Okay, I admit it, I’m involved in the Filter Photo Festival coming up in Chicago, October 12 -16th….I’ll be teaching a workshop and working as a reviewer at the Portfolio Reviews…and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. My friend and fellow photographer, Sarah Hadley, is spearheading the festival–she’s a long time Chicagoan who has recently transplanted to Los Angeles, but still is getting her hands dirty in Chicago photo soil.

The event, workshops, and portfolio reviews are reasonably priced and if you are in the area, or want to travel to Chicago in October (I hear it’s beautiful then), join us!

In addition, PFP is having a call for entry, see below:

Call for photo entries:

BEGINNINGS: STORIES AND STARTING POINTS

JURORS:
Barbara DeGenevieve, Photography Professor, School of the Art Institute
Christy Karpinski, Founder and Editor of F-Stop Magazine

Deadline: August 15th, 2011.
Opening Reception: October 14th, 7:00 pm

Selected works will be displayed for the month of October at the
Black Cloud Gallery in the Chicago Arts District as part of the five day Filter Photography Festival.

Beginnings, the 2nd annual Filter Photo exhibition, is a gallery and online show that asks photographers to respond to these prompts. Filter’s goal is to create a show that explores origins, both personal and societal.

Looking back through time at both our lives and the larger picture of history that frames these lives, we come across a number of foundation stories. These narratives are key to our understanding of self and the world around us, whether from the perspective of autobiography, societal change, natural history, or any other lens that we use for interpretation. People trend towards these stories because they are easily contained blocks of meaning, typically with a defined starting point, something to which we can point and say “It started then.” And yet, when this simple correlative of cause and effect comes under examination, we see the system begin to unravel. When and where do causes truly begin? Can the origin of WWI be traced to the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, or to the seven other European leaders assassinated over the previous two decades? Should American Union General Abner Doubleday be celebrated as the originator of baseball, or Al Gore as the founder of the Internet? And at what point does one become a photographer, or a responsible adult, or fall in love?

All types of photography will be considered for this exhibition, with successful entries addressing the exhibition’s central theme of starting points.

The exhibition’s opening will be on Friday, October 14 as part Chicago’s 2nd Friday
Pilsen Art Walk. Prizes will be awarded at the opening.

IMPORTANT DATES:
Entries due: August 15th, 2011
Notice of acceptance: September 1st, 2011
Exhibition dates: October 4th – 31st, 2011
Opening Reception: October 14th, 7pm
Black Cloud Gallery, 1909 South Halsted, Chicago IL

ENTRY REGISTRATION:
http://www.filterfestival.com/beginnings