ol ten ants farm and uncl jimmi s hog crossin, southern inflection is implicit in Swanston's depiction of place. One gets the sense that Swanston is strolling by on a hot summer's day, stopping for a pause while he pulls out his camera and takes in the southern air.

Remember: the competition is open for entries through October 23rd, and we'll be blogging here about contenders until the Hot Shots are announced. Follow us on twitter, facebook, and flickr for updates on contenders, past and present Hot Shots, and other photography news.

Happy Friday!

A few weeks ago, we got an email from our 2006 Ultra and 20x200 edition-maker, Alison Grippo, letting us know that she had just self-published her first book: CHASING: The Friday Night Fights NYC using Blurb.com. Intrigued, we sent Alison a few questions about her self-publishing process:

Tell me about your book.
It's a documentary about the fighters from The Friday Night Fights NYC. It's funny, I was looking through it and it actually does not have any photos of people hitting each other. I heard about the fights from a friend a few years ago and I thought, "Wow, men fighting in the basement of a church...who doesn't want to photograph that?"

I was completely in the dark about the sport, about this particular group, all of it; I just thought, "Holy spectacle." After the first fight, I realized that I had happened upon something that was easy to judge but not so easy to understand. At that point, I just wanted to keep photographing the fights, and the man who runs the show, Justin, was kind enough to let me come a few times. By the third fight, I knew that I wanted to do something bigger than just a few photos. I had proclaimed, "I'm going to do a book about this!" without really knowing what it means to create a book, a body of work, etc.

That seems to be how I operate though, I go way in above my head and then push to figure it out and make it happen because I said I would do it. Also, in working with everyone, from the trainers to the boxers, it became more of a requirement than a goal. Here were people that were working hard for something with the same odds as the lottery—how could they go unknown?

Why did you want to put together a book?
For boxing at least, it's a narrative. I lean more towards documentary work probably because I'm a nosy little brat...

I feel that all the photos [in the book] are required to get the story across, they work together, they share the overall point. There are some photos I have which I think capture a particular portion of what I wanted to say, but only when coupled with the rest is the story really told...

The point of the book (once I figured out the point) is not to show the dirt or the primal aspect of fighting that people immediately assume, it was to show the nobility of it, the beauty of the fighters and the scene, the character it takes to really be a fighter and stand up in a ring with another man who you respect and admire with the idea that you are there to best him. Part of why it's a book is because I can't explain it in words but I think I can explain it in photos. I hope I did—certainly the people involved deserve that.

How is putting together a book of photography different from putting together an exhibition?
Volume for sure. I couldn't do a show of 70 images just about boxing. Maybe I could but I don't think it would be as effective. In the end, I want people to own the whole collection even if there are some photos which don't resonate for them because it is meant to be seen as a whole.

As an exhibition, I think I'd have to do a lot a more of telling the tale behind some of the images because they could be out of context. Then again, I've had the luck of seeing some of the images at 20"x30" and the impact is completely different.

Did you look at other options? Why did you end up choosing Blurb?
I had a few options, some small places were genuinely interested in releasing the book and some independent publishers too but photo books are a rough business. I don't think you do it to make a living, unless of course you're a collective like Magnum, or you're Annie Leibovitz or Vanity Fair.

I didn't want to do a book that was a limited edition and super expensive. That did not fit with the topic, the purpose or the spirit of what I was doing. Most of those interested in working with the book wanted to do very selective, limited releases. I didn't spend the last 2+ years shooting this because I wanted 500 people to own it, I wanted people to know who these boxers were, I wanted people to see what I saw. I had already invested so much of myself in the project that the idea of not making this as available as possible was counter-intuitive. Then there is the fact that I'm not exactly Annie Leibovitz and there won't be a hoard of people rushing to grab my retrospective on boxing.

I chose Blurb for a couple of reasons. If I did it through Blurb, then I had to really own it and finish it. I had to edit it and take that last step in the process of creating this story. I like that I can I say it's 100% what I wanted; of course, if it sucks, I prefer people leave me to my own delusions. I'm sure if I had worked with a publisher, issues like how much it costs to print, how many photos I could have, the theme, etc. would have been up for more debate. I didn't want to debate that. I will see how this does as I think it's still pretty costly. I will probably release a less expensive version (smaller, maybe softcover) later on if the interest is there. Again, this is about people learning about boxers like Damon Rowe, or Jamel Spencer, and the more who can, the better.

The other reason is that Blurb runs Photography.Book.Now which gave me a deadline. I need deadlines. I was really motivated by the jury who was looking at the work, and that Beth Dow won last year (and I just love her work, all of it). I'm looking now at all the submissions and another freaky portion of publishing a book online is that you see everyone's everything...

What was the process like? What took the longest?
I made about five versions, so the process was exhausting. The multiple versions came from having to own up to what I wanted to say. One version was about the glory, which was wrong. Another was about the environment, which was totally wrong. Each was a topic that alluded to what I wanted to say but never actually said it because I was afraid. When I finally sucked it up and said to myself, "This is what you're going to focus on," it became easier.

Editing is an amazing learning experience, I've edited words but not photos as much. I've done a few articles and other short pieces with my photography so I'm not totally new to the editing process but taking on something that personal and that large was daunting. At one point, I actually stopped working on the book and started shooting again to avoid having to go through the photos and give myself more to procrastinate with. Going through your own work is brutal, often I just sat there saying, "Wow, wow I'm really horrible, these are awful, what was I thinking?" There was a great deal of self-flagellation, there still is. I gave up a few times. It's like anything else very personal, you're your own worst critic so you have to fight with yourself to just keep going. Wow, that sounds like a self-help platitude.

The longest part was accepting what I was going to be talking about or showing. I have a personal relationship with a lot of people in the book, some very close, and I was very unsure of how they might feel towards me if I did a book that was not the glory tale. This isn't a book about winning, it's about losing. It's about what it means to endure for a dream you will probably not achieve and how phenomenal of a person you become through the process of trying. I didn't want to judge but I had a point of view.

From a purely technical standpoint, having to actually lay it out, pick photos, beg people who I trust to look at it and tell me, "That's a really bad idea," so I could do better was painful. There are a few folks out there who I owe a lot to but want to choke to death for making me delete photos, change the order or rewrite the intro over and over and over again.

What is your biggest problem with self-publishing? How long did it take to make?
The printing. The printing is not exact, so you can print at home and it looks great, then you get the proof and you want to cry. Then you get another proof and even though you've done nothing to the photos, for some reason, they are all green. Black and white printing is no one's specialty, I think. The first proof I received, the cover was bubbly and the blacks on the photo didn't match the black on the book.

I've done a few test prints with Blurb to try and calibrate and I've gotten pretty good at telling what will print well and what won't, but (sorry Blurb 'cause I love you) it's still a bit of a crap shoot. My photos are very high contrast, I like my blacks to be black and my whites super white, sometimes the tones just don't come out through the printing process there. But I haven't seen anyone do it better than Blurb (and I've tested a lot of self-publishers). The premium paper helps exponentially but I'd love it if there was more consistency between what I print and what they print. Such is life.

Who is your audience?
My mom. Oh, who is it intended for, not who do I think is actually going to read it and tell me I'm special? My bad. You know, I didn't think about it. I just thought, someone needs to see this, someone needs to know how hard these men work.

Do you plan to self-publish in the future?
Not a clue. If I can come up with an idea that merits a book, maybe. Right now the idea of doing another book on the heels of just finishing one seems masochistic :)

What's your favorite photo book?
Ack. No idea. I've been searching for an out of print Gilles Peress book which might be my favorite, if I find it. I just went to look at what photo books I own and I can't pick a favorite.

What things are important to consider when creating your own photo book?
Have a point of view, stick to it, and edit edit edit. If you have a great photo that doesn't work with story you're trying to tell, then it isn't right for the book.

What's next for you? What are you working on now?
Right now, sleep is on my radar. I need to just clear my head for a while I think and see what happens next. I haven't taken a photo in a while but I'm going to start carrying the camera around again. I received a great piece of advice once from a super fancy photographer during a portfolio review; he said, "Just when you think you're done, throw it all out and start again, bust it all wide open." That's where I'm at, I need to throw it all out, start again, and see what happens.

Good luck and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Alison!
So there you have it! Make sure to check out the preview of Alison's book, CHASING, and then buy a copy or five. Tune in same time next week for an interview with JBG artist, 20x200 edition-maker, self-publisher, and winner of last year's PBN Grand Prize: Beth Dow!

Slideluck Potshow XIII, the slideshow + potluck event brought to you by Spring 2006 Hot Shot Casey Kelbaugh, will host it's 8th gathering tomorrow evening—Thursday, August 6th at Canoe Studios (601 West 26th St., Suite 1465) in Chelsea.

This newest installment of Slideluck Potshow, which begins with the potluck component at 6:30 p.m., will feature 2009 First Edition Hot Shot Parsley Steinweiss, Spring 2007 Hot Shot and Summer Reading artist Kelly Shimoda, JBG favorite Brian Ulrich, and many others. Swing by with your best home-cooked specialty and see some great presentations featuring the following artists:

Myriam Abdelaziz, Kyohei Abe, Christopher Anderson/Magnum, Rob Ball, Yasmina Belkacem, Eric Cheng, Carlos Ciccelli , Gregory Crewdson/Luhring Augustine, Alinka Echeverria, Shepard Fairey, Tim Hetherington, Edith Maybin, Peter Mullaney, Christoph Niemann, Claudio Papapietro, Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum, Platon, Alex Prager/Yancey Richardson, Jing Quek/Josette Lata, Kim Reierson, Benjamin Rusnak, Jonah Samson, Emily Schiffer, Kelly Shimoda, Pete Souza, Parsley Steinweiss, Phillip Toledano, Brian Ulrich, D.A. Wagner, Erin Wigger, Robin F. Williams, Kristiina Wilson, Lisa Wiseman, Michael Wolf/Aperture, James Worrel, Robert Wright

We also want to congratulate Casey and the Slideluck Potshow team on receiving official non-profit status a few weeks ago, and for being named as one of the "most rule-breaking, model-changing ideas" in New York as featured on All Day Buffet.

PetaPixel, the photography blog geared towards the tech-savvy, has an interview up with our very own two-time Hot Shot and Jen Bekman artist, Joseph Holmes. In it, he talks about his popular blog, joe's nyc, his workflow, which camera he takes out on the streets, and how he got acquainted with JBP.

Here's a snippet of Joe's interview (including some very kind words about HHS!), but click over to PetaPixel for the full interview!

PP: How does one become represented by a gallery?

JH: I can't tell you how it works for most people. In my case, I had a new project in the fall of 2005 that really excited me (the amnh series ), so I entered Jen Bekman's Hey, Hot Shot competition, partly because one of the prizes is representation by Jen. I had entered before without any luck, but this time around the amnh series won one of the slots in the Hey, Hot Shot show.

Though I wasn't ultimately picked for representation, I was really encouraged by Jen's reaction to my work, and we got along really well. So about a year later, I submitted images from my new Workspace project. Not only did I win another slot, but at the end of the year Jen selected me as one of four photographers to be represented, and I've been working with Jen and her fantastic crew ever since. You can see some of my prints on Jen's 20x200 project.

I'm sure there's a lesson in persistence there. You can't let rejection stop you from continuing to create and show your work. No matter how long you've been working, there's always another rejection around the corner; it's just part of the landscape.

I became represented by Crista Dix's wallspace gallery in Seattle in a similar way. In the fall of 2006 I submitted images from my amnh series to wallspace's annual "In a New Direction" show, and I was selected. Crista contacted me after the show came down and offered to represent me. My solo show at wallspace last October, "Under | Exposed," included prints from three of my projects: Workspace, CBGB, and amnh.

Two Mantles, 2009 by Jacqueline Bates

Contender Jacqueline Bates makes work about identity. More specifically, she makes work that examines her own vulnerability as an Italian American woman. With her series of diptychs, La Vita Americana, Bates provokes a conversation about past and present conceptions of Italian feminine identity.

From her statement about her work she writes:

I am interested in the position of a woman in a family, what her roles are, how they transform from generation to generation, and how isolating they can be. I examine rites of passage and family traditions which, although far removed from their socio-spiritual origins, continue to be a central part of Italian-American cultural identity. To contrast the color suburban photographs, I present three types of black-and-white imagery: film stills from Michelangelo Antonioni's classic 1960 film L'avventura; snapshots of my parents at the time of their marriage; and my own fictional film stills.

View more of Jacqueline's work on her site.

Slaughterhouse 1, 2007 by Axel Dupeux

The bloody reds of Axel Dupeux's series about slaughterhouses are affronting and catch you off-guard. Animal parts are strewn in the drain of a sink, and blood runs thick like a river. One feels exposed to information about their food-source that perhaps was really not meant to be seen and the slaughterhouses, devoid of human presence, seem like a fresh crime scene left-behind.

Dupeux writes,

On one hand, I thought the texture of blood had an inner violence and a certain beauty at the same time. The Slaughter of the beef by Rembrandt was one of the main images I had in mind. On the other hand, I always find some ambiguity in the way infrastructures are built to deal with serial production; in this particular case, I was torn between a contradictory feeling of seeing the perfect mechanism of the slaughtering process, yet I couldn't help thinking it was also a somewhat terrifying illustration of the level of development Humankind reached.

Dupeaux's series brings to mind Erika Larsen's series about hunting, The Hunt. Here, speckles of blood in the snow and bloodied fingers and animals are also present, but there is also a sense of community and comradeship that motivates the actions of the hunters. Their connection to nature—the long walks through the woods and late nights under bright stars—also complete the hunting experience. On the contrary, Dupeux's images depict a de-humanized killing factory, where the killing the animal is purely for profit, rather than experiential in itself. It renders his exposè of food-production far more brutal and--literally--difficult to swallow.

See more of Dupeux's work on his website, including additional images from his slaughterhouse series. [Warning: some readers may find the images from this project to be disturbing]

Enlightenment by Alex Leme

We all love books over here at JBP. Really, we seriously LOVE books. Have you noticed? In case you missed it, the JB Gallery's summer show is full of novel works, perfect for Summer Reading. So, call him smart, call him strategic, but Alex Leme submitted work from his series Literary Ghosts, that would surely catch our attention over here.

In his statement, Alex writes:

I have always found libraries to be accommodating, peaceful and welcoming spaces brimming with fascinating people, mysterious aisles and compelling stories. Literary Ghosts is a photo essay that intends to depict the elusive, poetic and haunting qualities of those places. This is much more a character study than a mere portrayal of their content, and physical characteristics. I want to dig deeper and explore the ghosts, mysteries, secrets, victories and tragedies surrounding libraries.

The mood, lighting, angles and compositions that Alex utilizes in his photographs of libraries are similar to those in Eric Percher's Work, which could also be described as an investigation into "ghosts, mysteries, secrets, victories and tragedies." Percher's images focus instead on office spaces and high-stress work environments, but likewise, elevate the drama of untold stories that might otherwise be considered mundane.

Leme's photos are also related, somewhat, to that of Winter '07 Hot Shot Mickey Smith. In her series Volume, Smith photographs stacks of books in libraries, as she finds them, relying on the books themselves to relay both the stories of library-goers and librarians and the role that books and magazines play as valuable objects in our lives.

See more of Leme's libraries on his website.

In-between Double #1, 2009 by Hye-Ryoung Min

HHS! Contender Hye-Ryoung Min's photographs are dreamy, to say the least. Her series of merged images, In-between, reminds me of when I forget to advance my Yashica and end up with a double exposure that is never as perfect or poetic as what Hye-Ryoung Min offers.

Like our previous contender, Annick Rosenfield, Hye-Ryoung Min is also a graduate of SVA. In her statement about her work, Min reveals her approach:

My process begins by capturing a first image of the main character, and then finding and layering a secondary image that provides emotional texture. Beyond that, I rely on the geometries of the urban landscape to convey the essential solitude of city life. I also work with elements that contrast stillness and motion, and round shapes that imply circularity and evoke the cycle of life. Finally, the process of photographing, finding, connecting, eliminating, and blending is completed by the addition of a unifying color layer that integrates all other layers into a single narrative thread. I assemble these images to make visible what is hidden, ultimately revealing a third language which breaches the gap between world and artist. It is in fact a world of images where subjects are dreaming my own language.

See more of Hye-Ryoung Min's work on her site.

See that tiny sliver in the pie chart above? That figure is 4%, a number that according to an article in ARTINFO, represents the percentage of works by women on the 4th and 5th floors of MoMA's permanent collections. I was pretty stunned to read that out of the 383 works on display, just 19 are by female artists.

However, all hope is not lost. New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz has been actively stoking the fires of the art world gender debate. And as the article mentioned above reports, the Institute of Contemporary Photography Triennial, to take place later this year in New York, features predominantly female artists, "of the 34 artists from 11 countries to be included in the global survey, 24 -- or 70 percent -- are women."

This important debate reminded me of 2008 Second Edition Hot Shot Cara Phillips' ongoing Women in Photography project in which small grants are awarded to female photographers in New York. Keep up the good work Cara!

Don't miss the full article on ARTINFO and be sure to check out the ICP website for more information about the Triennial Exhibition.

Untitled by Winter 2007 Hot Shot Kirby Pilcher

Have you checked off any books on your Summer Reading list yet? If not, I have an easy solution--swing by the gallery and see (and read) our summer group show Summer Reading! Hold on to your excuses, because the show will remain securely on our walls through August 22nd. We'd love to see you soon!

Summer Reading
Group Exhibition
July 15th - August 22nd, 2009
6 Spring Street
New York City

If you're not in our neck of the woods, you can view the entire show here.

Walter, 2008 by Annick Rosenfield

HHS! contender Annick Rosenfield's steely-eyed subject Walter looks askance while reaching into his pocket. His look is timeless, his posture stiff and formal, and his face bathed in a cool, natural sunlight that could be nearly any time of day.

A 2009 graduate of SVA's MFA program, Rosenfield's work has been published in Photo District News and The New York Times Magazine along with numerous New York City galleries. Of her work, she writes,

These images are from a series I made of minimalist portraits. I wanted to see how little information I could give the viewer and still make an interesting photograph. With this series I was particularly interested in the use of gesture, facial expression, and negative space.

You can see additional work and portraits by Rosenfield on her website.

And remember: we'll be blogging about contenders from this round of competition here on the blog right up until the Hot Shots are announced. The contenders' photos are also featured on flickr, and on the Hey, Hot Shot! facebook page. If you're on facebook, we hope you'll become one of our fans! Apply today!

remember to thank all the books you haven't read over the past three years by ailatan

Less than ten years ago, the entire book publishing industry could be summed up in one famous quotation by journalist A.J. Liebling, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." However, in the last several years, digital print-on-demand self-publishing has grown from an obscure, expensive and low-quality hassle into an accessible, beautiful and worthy pursuit for anybody with a creative edge.

With the rise of digital printing, thousands upon thousands of new print-on-demand books have popped up for sale all over the internet. Maybe it shows just how young I am, but I was shocked to read in an essay by HHS! panelist Darius Himes that, "up until the early 1990s it was easy to purchase every photography book because there were only a handful that were published in any given year." Browsing the thousands of titles in the online bookstore at Blurb.com is a sign of the times that this is certainly not the case today.

Within this absolute saturation of photography books are many worth a look and certainly some worth having on your shelf. In the next few weeks, we'll be publishing a few posts featuring interviews and advice from some of our favorite self-publishing Hot Shots, artists and bookmakers. Stay tuned!

If you've got stories, links or advice about self-publishing that you want to share, don't hesitate to leave a comment or send a reply to @heyhotshot on Twitter.

Untitled, 2007 by Carrie Chalmers

Ithaca-based photographer Carrie Chalmers' series In November is awash with the even, gray light of an early winter's day. Snow dusts signs, yards, and rooftops and landscapes are dominated by hues of white and gray. This work was created on Thanksgiving Day 2007, when Chalmers traveled from Ithaca to Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side), and found herself intrigued by the semi-urban landscapes several blocks away from the main tourist strip. It is left to question whether these spaces are void of people because it is a holiday, or, as the language on signs and visions of vacant lots suggest, that this is a community in greater decline. Either way, a lingering sadness hangs heavy in the images' color palette and one can imagine Chalmers with her camera as the lone soul who was walking around on this day.

She writes,

The gaudy strip along Victoria Avenue and Clifton Hill seemed dull in the grey light despite the flashing signs of nearly empty attractions. But a few blocks away in the residential and commercial districts I found the sublime and paradoxical in structures and landscapes. The photographs express a struggle between expectations and disappointment, the present and absent, the possible and impossible, the familiar and foreign, loneliness and connection.

Chalmers' series brings to mind several of the images in Alec Soth's well-known project, Niagara, like Balloon (above), which also captures the feeling of abandon and an affronting loneliness in this supposed tourists' paradise. Large, blank building and motel facades at night create a discomforting portrait of a place when juxtaposed with hopeful newlyweds and out-of-towners. Combined, the images make up a uniquely American and unusually uncertain destination.

Visit Carrie's website to see additional projects and more work from In November.

New York City-based jeweler, Nicole Gagne, was critically injured by a staircase that collapsed outside her Long Island City studio in April 2009. A postcard benefit event featuring dozens of work donated by artists will be held this Thursday, July 30th, at Priska C. Juschka Fine Art. Postcards will be sold for $40 apiece and all proceeds will go to Nicole to help cover the cost of medical care and aid in her recovery.

Priska C. Juschka Fine Art
547 W. 27th St (between 10th & 11th Aves.), 2nd Floor
5:30 - 9:30 p.m.
New York, NY

Visit the benefit website for more information about Nicole, the postcard show, and the list of participating artists and sponsors. We encourage you to stop by Thursday night and offer support for Nicole, and hopefully pick up a beautiful artist-design postcard.

Issue 8 of Fraction Magazine, the just-over-a-year-old Albuquerque-based online photography magazine, features work by HHS! contender Katrina D'Autremont and 20x200 edition-maker Kevin J. Miyazaki. D'Autremont's series, Si Dios Quiere, of which a selection was submitted to the last round of the HHS! competition, concentrates on her Argentinian extended family, exploring the intimacy and distance of relatives who live in a faraway place.

Miyazaki's ongoing body of work, Within Reach takes a look at the everyday objects of the home: a bar of soap, a quarter of a sandwich, a roll of toilet paper, and examines them with a close and re-contextualized eye.

A recent Fraction Magazine special feature, The Un-Natural Nature of Food, an online gallery curated by Melanie McWhorter, recently caught our eyes on the HHS! blog as well. The collection hones in on the strange, routine, and fascinating world of what we eat, how we eat, and who we eat with, and makes one think twice about just what it is we are putting in our bodies. Kevin's work is also featured here alongside images by Colleen Plumb, Brian Ulrich, and many others.

Take a peek at the magazine's current issue which also features great work by five additional photographers.

Amy and Miles by Katie Shapiro

Our very first contenders post of the season! We opened the 2009 Second Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! yesterday and already the entries are coming in. We're excited.

L.A.-based photographer Katie Shapiro had the right idea and submitted her work right away while our eyes are fresh and hungry. I recognized Katie's work immediately; she's a previous HHS! entrant and more recently, I saw this image on fellow L.A. photographer Aline Smithson's blog, Lenscratch. As Aline wrote, "the old adage is good things come in pairs" and that's just what Katie's after showing. She photographs couples, examining relationships, physically and visually linking her subjects. In this sweet, sunny image, Amy and Miles are joined by Amy's braid which curves up and echoes the arc in the window coverings, creating more than one visual relationship, that between Amy and Miles and that between the couple and their surroundings.

To see and study more duos, visit Katie's blog Only Diptychs. To see more work from this round's contenders, stay tuned here. And don't forget to enter Hey, Hot Shot! early and often! Kidding, just send us your work soon, we can't wait to see it.

Pickled Ramps, 2008 by Rachel Hulin

Not so long ago, I mentioned a blog written by Spring 2005 Hot Shot, Rachel Hulin. Her blog, A Photography Blog, continues to delight with its inspired musings on all things photographic. Today, Rachel wrote about a film, Herb & Dorothy, that tells the story of a postal clerk and a librarian who love to collect art, and do so on modest means. This immediately reminded me of 20x200, and its humble mission--to make art affordable and enjoyable for all. Speaking of 20x200, keep your eyes peeled on the blog for a chance to purchase an edition print from Rachel. I have it on good authority that one is on the way.

Jen Bekman Projects is happy to announce the opening of the 2009 Second Edition Hey, Hot Shot! competition.

Entries will be accepted now through Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EDT.

The premier international photography competition, Hey, Hot Shot! offers photographers at all stages of their careers unrivaled opportunities for exposure and advancement.

All entrants have their work reviewed by top-shelf panelists and enjoy the potential to be promoted online (more than sixty were featured here on the Hey, Hot Shot! blog last season alone!), selected for 20x200 and exhibited in our New York gallery. Now in its fifth year, the competition has been acclaimed by curators, critics, educators and journalists alike.

A panel of seasoned photography professionals—including founder Jen Bekman, photography book evangelist and publisher Darius Himes, Aperture Foundation publisher Lesley A. Martin, former Creative Director of Colors magazine and photographer Stefan Ruiz and Chronicle Books chairman and CEO Nion McEvoy—review all the photographs that are entered.

The guidelines are simple: contenders submit three photographs from a single body of work, using an online upload tool, with an entry fee of $60. The 2009 Second Edition will add new features and more benefits for all entrants—among the many reasons why Hey, Hot Shot! remains one of the most desirable photography competitions around. Stay tuned for details!

So what are you waiting for? Get your work out there: Apply Now!
We only accept submissions online.

The deadline for entries is Friday, October 23, 2009 @ 8pm EDT.

Hot Shots will be announced on Monday, November 30, 2009.

There is a $60 handling fee for your entry.
Submissions are open to everyone, from anywhere in the world!
The competition is now open.

Questions?

Check out our informative and frequently updated FAQ, follow us on Twitter or find us on Facebook.