(and definitions, as compiled and conceived by NYPH Director, Daniel Power; applicable to both General and Student divisions unless otherwise indicated)

NYPHA’12 Fine Art Series Finalist: Shane Lavalette

Fine Art, Single Image
Individual images resulting from personal or collaborative artistic practice and or experimental photography, be they abstract, formal representation, or imagistic creation. Also called personal work; images whose formal aesthetic and conceptional frameworks are ends in themselves rather than subject-focused storytelling.

Fine Art, Image Series
Same, except more than one, i.e. a suite or collection of images comprising a fictional narrative or story, image presentation suite, or amalgamation of images defined above whose ultimate meaning is derived from the collection rather than the single piece.

Documentary, Single Image
Individual images resulting from a perspective of documenting something observed, in a natural or slightly controlled setting. Street photography, photojournalism, some portraiture, magazine stories, and photo essays are some well known examples. More importantly, these pieces may be published or unpublished—meaning they may have or may have not appeared in a newspaper, magazine, online news site, or blog slide show anywhere on any topic. This category includes reportage and expository photography.

Documentary, Image Series 
Same as above, but whose focus now is the story or meaning effect creating by the composition of several images: what story is being told, narrative illuminated, collection presented. More often than not these are “real world” images captured in real time in natural settings that in some fashion document  a subject, sometimes with its environment and or its activity. This work may be published or unpublished as outlined above.

Photographic Book
This is a great category, and my favorite. This category can be absolutely anything you wish it to be; it can be fine art oriented, documentary in nature, it can contain text in any form (yes even poetry); there is no limit nor set definition to what your book is; it can be published, self-published, unpublished, it can be sitting with a literary agent, it can be your masterwork living on your hard dive, it can be something you printed and bound with Blurb or Lulu. It can be your BA or MFA thesis, it can be your incredibly artistic family album. It is above all you. You—your ideas, your perspective, your art statement, your visual manifesto—your brand, laid out and sequenced, designed and presented in unfolding wonder, embedded with your virtuosic DNA. Like a cinematic film, the book is the combination of author, actor, director, editor, and producer, the whole nine yards. Go to town.
Work should be submitted in blocks or sets of 10 images. (You don’t have to use all 10 slots, but they are there if you need them. You will need one “slot” for every ten images you intend to submit, meaning 11-20 images in the submission will require two slots.) You do not need to submit the entirety of your book. Whether presenting the jurors with photos of page spreads, single images used in your book, or PDF pages (converted to JPEGs before you upload, of course), it’s up to you how you share your vision and relate your books overall message.

NEW: GIF
GIFs resulting from personal or collaborative artistic practice and/or experimental photography. Must be an original work, i.e. not taken from a movie or television show that you do not have the rights to.

That’s it, I think I have covered it, if any questions email Madison (at) NYPHotofestival.com. Good luck!


ENTRY FEES  

GENERAL Pricing
SINGLE IMAGE: $20 per image, any category
SERIES IMAGE: $75 per set of 6 images, any category
PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOK: $75 per set of 10 images
GIF: $35 per .gif file (brand new category for final round!)

STUDENT Pricing
SINGLE IMAGE: $12 per image, any category
SERIES IMAGE: $45 per set of 6 images, any category
PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOK: $45 per set of 10 images
GIF: $20 per .gif file (brand new category for final round!)

(Students must submit proof of current enrollment–for the fall 2013 semester–in a school, college institution, or equivalent if and when their work is chosen, or risk disqualification.)