Call For Submissions!

I've been pretty busy with life thee days, so my rate of production here has dropped off a lot, as has my rate of photographic work (which has never been high to start with). For that reason, and for others, I feel like asking for submissions. At various times I've offered to various people the opportunity to write a guest post, usually an opportunity to rebut or reply to something I have said, but not always. So far nobody's sent anything in, although there are encouraging noises at the moment.

Not that I want to turn this blog into a magazine, and most certainly not that I am offering to pay anyone, nor even that I can offer an audience.

Still, if there's something you want to get off your chest, drop me a line. Maybe we can find some common ground.

Things I'd love to see are more criticism of photography. Increasingly, I am finding myself depressed by the complete lack of anything resembling serious criticism out there (and I do not mean "critique", I mean the kinds of conversations about bodies of work that I write, more or less). It seems that if you get into the MOMA or the Guggenheim, then some wonk at the NYT will write something that is 60% historical review, 30% the author showing off his erudition and, if you're lucky, up to 10% actual thoughtful discussion of the work on exhibit.

And that, as near as I can tell, is pretty much the pinnacle. If you're just some talented bloke on with a really interesting portfolio out there, the best you can hope for is that some other bloke, slightly more well known than you, will showcase your work together with a few choice quotes from your artist's statement and maybe, maybe, a short interview with you. No criticism at all, no thoughtful approach whatsoever, simply "here's some pictures and here's what the photographer says about 'em."

Also, if I've attacked you in the past, feel free to step forward! I am too lazy to ghost-write the other side of a proper Victorian war of letters, but I sure would love to do my half if you'll hold up your hand half decently!

Or anything else. Perhaps you want to reply to something particularly dumb, or clever, that I wrote in the past. Or you just have some ideas of your own.

I'm open to ideas.