I am curating an exhibition at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts (Michigan City, IN). The show will feature photographers who ‘make’ pictures before ‘taking’ them. While this falls under the category of still-life photography, I am only seeking work by artists who create photographic tableaux—images that display some sort of handwork (cutting, breaking, folding, painting, mowing…).  While there is nothing wrong with pictures of flowers in a vases, people making funny faces, or tilt/shift landscapes that create the illusion of miniature dioramas, they don’t ‘push the envelope’ far enough and will not be considered for the following categories—tabletop, staged portraiture and altered landscape/interiors.

Criteria:

• Work should have been completed within the past 5 years.
• All work must be created in-camera. No post-camera work (e.g. Photoshop manipulations) will be accepted.
• Photoshop and other image editing tools can be used for correcting color, cropping, sharpening, etc.
• There is no ridiculous entry fee. I’m on the exhibitions committee at LCA and am volunteering my time for this.
• All work will be insured.
• Lubeznik Center for the Art is a non-profit organization so, unfortunately, there is no budget to cover shipping costs.
• All work must be framed (with plexiglass) and ready to hang.
• No colored mats.
• If you have an alternative presentation method, please send me a description with jpegs.
• No decorative frames unless they’re an integral part of the work.
• The space I’m filling is on the main floor and can accomodate large scale work.

Submission Process—PART I (via Dropbox):

• Send an email to thomasallenonline[@]gmail[dot]com expressing your interest in submitting work for review.
• Make sure to include your first and last name.
• I will create a Dropbox folder for you and send you a shared invite.
• ‘Drop’ up to 20 of your best low resolution jpegs into the folder.
• EMAIL DEADLINE : MARCH 15, 2013. (If I receive requests on March 16, I won’t be crass and shut you out!)

Submission Process—PART II

• I will review work as I receive it and reply with my decision  no later than March 17, 2013
• If selected, I will edit your Dropbox folder and leave only the images selected for exhibition
• In turn, you will replace the jpegs with hi-resolution tiffs for print/publicity purposes.
• Include a resume, artist statement (if you have one) and a short, entertaining bio!

Submission Process – PART III

• Ship your work to LCA (specifics and proper paperwork will be sent via email)
• I’m quite the shipping crate builder so if you need advice, I’ll offer it freely.

I’m sure I’ve missed something and may have misquoted some things. Bear with me. This is my first time putting together a show of this magnitude so please forgive me if I make sudden, unexpected changes!

While I would love to include everyone who submits, I know that it would be physically impossible. If your work is not selected for CONSTRUCTION SITES, please do not take it personally. I’ve received more than my fair share of rejection over the years so I know how it feels. Since I cannot estimate the number of  people who will be submitting work, I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot by promising to provide constructive feedback to all who are not invited to participate.

Finally, if you have any questions about anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m looking forward to seeing your work.

In addition to being an artist, I’ve been recruited to teach science to my daughter (nearly 9). My wife decided that we needed to become secular homeschoolers this year (for reasons I won’t go into). I wasn’t too happy about it at first — mostly because I’m such a flake and a total scatterbrain. Regardless, if I’m going to teach science, it needs to be visually exciting. Here’s the first image in what I hope will become a time-lapse video capture of capillary action (just need to keep two kittens from jumping on the table while I wait). If this one fails, I have more Paperwhites that are just about ready to bloom.

I just completed an 11th hour commission for the next issue of Mental Floss. The illustration accompanies a story about Betty Friedan, founder and first president of the National Organization for Women. However, the photograph above is NOT the one that will be published. It was tabled in a round of revisions.

This is my second time working with MF. The following was published in the August issue:

This accompanied today’s Saturday Essay in The Wall Street Journal. While my name is on the photograph, this was really a collaborative effort and credit must be given to Lucy Gilmour and Keith Webb at the WSJ. I was having trouble finding pictures of the 3 Musketeers so Lucy headed over to The Strand and found the best book. She sent iPhone pictures to Keith who then sent them to me. The book was perfect so Lucy bought it, photographed it and sent me high-res files via Dropbox (the best sharing tool ever). From there I did some of the fastest Photoshop work of my life (with 3 minutes to spare before final deadline)!

Too bad I couldn’t find a copy of the paper today. I think a total of 10 copies are distributed in my area!!!

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It’s official. An exhibition of new work will open with brunch at FOLEY on Sunday September 9, 2012 from 12PM-2PM.  Most of my summer was devoted to paging through (and tearing pages from) the old science books, encyclopedias and primary readers that I’ve been collecting/hoarding since graduate school (1993-1996)–turning my tidy workspace into a total disaster! After a solid week of making cutouts, I spent another four arranging (pinning/gluing/taping), photographing, stitching-together and color–correcting the overlapping exposures of 32 new images (for an explanation of the process, scroll down to the middle OFFICIAL). Twelve of these will adorn the walls and mark the opening of FOLEY’s new location at 97 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002.

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If you plan on attending the opening and would prefer not to see the images beforehand (printed 12″ x 15″ – nearly half the size of my previous work), then I suggest that you stop here. For everyone else,  I am pleased to present, BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE:

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A comment from artworksb146 reminded me that I failed to mention something – the edition size for each print is 10. All are borderless and mounted on black Sintra (3mm). The gallery handles all price inquiries. –Tom

Believe it or not, I don’t love everything that I make. In fact, I loath my latest creation – a kidney stone. As I lie here recovering from the first of two removal procedures, I would like to share the bright spot in my week thanks to Ben Mollica at Portland’s alt-weekly newspaper—Willamette Week. In my drug-induced haze, I forgot that this was being published, but a text message from my friend Ward Jenkins  jogged my memory. (Ward has also done work for WW)