Call For Photographers

There are two organizations that are putting together a collection of photographs of farms in Pennsylvania. The first, Farm to Table Pittsburgh is putting together a commemorable poster for their upcoming annual Farm to Table conference on April 3 & 4, 2009. The poster is entitled "Farms of Western Pennsylvania."

The contest deadline is November 30, 2008 and the photographs must be of farms in the Western Pennsylvania area. Read more about it on their web site: www.pathwayswellnessprogram.com/farm_poster.html

I am actually organizing and designing the poster, as well as their marketing collateral and event program this year. It is a great event to learn more about the opportunities available to eat locally and to meet the farmers around the western Pa area.

The second photography contest is for PASA, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

The organizer, Don Gibbon, emailed me and asked me to spread the word. He included this little blurb about it:

Fourteen photographers participated in the exhibit "Loving Your Mother:
Farming as if The Earth Matters." projected continuously at the
February,2008, conference of the PA Assoc. for Sustainable Agriculture.

Some 290 excellent images were shown on a large screen in the main exhibit hall
in a continuous loop during the entire three days of the conference. They
were seen and admired by some 2000 conference attendees.

Images made by professional or amateur photographers are sought for the 2009 version of the exhibit. To participate, please submit two or three jpeg files, max 500Kb each, illustrating the nature of your work to Donald L. Gibbon, curator of
the show. Don will respond to your submission.

Final submissions will be called for in mid-December, 2008. We will ask for a maximum of 10-12 high-quality images showing your impressions of what it means to farm sustainably in Pennsylvania. We had a huge range of responses to that
question last year, from photographs of a community barn-raising followed by
the barn blowing down and a farm house in flames to all manner of crops,
people and livestock, growing, planting, harvesting.

Not everyone stuck to the rules: one photographer submitted some really interesting images of a sprout-growing operation in New York City. The farm was underground, bathed in fluorescent lights! One photographer submitted lovely rich images of work
on a cooperative farm in Illinois. So there's obviously room for artistic
license. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Silver Eye Center for
Photography in Pittsburgh.

Email your photos to Donald Gibbon: dongibbon@earthlink.net

Here's two of my submissions: