The American Photography 25 winners have been announced and this year there’s a slideshow to see everyone’s work (here). It’s really worth the time to sit down and look at all of it, there’s some fantastic images in there. I think judges did a great job of including all the “magazine” style photography that was shot in 2008. I have a pretty big collection of these books and it really is a snapshot of that year in photography.
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Dina Goldstein’s “Fallen Princesses” series is great. Overall a lot of great work… an inspiring mix of work… minus a few things that are a bit overplayed… including some images dating back as far as 2006… which seems odd if it’s supposed to represent work from 2008.
Lots of great work but lots of “old” great work like the Zuckerman shot and few others…isn’t supposed to be 2008 work?
Anyway much better than the pdn annual of this year, very few pics and not that good.
Some of the work is magnificent, other work is good and even not so good. But why in this day and age of great web design they have to come up with this horribly looking website that is not user friendly. It is easy to use, but it is way slow and does not make justice to the work showcased. Am I the only one having problems with it?
I enter this contest every year and always love to look at the book they produce…its a keeper for sure. I’ve gotten in at various times over the years and it has helped spread the message of a new project and I’m always happy with the company I’m in.
I am consistently shocked that no one has blown the whistle on the whole “selected” vs. “chosen” aspect of this contest…and just the absolute greed it seems to exhibit. “Chosen” gets on the website, “Selected” gets in the book. But the “Chosen” people all need to pay a fee to have the images on the website, and then pay for a book, in addition to paying for an entry fee. I’m surprised there isn’t a “usage tax” added on to this somewhere as well. I can almost understand having a fee to get in the book…but CA doesn’t charge one…so I don’t know how it can really be justified. But for inclusion on a web site? It just seems like another way to just really bring the money in thick and heavy.
Don’t get me wrong…this isn’t sour grapes. I enjoy the book and will always enter the contest. But because I embrace it, I feel I should be able to critique it. I’ve been more tolerant of greed in more opulent times, but when times are tough it just seems arrogant.
@Timothy Archibald,
Yeah, I would get that invoice for the images that didn’t make the book but were going to be on the website and huck it in the garbage. The website is a piece of crap and I did write about that awhile back hoping someone there would get the message about how unuseful it is for looking at work and finding photographers.
I think if you are chosen you should skip paying the fee to be on the website and just put it on your marketing material. It’s good for that at least.
The book on the other hand is certainly worth the double fee.
@A Photo Editor,
I was in the “Chosen” group but never paid anything to be on the website. Or even received an invoice for that matter. Maybe it’s on the way or as Rob suggests, I chucked it in the garbage without even looking at it…
I am wondering like Tim does about this contest.
And for the same reasons.
I have gotten in and not gotten in.
This year…. mmmm.
Maybe I should not say any thing… but wow.. Did the judges phones this thing in?
And what about pay for this and pay for that?
And Even after you get in it is Pay?
Of course I did take back all if they just accept every entry I ever made….
Mark Richards
@Mark Richards, Hi Mark what do u mean by”And Even after you get in it is Pay?
Of course I did take back all if they just accept every entry I ever made….”?
I am absolutely not trying to say anything but i really don’t get it, also the part about the judges is puzzling.
Sorry i am italian, maybe it’s the language :)
Thank You Mark
The pictures are fabulous; why don’t they use a portion of the entry fee to build a better website? Fuckin’ hate the nav.
Congrats to all the winners, but I have to agree on the website being horrendous.
There’s just no excuse for something this bad especially for a contest like this. It’s worse than looking at a MySpace page of a 14 year old.
Take some damn pride in your contest and the talent you’re showcasing.
Sure, some amazing images were selected. And, as usual, a few head-scratchers. How often do we need to see a photo of an old woman sitting between 2 massive sculptures, etc.?
I enter these things and sometimes I “win”, sometimes I “lose”. The funny thing is that I usually submit the same package of images to a bunch of contests. One jury will like ’em, another jury….not so much. So, I always take the jury process with a grain of salt. (Just ask O.J. Simpson about that, the next time you bump into him.)
If you believe them when they like you, you have to believe them when they don’t. So I choose to see these things as what they are and not really believe anything (except how much I love to photograph).
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[…] Ich hab ehrlich gesagt nicht wirklich verstanden, was die American Photography 25 Winners sind, aber diese Serie, in der verschiedene Auswahlbilder gezeigt werden rockt echt […]
many great photos… many not so great. i don’t quite understand the judging.
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