Yesterday I can honestly say I was totally thrilled to discover that I have been named "Photographer of the Month" at the prestigious and rapidly expanding on-line international showcase for photography,
OneEyeland. This means that throughout September I had the largest number of images accepted into the showcase, by a rolling panel of five top professional photographers, my peers.
What does this mean to me, and why ? Well when you are based miles away from any photographic buzz, away from the hubs of industry and commerce, surrounded by sea, mountains and sheep, with maybe only 2 other professional photographers in the area who I can have honest discussion with, then it's a very lonely existence, and one where you have no real idea about how much your work may be admired elsewhere in the world.
The web has changed all of this, and for that I am extremely pleased. As artists/photographers we all need feedback on our work, some sign that shows whilst we may think we are doing something worthwhile, others think so too. I have certain advantages in that I run my own gallery, with three large white walled airy spaces in which to let others see my work. I get feedback every single week from gallery visitors, and we often end up with great discussions about landscape, art and environment, but that is still not the same as being assessed by one's peers at a national and world level.
I have given up on most competitions as they are facile, unpredictable, shallow and of course totally based on the whims of judges at one moment in time. They lack any form of honesty about an artist's work, as how can a lifetime of creative development be assessed in a fleeting glimpse by people who know neither you, your rational, and your development of ideas, your 'body' of work. If you pick up any one or two of my own images it is quite true that almost any amateur shoot something similar, but when you look at the evolution and coherence of my work over decades, that's what places me with my peers, as a professional.
And this is where
OneEyeland come in. Yes of course the rolling panel of five judges are still assessing my work based on individual images, and without question they have dismissed some of my best images, BUT there is no specific judge date, it's ongoing, and therefore what is happening is that the photographer is quietly building a professional, 'peer assessed' public portfolio, over a period of time. If one is lucky enough (as in my case this month), you have more images accepted for inclusion than the next person, and so have the thrill of being "Photographer of the Month".
And ? Well it has had the effect of increasing the number of followers of my work at this international showcase. It has been Tweeted around the World and publicised to OE's own database of members but more importantly it has made me happy, a small 'tip-of-the-cap' from the rest of the world about my moody landscape images, mostly shot here in wet wind-swept Wales, a place seemingly a million miles from any other form of photographic recognition. This last week I was approached by a French TV company who will film me at work next week, and also by a national museum seeking a possible exhibition of my work.
OneEyeland may not have generated those enquiries, but it does show that on-line presence is a very wide net business generator, creating opportunities which we'd never have seen before. For me at least, even though I get SO frustrated by some of the image denials which have occurred at OneEyeland, it is just more fun, more honest and a more accurate international representation of my work than the Russian Roulette of other competitions.
So thank you
OneEyeland for adding some fun to my promotion, and for seeing the potential in so much of my work. Respect!
All words and images on this post are strictly copyrighted to © Glyn Davies 2010
FLICKR Photostream HERE AMAZON sales HERE
