Blue Earth accepts project submissions from photographers twice each year, and the deadline for the first round in 2009 is fast approaching. Our focus remains photographic projects whose goal is to educate the public about endangered cultures, threatened environments, and current topics of social concern. If you are a photographer and would like to apply, it’s never too early to get started putting your materials together.

Check out our updated submission guidelines for more details.  If you’ve applied before, please note that Blue Earth now only accepts electronic submissions.

As always, we’re happy to answer any questions about the guidelines or the submission process - just contact us.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Last week, the International Herald Tribune ran an article on the plight of the Rohingya in Burma.  The article features the works of Blue Earth project photographer Greg Constantine, including a large photo essay from his travels amongst Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh.  Part of his larger project on statelessness Nowhere People, the photos document the lives of an ethic minority facing terrible persecution at the hands of the military regime and in refugee camps across South Asia.

His images will also appear in a CNN International feature on the Rohingya in their World’s Untold Stories segment.  Constantine hopes “these images will provide both the public and policy makers a clearer understanding of who the Rohingya are and a better appreciation of the tragedy of their story.”

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

A river is diverted for gold mining at a prospectors’ camp near Alta Floresta in Para State, Brazil, Aug. 25, 2007. These prospectors use mercury in the mining process, which pollutes the environment and affects the health of the local population. © Daniel Beltrá / Greenpeace

Any of our readers attending the North American Nature Photography Association’s Nature Photography Summit and Trade Show in Albuquerque, NM this weekend you should try to see Blue Earth photographer Daniel Beltrá speaking tonight at the fourth annual Outreach Event.  The fundraiser is sponsored by the association’s Environment Committee and will benefit the Philip Hyde Grant at the NANPA Foundation.

As was announced last year, Blue Earth is proud to be the 2009 recipient of the North American Nature Photography Association’s “Community Recognition Award.”  Larry Ockene, Our Board President is currently in Albuquerque at the conference to receive the award in person.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

A special note for Seattle-based students and others interested in professional photography.

Blue Earth project photographer Annie Marie Musselman is looking for a photography intern to assist her with basic office tasks in her Seattle studio.  Duties include, amongst others, filing, sorting, QuickBooks documentation, and invoicing.  Requirements include a love of animals, organization skills, and flexible schedule.  If interested, please contact anniemaries@comcast.net.

-Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Group of three Pronghorn standing under the last rays of an orange setting sun. Taken in the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone NP. © Florian Schulz

The Chicago Field Museum is hosting Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam, a new exhibit of Blue Earth project photographer Florian Schulz’s work, from January 16 – July 5, 2009.  It’s an impressive exhibit featuring 29 pieces that “capture the beauty of animals in their natural surroundings and show the need for continuing habitat conservation” and “explains the mission of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) that is dedicated to creating and maintaining a connected landscape where wildlife can migrate, and animals and humans can co-exist.”

If you are a fan of Florian’s work, be sure to make plans now to visit the Field Museum March 21 when he will present a personal tour of the exhibit.

-Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

© Benjamin Drummond & Sara Joy Steele

Blue Earth is proud to host Benjamin Drummond & Sara Joy Steele presenting Facing Climate Change, the third lecture in our new series on documentary photography that focuses on global environments, social, and cultural issues. Benj and Sara will be speaking in Seattle, WA at the Henry Art Gallery on Saturday, March 14th at 2 p.m.

Facing Climate Change is a long-term documentary project that tells the story of global warming through local people. From semi-nomadic reindeer herdsmen in the Arctic to wildland firefighters of the American West, photographer Benjamin Drummond and writer Sara Joy Steele create images, words and field audio that engage people with stories from their own communities, and others around the world. They have recently completed three Nordic stories that feature Sámi reindeer herders in Norway, volunteer glacier monitors from Iceland and fishermen of the North Atlantic. Benj and Sara are currently seeking support to complete a series of profiles from the American West.

Over the last two years Facing Climate Change has been featured in Orion and Mother Jones, in gallery shows from Seattle City Hall to Houston Center for Photography and at more than a dozen other events and venues. Sara and Benj also received the Orion/PhotoAlliance Award at the Our World Portfolio Review and the annual Blue Earth Project Grant. Learn more about their print and Web media, presentations and exhibitions at www.facingclimatechange.org.

All lectures are held Saturdays, 2 p.m.at the Henry Art Gallery Auditorium, 15th Ave NE & 41st Street in Seattle.  Admission is free for Henry Art Gallery and Blue Earth members; $5 for students w/ ID or $10 for general admission.  Tickets will be available at the door.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

© Perry Dilbeck

Next month Perry Dilbeck will launch a series of new exhibits traveling the country featuring work from his project Truck Farmers: The Last Harvest.  His project brings to light the challenges faced by small, independent farmers in the face of the growing agro-industry and “the wonderful pride and dignity these farmers exude in their daily lives.”

If you are in the area of any of these confirmed exhibits, be sure not to miss this amazing study of life on the American small farm.  We’ll update new exhibits in this series as they are scheduled.

Perrell Art Gallery
Tucker Arts Center
1585 Wesleyan Drive
Norfolk, VA  23507
March 10-May 2, 2009

Crealde School of Art
600 St. Andrews Blvd.
Winter Park, FL  32792
August 14-October 24, 2009

A Novel Experience
426 Thomaston Street
Zebulon, GA  30295
November 1-December 21, 2009

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

The Slow Death of Colorado, © John Trotter

We’re happy to congratulate Blue Earth photographer John Trotter for winning a spot in the 2009 Prix de la Photographie, Paris Px3 Water Exhibition.  This distinguished competition highlights “work that showcases the importance and impact of water in our world,” and this year included 1,000 entries from 48 different countries.

The exhibition will be held at the Farmani Gallery, a leading gallery of contemporary photography, in New York in May 2009, but Px3 is currently hosting an online gallery of works selected for the exhibition.

View a gallery of images from Trotter’s project, No Agua, No Vida.

-Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

A special note for Washington based photographers – Kent, WA has opened applications for their Summer Art Exhibit.  Local Blue Earth photographers have successfully exhibited in Kent before, and we encourage area photographers to participate.

Details: The City of Kent seeks artworks including prints, photographs, paintings and works on paper for the juried Kent Summer Art Exhibit. All accepted artwork is then eligible for City Art Purchase Awards and Kent Art Commission Exhibit Awards.

Purchase Awards: $5,000
Exhibit Awards: 4 solo exhibitions in the Centennial Center Gallery during the 2010 season
Artist Selection Process: Open to Washington State artists
Deadline: Monday, March 9, 2009 (postmark)
Application fee: $10

-Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

This week Blue Earth is launching a new resource directory for project photographers on our web site. The directory, covering a variety of topics, is specifically edited to provide suggested resources for project photographers as well as others interested in learning about project photography.

Compiling our directory will, of course, remain an open-ended affair, and we’ll continue to add new sections and provide updates as warranted. The web can sometimes be a big and scary place, and a little help is always appreciated. Whether an experienced photographer or a student, we hope you’ll find our directory useful in your research.

Photography Organizations
Publications
Photography Schools
Funding
Indigenous Peoples Organizations
Miscellaneous

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Photos by John Trotter

Way back on November 11, an exhibit of my Colorado River pictures opened at Gallery Space in the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. Before it goes down on February 3 I wanted to say something about it. Before I do that though, let me immediately dispense with the first question all of you non-New York people are going to ask: no, it wasn’t named after that Robert Wagner.

Anyway, it was a nice evening. The Wagner School leases a couple of floors in the Puck Building and I was thrilled because I’ve always admired it from the outside. A Canadian photographer I know was also thrilled for me until I explained to him that, no, it wasn’t named after that puck (sorry, that was a cheap slap shot). The gallery’s resident curator, Frank Crescioni-Santoni, had really worked hard to make the opening a success and even Ellen Schall, the Wagner School’s dean, made an appearance and a short speech. The exhibit originated from a meeting last summer with Associate Professor Natasha Iskander, who was developing a course on water policy for the coming semester and it coincided with a speaker series on water issues that the Wagner School sponsored.

For those readers who have never hung a show of twenty images (eighteen 16” x 20” and two 30” x 40” prints) it is not particularly cheap to do so. Aside from the cost of the prints, which I made myself, there is the cost of the framing and matting, which ran over $2500. I have sold no prints at all from this show and the chances of doing so are diminishing very rapidly now. Perhaps someone will show up at the last minute with a checkbook and some real intent, but I doubt it. I’m not complaining and I’m not depressed about it, but only wanted to share one example to the non-photographers who might read this: most of us aren’t taking the kind of pictures we’re taking in an attempt to make a lot of money. It’s just the way the world seems to operate.

John Trotter