Submit your Selfies or Photographic Self-Portraits for Exhibition
© Matt Colquhoun
Ffoto Cymru and the Photography department at USW, Cardiff, working in collaboration with writer and photographer, Matt Colquhoun, are excited to invite artists and photographers to submit selfies or photographic self-portraits to this open call that considers both of these types of image from the following perspectives:
works that utilize the image of self to explore forgotten selves, present contingencies, and speculative futures.
works that document transformations of self and attempt to give an account of ourselves in the midst of a confusing and chaotic world.
works that not only express a sense of identity but also consider how our sense of ourselves has altered and shape-shifted with the advent and proliferation of ‘selfie culture’.
Theme:
In our modern world, the selfie is a ubiquitous form of self-expression. With front-facing cameras installed on every smartphone, we have never been more preoccupied with presenting ourselves to the world around us. In light of this, however, we are now prone to moralising against this most contemporaneous mode of self-expression. Ours is a ‘culture of narcissism’, or so we are told, and it is to our detriment that we remain so preoccupied with ourselves.
And yet, beyond his recent capture by folk psychology, the story of Narcissus has been integral to our understanding of the production of art and culture for centuries. For the Renaissance art critic Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), for example, Narcissus was nothing less than the “inventor of painting”, and his namesake “the flower of all the arts” – for what is it to create “if not to catch with art that surface of the spring?” The myth of Narcissus is thus the story of our first fleeting encounters with the natural world and the self’s place within it. It is the dramatization of that all-too-human desire to capture and preserve the beauty we see within and around us.
Through the invention of photography, we have both become more capable of looking at ourselves and been made all the more aware of how fleeting our senses of self can be. Inspired by Matt Colquhoun’s recent book Narcissus in Bloom (Repeater Books, 2023), which traces the art-historical development of the self-portrait alongside our ever-changing senses of self, this exhibition will explore how the selfie is not simply a product of subjective stasis in a stagnant capitalist world, but rather a measure of our capacity for self-transformation and a window into the changes we are constantly undergoing.
Image Specification for Submission:
Images can be submitted in square, portrait or landscape formats. Images can be taken on any device, including mobile phones. So that images are large enough to be printed, please ensure you submit files that follow the following specifications:
Jpeg file (8 Bit)
RGB (not CMYK) or Greyscale if B&W
300dpi with a maximum of 3000pixels on the longest side.
Applicants can submit a maximum of 3 images in total.
All image files must be titled with the name of the artist, title of work, and date produced.
e.g. Paul Smith, Into The Light, 2024
Important Advice: Please make adjustments to the original file rather than try to upscale an already reduced file.
Submission and Exhibition Details:
This opportunity is genuinely open to anyone who wishes to enter. Only images submitted in digital format will be accepted for consideration.
Selected images will be printed onto stickytex adhesive wall fabric material using an Epsom inkjet printer. Due to the single use nature of this material, no physical images will be kept after the exhibition ends.
Selectors are looking for individual images, not a series of images.
Images will be printed at a variety of sizes determined by the selection panel.
Images will be installed utilising a scatter design along a prominent ground floor corridor space at the University of South Wales, Cardiff Campus.
Copyright of all work remains with the author. Artwork is not for sale by Ffoto Cymru, Ffotogallery or the University of South Wales.
Images submitted for this opportunity will not be published, reproduced or otherwise shared outside of activities associated with the Ffoto Cymru festival without the authors permission.
Selection:
Images will be selected by Matt Colquhoun and Photography staff at USW.
Due to the potential number of submissions being quite high, only successful applicants will be contacted.
The selectors' decisions are final.
Key Dates:
Submission Deadline closes at 23:59 BST Monday 23 September 2024
Successful artists/photographers will be informed by 8 October 2024
Exhibition Dates: 16 – 31 October 2024
Related Event: Wednesday 16th October, 2pm-3.30pm, this exhibition will accompany a talk by writer and photographer Matt Colquhoun drawn from their recent book Narcissus in Bloom (Repeater Books, 2023). Booking for this event will be through Eventbrite and sent to all selected artists/photographers. Places will be limited for this event.
How to Enter:
Complete the online submission form at the bottom of this page and submit.
All submissions must be made before the deadline of 23:59 BST on Monday 23 September 2024.
Please ensure each attached image file is titled with the name of the artist/photographer, the title of the work and year of production.
Please also ensure that all images conform to the image spec required (see Submission Details for this)
Applicants can submit a maximum of 3 images in total.
If you need support to complete the submission form or have any further questions email peter.bobby@southwales.ac.uk
Ffoto Cymru / USW Open Call 2024 - Terms & Conditions
Conditions of Entry:
Artists may submit up to 3 images in total and will be considered for selection if the images submitted conform to the required image specification.
Submission does NOT guarantee entry to the exhibition.
All image files must be titled with the name of the artist/photographer, title of work, and date of production.
Copyright of all images remains with the author.
Artwork is not for sale by Ffoto Cymru / Ffotogallery / USW.
Selected digital works will be printed and installed by USW for exhibition as part of FfotoCymru 2024 at the expense of USW.
Images will be printed at a variety of sizes determined by the selection panel.
Images will be installed utilising a scatter design along a prominent ground floor corridor space at the University of South Wales, Cardiff Campus.
Artists/Photographers must confirm that works submitted do not give rise to breach of copyright.
The artist/photographer shall indemnify USW against all losses or damages which may arise by reason of breach of copyright arising directly or indirectly from the display of their work at USW as part of Ffoto Cymru 2024.
Images submitted for this opportunity will not be published, reproduced or otherwise shared outside of activities associated with the Ffoto Cymru festival without the authors permission.
Selected images will be printed onto stickytex adhesive wall fabric material using an Epsom inkjet printer. Due to the single use nature of this material, no physical images will be kept after the exhibition ends.
Marketing and publicity:
Ffoto Cymru / Ffotogallery / USW reserves the right to photograph the exhibition and works therein for education, marketing and publicity purposes.
Ffoto Cymru / Ffotogallery / USW will promote the exhibition across various media including relevant websites, social media platforms, local and national press.
Copyright will remain with the artist, however by submitting artwork as part of this Open Call, artists/photographers agree that images of their work may be used for education, press, marketing and promotional purposes.
Submitted artworks will not be used for merchandising by Ffoto Cymru / Ffotogallery / USW.
Declaration:
By submitting your entry to this USW / Ffoto Cymru Open Call you are agreeing to all the terms and conditions set out above.