The Awards

The Show

Your Photography Deserves to be Seen

If selected as the Grand Prize award winner, you and your work will be presented in a world-class photo exhibition at the Aperture Foundation Gallery, located in New York’s Chelsea art district. We will work with you to produce a show that fits your style of work: from fashion to photojournalism, art photography to travel images, from conceptual work to commercial photography, your work will be showcased in the gallery of one of the most reputable foundations in art and photography.

Your show will start with an exclusive Press Preview, with select guests including editors, writers, art influencers and collectors. Invites will also be available to the public through an extensive publicity campaign, putting your name and images in front of tens of thousands of viewers.

About Aperture

Aperture—a nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting photography—was founded in 1952 by photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White; historian Beaumont Newhall; and writer/curator Nancy Newhall; as well as Melton Ferris, Ernest Louie, and Dody Warren. In the 1960s, Aperture expanded to include the publication of books (over five hundred to date) that comprise one of the most comprehensive and innovative libraries in the history of photography and art.

Aperture’s list of artists includes: Robert Adams, Diane Arbus, Robert Capa, Chuck Close, Bruce Davidson, Joan Fontcuberta, Nan Goldin, Josef Koudelka, Sally Mann, Mary Ellen Mark, Richard Misrach, Sebastião Salgado, Stephen Shore, Paul Strand, and Edward Weston, to name a few.

This is your chance to show your work in the gallery of one of the most respected organizations in photography.

Beyond the Gallery

The most exciting element of The Exposure Exhibition is the projection series. If selected, your images will be splashed across the streets of New York City with a vivid high-powered projection system. Your work will be seen by tens of thousands in the most compelling way possible, larger than life and unforgettable.

View the video below for the story of photographer Pete Eckert, a previous winner of Exposure.

The Judges

Stephen Walker
Photo Director // NYLON

Since 2007, Stephen Walker has been the Photo Director of NYLON and NYLON Guys magazines. In 2008 he founded nextspacegallery.com, an online 3-D gallery showing contemporary art with an archive of 3-D artworks. Stephen's own paintings have appeared in Harper's Bazaar, and he has photographed over 30 cover stars for the behind-the-scenes feature in NYLON. Stephen is also a regular guest speaker at SVA and Kent University.

Stephen lives in Chelsea in New York City.

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Conor Risch
Senior Editor // PDN Magazine

Conor Risch is senior editor of Photo District News (PDN), the award-winning monthly magazine for the professional photographer. Previously he was senior editor of COOL¹EH Magazine, and an editor for illustrated book producer becker&mayer!, a division of Chronicle Books.

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Natasha Egan
Director // Museum of Contemporary Photography

Natasha Egan is the director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. Egan has taught in the photography and humanities departments at Columbia College Chicago and serve as a juror for national and international exhibitions.

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Michael Shulman
Director, Publishing, Broadcast and Film // Magnum Photos

Magnum Photos is a photographic cooperative of great diversity and distinction owned by its photographer members. With powerful individual vision, Magnum photographers chronicle the world and interpret its peoples, events, issues and personalities.

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Susanne Miklas
Photo Editor

Susanne Miklas is an award-winning photo director and contributing senior photo editor to a number of magazines, including Men’s Journal, ESPN The Magazine, and Bloomberg Businessweek. While at Bloomberg Businessweek, she was part of the team hired to work on the magazine's redesign, a project that earned SPD’s 46th Annual Print Awards Gold Medal for Redesign. Previously, Susanne served as Deputy Director of Photography at Newsweek, and Director of Photography at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine.

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Karen Irvine
Curator and Associate Director // Museum of Contemporary Photography

Karen Irvine is Curator and Associate Director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. She has organized over forty exhibitions of contemporary photography at the MoCP and other institutions and written essays for numerous artist monographs and magazines. Irvine is a part time instructor of photography at Columbia College Chicago. She received an MFA in photography from FAMU, Prague, Czech Republic, and an MA in art history from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Rules & Frequent Questions

Our goal is simple - to find amazing photographic talents and expose them to the world in the most potent way possible.

We've worked to build a system for entry that is easy and fluid. Below is a brief overview of how the competitions works. For more detailed information, see our Frequently Asked Questions or Contact Us with any questions you have. You can speak to us directly 9am to 5pm (EST) through direct chat below, or e-mail us anytime at: info@artistswanted.org.

1) Who is Eligible to Enter?

Exposure is open to photographers 18 and older from anywhere in the world! We are looking for all types of digital and film photography, including (and definitely not limited to): Fashion, Landscape, Travel, Candid, Digitally Manipulated, Artistic / Conceptual, Self-Portrait, and more!

This is your opportunity to capture the moment and share your talent with the world.

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2) How do I submit work?

We only accept submissions through our quick and easy online form.

All applicants will receive a gorgeous online portfolio and will be eligible for the People's Choice Award (does not affect the selection of the Grand Prize winner). Portfolios are fully editable (you can change/add images and modify your bio) until the deadline.

You may submit up to 8 images for $10 per image. For 9 or more images, we offer a flat discounted rate of $88. You can upload up to 20 images for the discounted rate.

Every photographer who submits to Exposure will be given an online Artists Wanted portfolio to view and share with your social network and use as a professional resource. After you complete your submission, you will be sent a confirmation email with your username, password, and direct link to your portfolio, which you will be able to start using immediately.

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3) The Awards:

The Grand Prize:

This winner of the Grand Prize Award is selected by our panel of esteemed judges. The People's Choice Voting has no influence on the Grand Prize selection.

• $10,000 cash grant
• A career launching Exhibition and Reception at The Aperture Foundation Gallery
• A Feature on the Artists Wanted Website seen by tens of thousands of users
• Worldwide Exposure for your photos and the stories they tell.

The People's Choice Award:

The public will cast their vote and the highest rated portfolio will receive $2,500 in cash, and international exposure via a feature with Artists Wanted seen by tens of thousands of viewers.

Voting for the People's Choice Award will open in November.

The Category Awards

The jury panel will select photographers whose photography best exemplifies the essence of each of the following categories:

People & Portrait
Celebrates the likeness of a person of a small group of people through photos in which the face is the focus of the image. Includes: Portraits, Self-Portraits, Group Portraits and Candid photos.

Documentary / Photojournalism
Celebrates the power of photography in creating a visual account for news stories and current events. Includes: Documentary photographs, News photos.

Cloudscape, Landscape, Aerial and/or City Scape
Celebrates the beauty of clouds, sky, urban skylines, and broad areas of land. Includes: Urbanscapes, Landscapes, Cloudscape and Aerial images.

Travel / Vacation
Celebrates the landscape, people, culture, customs, and history specific to a certain geographic area. Includes: Travel and Vacation photography.

Action & Adventure
Celebrates action and adventure captured in images. Includes: Sports photography, Adventure photography.

Events (Parties, Weddings, Celebrations)
Celebrates social events captured in images. Includes: Nightlife, Celebrity, Wedding and Party photography.

Art / Conceptual
Celebrates a concept or idea captured in images and/or relays the creative vision of the photographer as artist. Includes: Artistic photography, Staged and Manipulated photography.

Nature (Plants and Animals)
Celebrates the image of animals (wild and domestic), birds, fish, insects, plants, flowers and trees. Includes: Macro/Nature, Wildlife, and Underwater photography.

Commercial (Fashion, Product & Food)
Celebrates the power of photography in illustrating a service or product. Includes: Advertising, Food, Product, Fashion, Still life and Studio photography.

Analog
Celebrates the essence/aesthetic of film photography. Includes scans of photographs originally captured using film cameras, including 35mm, Polaroid, and medium/large format cameras.

Category Award Winners will be awarded a $500 cash grant and a feature on Artists Wanted, exposing their work to tens of thousands of the most influential eyes in the photographic and arts communities.

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4) Judging:

One potential Grand Prize Winner will be determined from among all eligible entries received by a panel of qualified judges, based on a rating system that considers uniqueness, skill, and ambition. The entrant who submitted the entry receiving the highest score, as determined by our judging panel, will be the Grand Prize winner.

Eligible visitors to the site will have a chance to vote for their favorite entry during the Online Voting Period. The entrant with the entry receiving the highest number of votes, as determined by Artists Wanted, will be the potential People's Choice Award Winner (pending rigorous vote validation). Public voting has no influence on the formal judging for the Grand Prize Award.

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5) Use of Entry & Respecting Image Ownership:

Your images will never be sold to a 3rd party.

Artists Wanted will not resell your work, or use your images for any commercial purpose outside the terms of the contest and the New York Reception. Every image you submit is yours, you retain all rights to your images.

Your images will be hosted on our web server for viewing via your public portfolio and your images may be selected for special promotion on Artists Wanted and other press/partner outlets. For example, in the past major magazines and television outlets have run features on our photographers and we have facilitated that connection. If a major press outlet approaches us to feature your work, we will contact you and work with you to craft the story to the highest benefit for you and your career.

Frequently Asked Questions

To contact us, first read through this FAQ for answers to your questions. If this doesn't help, our contact information is below.

Q: What's this Exposure all about?

A: Photography is power. In a world of images, the camera is a tool powerful enough to change the world as we know it. We are all armed with a camera, but great photographers capture moments and build concepts that speak beyond the bounds of the frame. Exposure is an international open call for inspired photography. This opportunity is open to photographers of all backgrounds who are able to speak exquisitely in the language of lenses and aperture. Our goal is to find talent from around the world and award everyone who participates in ways large and small.

Q: What is the Grand Prize Package?

A: Our top selected artist will be awarded a $10,000 cash grant; a highly publicized, art-star gallery event in New York City at Aperture Foundation; airfare for you and a friend and shipping of your work to and from New York City for the event. The Grand Prize Winner is decided by our judging panel and is not affected by your popular vote tally or whether you have a premium portfolio or not. The judges will be seeing your work on it's own and only the quality of your work will be considered.

Q: What is the People's Choice Award?

A: The public will cast their vote and the highest rated portfolio will receive $2,500 in cash, and international exposure via a feature with Artists Wanted seen by tens of thousands of viewers.

Q: How can people view my portfolio and vote for me?

A: In order for people to see your work, you must to spread the word. You can now share your work directly form your portfolio. Click the 'Share This' button below your biography and pick from over 200 social networking tools to help spread the word about your portfolio. If you have a premium portfolio, you will also be linked from our homepage, which is seen by thousands of visitors a day. Your icon will be in a randomized cue and will link directly to your portfolio.

Q: How do I vote?

A: At the bottom of your portfolio, there are 5 stars. Click on the appropriate star (5 stars being the best) and your vote will be submitted. You may only vote once every 24 hours. Anyone can vote on your portfolio. Encourage friends, family and anyone else to vote your portfolio up so you can win the People's Choice award.

Q: What is the deadline for entry?

A: All submissions must be in by November 30. We will accept late submissions until December 19. Late fees apply.

Q: What type of Art do you accept?

A: We are looking for all types of photography including portrait, self-portrait, fashion, digitally manipulated, photojournalism, nature, erotic, candid and toy camera. Anything that is photographic is eligible. If you have any questions regarding the type of work accepted, please feel free to contact us at info@artistswanted.org.

Q: What is the submission fee?

A: You may submit up to 8 images for $10 per image. For 9 or more images, we offer a flat discounted rate of $88. You can upload up to 20 images for the discounted rate.

With the support of sponsors we have set our submission fee at half what most other competitions ask. The submission fee supports the running of this contest, the prizes and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the non-profit FreeArtsNYC, an organization helping at-risk youth with Art & Mentoring programs.

Q: Can I submit work if I live outside of New York?

A: Yes. Artists Wanted accepts submissions from all over the world. In the past we have received submissions from dozens of countries around the world. Several of our past winners have been international artists.

Q: Who owns the work/copyrights after it is submitted?

A: You do, of course.

The folks behind this site are just a few artists from Brooklyn trying to make real opportunities for others like us from around the world. We are not business people and have no intention of owning your work. Long story short, everything you submit is yours. Outside the main prize we look for unique opportunities for every artist who submits work into our system. We have developed an incredible network of media/gallerists/buyers and we want to put that to work for you. So far we have gotten artists international media attention, gallery shows and sales. We want to be connectors and to put our connections to work for you.

Q: Can I submit a hard copy of my work? Can I mail in a CD of my work?

A: No. Submissions are only accepted online.

Q: How many images can I submit?

A: You can submit up to 20 images per portfolio. You can submit as many portfolios as you like.

Q: What size image files can I submit?

A: You may submit images up to 3 MB. We suggest submitting images that are between 1 and 2 megapixels (between 1,000 and 2,000 pixels wide).

Q: Can I edit my portfolio once I have paid?

A: Yes, you will be able to edit your portfolio until the contest closes. Go to artistswanted.org and click on 'My Account'. From there you can login and modify your bio and images if need be. Once the competition is closed, portfolios will be locked for judging.

Q: Who is eligible? Do I need to have shown work publicly?

A: Everyone is eligible. We accept work from artists who have had public shows and those who remain undiscovered. We aren't interested in your work history; we are only interested in the quality of work you are producing now.

Q: When is the decision made?

A: The winner will be announced in January 2012.

Q: How can I contact you if I have further questions?

A: Feel free to e-mail us anytime at info@artistswanted.org.