Categories

Categories of submission

To help organize the material and involve a range of judges, we have divided the nature of submissions into five broad categories. We understand that some submissions might fall outside of or between the categories suggested and that is OK.  We can work with it.

 

1.    Travel

We travel near and far, through both interior and exterior landscapes. Travel might involve the exploration of new places where the camera becomes a tool of seeing, processing and understanding. Or travel might involve your own small world, a trip up the block, through a neighbor’s garden, in and out of the passing of a month. We are always traveling, never still. This category centers around heightened states of wandering.

 

2. The Contemporary Portrait

This category is near and dear to the gallery’s heart (and soul). We all know what a portrait is or was, but where has it gone? In a rapidly changing world where technology has morphed all forms of communication and exchange, where does that leave the images of ourselves? Who are we in a disembodied world? What are the issues of identity, sexuality, intimacy, aging, gender that rise to the surface and how do we use new references, forms and tools to explore this? How do we come to know and understand the cultural forces that play upon us and shape us? This category seeks to specifically encourage projects that deal with gender, political issues and sexual identity. Transgress, translate, embolden.

 

3.    Documentary

A documentary tells a story. There are no limits on the form, yet documentaries tend to emerge out of long-term engagements with an idea or a quest. A successful documentary project will be provocative, showing true engagement and passion for the subject. We hope to see new forms and experiments within the genre. This category will show the world what Wisconsin artists are working on and thinking about. When curiosity is paired with artistry it can produce powerfully illustrative and illuminative voyages. Set sail.

 

4.    Fine Art

In this category, the conceptual and stylistic take the lead. These books are about ideas and take the greatest departures from established formats. Anything goes here. We will be looking for books that relate to larger theoretical concepts and ideas within the contemporary art world; interesting interpretations and manipulations of the book form; an awareness of how the sequential nature of a book as an exhibition space informs and shapes the project.

 

5.  Found/vintage/compilation

Sometimes discovering, naming or re-framing something is as potent as the act of making your own images. One cedes authorship and control to emanations that call from long ago or the margins of displacement. This category allows for the publication of images that are not your own.