PhotoShelter sponsors awards

PhotoShelter's business is all about housing your photos and helping you sell photography, but the people who run it also seem to care a lot about photographers. As part of that, they recently ran a photo contest and have sponsored two upcoming contests. PhotoShelter's own contest was called Elevation 2008 and was judged by Paul Moakley, senior photo editor of Newsweek; Phil Bicker, creative director for The Fader; Michelle Egiziano, director of photography for Spin Magazine; Michele Outland, art director for Nylon Magazine; Stephen Walker, director of photography at Nylon Magazine; and Clinton Cargill, photo editor for the New York Times Magazine. The five winners--Tiana Markova-Gold, Matt Lutton, Mary Amor, Antonio Pulgarin, and Carla Richmond--will each receive a fancy portfolio, prints to fill it up, promotional cards to help build some buzz about their budding careers, three months of free PhotoShelter Personal Archive Standard account service, and are featured in the May PhotoShelter Editor's Showroom. They're also being featured this week on the photo blogzine flakphoto.com.

Since running their own contest wasn't enough for them, PhotoShelter has also signed on as a sponsor for the New York Photo Awards, which are a part of the about-to-kickoff New York Photo Festival. This Friday there will be an awards ceremony at St. Ann's Theater in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. PhotoShelter's director of photography Meagan Ziegler-Haynes will be one of the judges for the Festival and the company's Personal Archive is hosting participating photographers' images to make it easier for the judges to see the work.

By now, you may be feeling a little late to the game when it comes to these contests, but if you want to compete in a PhotoShelter-sponsored photo competition, you still have a chance. They're also among the sponsors of the Exposure competition being put on by Artists Wanted. You can submit photos online from now until June 17 and the winner will be announced July 15. The winner will get $2,008, have her/his work displayed on the side of buildings in the Chelsea, DUMBO, and Williamsburg neighborhoods in New York City, will get a promotional campaign, and will be featured in Artists Wanted's upcoming publication The Annual. An opening event will take place at the Leo Kesting Gallery in Manhattan on August 9.