T h e
mP a n o c t u r n i s t s
Image by Jack Fisher ©2008-9
pan·o·ram·a [pan- + Greek horma, sight]
n.
1. An unbroken view of an entire surrounding area.
2. A comprehensive presentation; a survey: a panorama of American literature.
3. A picture or series of pictures representing a continuous scene, often
exhibited a part at a time by being unrolled and passed before the spectator.
4. A mental vision of a series of events.
noc·turn·ist
n.
1. a specialist hospital-based doctor who only works overnight.[NOTE:
should probably be spelled 'nocternist’ - a combination of nocturnal and
internist]
2. although first described in literature by Aman D. Sabharwal, MD in
The Hospitalist
in 2005, we know that The Nocturnes were using the term earlier (maybe
as early as 2002) to address participants in our Workshop Series, and
later (and more generally) simply photograpers who prefer to work at night.
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The Nocturnes.com invites all interested artists to enter our latest online
Night Photography Exhibition, The
Panocturnists. This competition is open to all Night Photographers
(NPrs), all photo media - digital, pinhole, glass plate, film cameras
- all are fine with us! We ask only that your submissions represent a
broadened vision of our world at night, and your final outcome would normally
be a fine photographic print - b/w, color, alternative, fuzzy focus, whatever
- presenting mysterious, border-stretching nocturnal panoramas. Also,
submit only seamless panos, please (see panorama, definition #1
above) - no diptychs or triptychs this time around - we have plans for
a future show exploring those more traditional approaches, formats, and
presentations in depth.
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Basically, a panorama is any wide view of a physical space. It can be
in any of a number of aspect ratios - at least 2:1, mostly likely 3:1
or 4:1 (and beyond) - as an entry into the world of the panoramic (for
reference, the above image by Jack Fisher runs approximately 3.5:1). It
has also come to refer to a wide-angle representation of such a view —
tho' that is not necessarily a requirement.
An Irish painter, Robert Barker, first coined the term to describe his
panoramic paintings of Edinburgh in 1792. Panoramic photography is nearly
as old as the medium of photography itself - shortly after the Daguerreotype
was introduced (1839), photographers began assembling multiple images
of a view into a single wide image and soon photography displaced painting
as the most common method for creating these wide views.
So what is becoming of a Post-Modern Panocturnist?"
The Panocturnist is devoted to bringing into sharp focus (no, make that
clear emphasis - for the panorama can be "fuzzy" or dark
at the edges) the space just beyond our human field of view - approximatley
160° by 75° - and all it can offer. He or she, in keeping with the aesthetic
of all good NPy, likes to show us what we don't normally see, whether
it be blurred by our own myopic peripheral vision, or simply a lack of
sufficient light. As with many of our previous exhibitions, we believe
this is a great opportunity to tell a story - in fact, whereas a non-panoramic
image might be likened to a short story, or a Holga image to an impressionistic
haiku; the panorama, with its epic proportions might be considered the
novel of the Night Photography world.
Stilll pondering what gets packed into a panorama? For inspiration, you
might have a look at these sites:
Chris Faust - http://chrisfaustphoto.com/
Arnaud Frich - http://www.arnaudfrichphoto.com/english-version/main-menu.htm
Aaron Hobson - http://www.aaronhobson.com/
You might also take a peek at the online exhibit area of The Nocturnes
Web site, specifically the immediate predecessor to this exhibit, Blue
Nocturne
(one of our best, we think) - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/bluenocturne.html
- or one of our other, theme-driven offerings, like Town
and Country - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/tc.html
- OR - The Nocturnes:
Not ready to Make Nice - http://www.thenocturnes.com/exhibits/nrtmn.html
for an idea of what we might be looking for, and how we handle the
presentation.
With all this in mind, let's see what we can come up with for The
Panocturnists, shall we? You do not have to be of the
landscapist school of imaging, tho' the format certainly lends itself
to the interpretation of that genre. Techinically tho' it does have to
stick to the rather broad definition of a panoramric photograph given
above: an image that is much wider than tall (by a degree of 2, 3, or
4, or more to 1).
Entry Fee and Deadline
There is no limit to the number of pieces submitted per artist.
Entry Fee (glad we don't charge by the pixel, on this one?!): $25 for
up to 3 entries; each additional entry is $5. Postmarked dates for entries
are NOT acceptable for this competition - we will need to RECEIVE your
'hard copy' of entry form and fee by January 30, 2010! Please NOTE: Entries
from outside the U.S. should be sent well in advance of the January 30,
2010 deadline, as international mail deliveries are often delayed up to
a week or two.
Exhibition Dates:
Exhibition runs from February 15 through March 30, 2010. Accepted work
will then reside in a developing archive of nocturnal imagery on The
Panocturnists Web site after
the exhibition closes - available to NPrs and those interested in Night
Photography (NPy), worldwide. This differs a bit from our previous online
exhibitions, in that this one has its own domain and is designed to become
a separate, self-sustaining site - a resource for Panocturnists world-wide,
and those who love Panoramic NPy - providing much the same community-based
focus and support as The Nocturnes Night Photography group and
Web site (www.thenocturnes.com).
What to send:
Send jpeg files at 72-100 dpi named appropriately for the Web: 8 letters-dot-3
letter extension (e.g.- niteshot.jpg) all lowercase letters. For the
particular circumstance of this show, the size should be no greater than
1000 pixels in the longest dimension - and PLEASE let us know if you plan
to submit VERTICAL panos - we are still trying to figure out how to accommodate
them (maybe a limit of 800 pixels tall . . .) - let us know if you're
thinking of submitting any extreme verticals . . .
If you send images via snail mail, use lots of protective cardboard for
shipping disk - we accept CDs of your images ONLY via USPS. An even better
alternative is to send us the URL of images that are already on a web
page (a Flickr account would work - tho' it's a few extra steps at this
end, unless you've enable 'download' on the Flickr site), and we can 'retrieve'
those images (your personal Web site would be the best source for us to
do this); then you can easily FAX (or snail-mail) in your entryform with
payment information. As you might have gathered, we are trying to avoid
a flood of emails and haphazard, ineffective attachments being sent to
The Panocturnists
site.
Awards:
Two (2) Awards will be awarded at the discretion of the Awards Juror,
Chris Faust
- a Best of Show and an Honorable Mention; and the amount of prize
money awarded is dependent on the number of entries received and selected
for exhibition. The final jurying will be done from a preliminary selection
of works by members of The Nocturnes.
Sales:
Sales will be encouraged - No Commission taken for any of our online exhibits
- and direct links to artist sites or emails will be provided. Artwork
remains Copyright of the participating artists. Pages on the Web site
are Copyright, The Nocturnes, and Pacific Media Arts. The exhibit, The
Panocturnists is Copyright Pacific Media Arts and The
Nocturnes NPy Web site.
Please print all pages of this form, fill them out (keeping a copy
for your records)
and mail with appropriate fee (to be RECEIVED by January 30, 2010) to:
The Panocturnists
- an Exhibit
TheNocturnes.com / Pacific Media Arts
PO Box 29074
Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129
707-644-4073 fax
ENTRY FORM: The Panocturnists
(print, fill out and forward with entry fee to Pacific Media Arts)
Name:
_________________________________________________________________
Company:
_________________________________________________________________
Address:
_________________________________________________________________
City/State/Country/Postal Code:
_________________________________________________________________
Phone:
_________________________________________________________________
Fax:
_________________________________________________________________
email:
_________________________________________________________________
URL: (where artwork is to be found)
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
File #1 - Filename: (e.g.- wideshot.jpg)
_________________________________________________________________
File #1 - Title of artwork/Year created: (e.g.- "Panoramic Nocturne
#2")
_________________________________________________________________
File #1 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #2 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #2 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #2 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #3 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #3 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #3 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #4 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #4 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #4 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
File #5 - Filename:
_________________________________________________________________
File #5 - Title of artwork:
_________________________________________________________________
File #5 - Photo Medium/Print Dimensions/Price:
_________________________________________________________________
Include nonrefundable Entry Fee: $25 (US Dollars) for up to 3 entries;
additional entries are $5 each
Check#: ______ Payable to Pacific Media Arts
Credit Card: Visa _____ Mastercard _____ Amount: ________________
Credit Card Number: ________________________________________
Expiration: _____ / _____ Name on Card: _______________________
Zip Code corresponding to Credit Card: _________________________
Authorized Signature: _______________________________________
Note that "Pacific Media Arts" will appear as the payee
on your Credit Card statement.
Number of disks ______ enclosed. Disks will NOT be returned.
Photographic Experience / Interest in Night Photography:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
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How did you learn about this online exhibition? Previous show?
Specify by name if Craigslist.org, Artist Resource Web site, Artweek or
other publication,
The Nocturnes Web site, other NPy Web site, a poster in retail outlet,
or other.
When did you first discover The Nocturnes?
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_________________________________________________________________
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Would you be interested if this (or another) show were presented in a
more traditional
"bricks and white walls' venue (probably in the San Francisco Bay area).
Any suggestions?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
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Receipt of this completed, signed entry form or any materials, files,
etc.
constitutes your agreement with the conditions set forth in this prospectus.
SIGNATURE _________________________________ DATE _________________