We all make work in a vacuum, to some degree.  There’s no one else there when we click the shutter; at least no one behind the camera.  We make the photographs for ourselves, of course.  But those of us who have the courage (or lack of common sense) to share our work with others ultimately need an audience.  And in the 21st Century, in which we are all drowning in images, it’s hard to get one’s work seen amidst the chaos of the millions.  It’s an almost humorous conundrum:  it’s never been easier to get our to work out into the world, but to get it seen has never been harder.  Each photographer is competing with thousands and thousands of peers for attention.

Thankfully, there are a few great organizations out there to help.  CENTER is a mission-driven non-profit focused on  supporting, promoting and providing opportunities to “gifted and committed photographers.” Their programs provide a direct link to the sophisticated, important viewers that a photographer craves. Through it’s award program and fantastic Review Santa Fe portfolio review, CENTER ensures that our work will be seen.  But to be remembered…that’s up to us.

The awards have highlighted some now major figures in contemporary photography, like Alec Soth, Julie Blackmon, Hiroshi Watanabe, Aaron Huey, Michal Chelbin, and many others.  In fact, Alec won the Santa Fe Prize in 2003, before the Whitney Biennial and global superstardom.  The programs have been a great springboard for countless photographers in the 16 years since CENTER was founded by Reid Callanan, the founder and director of the Santa Fe Workshops.

Last year, I was fortunate to have my series, “The Value of a Dollar,” chosen for Honorable Mention in the 2010 Project Competition.  As a result, I was offered a spot at Review Santa Fe 2010, where I met Josh Haner of the New York Times.  In one of my “official” reviews, he suggested that he’d like to publish the project on the LENS blog, which happened October of last year.  In the months that followed, my work went viral internationally and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people in more than 125 countries.  It also led to an interview about the project on Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” and three solo exhibitions for 2011.

The reality is that none of that would have happened without CENTER.  It’s a fact.  CENTER provides the opportunity for photographers to get the work out into the world, and I’m very glad that they exist.  I also appreciate the fact that taken together, the bodies of work that are recognized each year represent a screen grab of what’s happening around the planet in a given year.  Among the winners in last year’s Project Competition were series created in Russia, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Tibet, India, Israel, Kosovo, and Laos.  And Dana Popa’s winning project about sexual slavery in Eastern Europe was heartbreaking, beautiful, and important.

I’ve been fortunate to get to know a bit about the organization in the last couple of years, as I’ve attended Review Santa Fe twice, and live just up the way in Taos.  I interviewed CENTER’s Executive Director, Laura Pressley about their mission in 2009, and she said, “Our role is to be a bridge between meaningful images and an audience. We provide support when photographers are ready to reach out and get their work seen. We amplify the voices of talented photographers and can provide a vote of confidence in the work. Essentially, CENTER facilitates key relationships and provides a platform to get work seen.”

Anyway, the deadline for CENTER’s Awards and Review Santa Fe is coming up soon, January 27th to be exact.  The details on the who, how and when can be accessed at www.VisitCenter.org.  I can tell you that the selection panel is off the charts this year, with jurors from Gagosian Gallery, Getty Images, National Geographic, the Tate Modern, SFMOMA and more.  It’s a serious collection of power players, to be sure. And the awards include exhibition at the New Mexico Museum of Art, publication in Fraction Magazine, and $5,000 no strings attached.

So there you have it.  Do you have something so say with your work?  Are you serious about developing a career and an audience out in the world?  If so, get it together and enter these competitions.  You might not win, but at the very least, some very important people will look at your work.  If you have any questions
or want to learn more about my experiences, just drop me a line.

(photos from Dana Popa’s “Not Natasha” project)