"The way I have always looked at it is the world is in color. And there’s nothing we can do about that." - William Eggleston

The world is definitely in color, yet for photographers the decision to photograph in color is not always black and white. One of the raging debates within the photographic arts community over the past 50 years has been – What constitutes a truer form of fine-art photography: Black & white or color? For the first 130 years of photographic history it was definitely black & white. Black & white photography was the form of photography practiced by the true master craftsman and artists of the print medium – Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.

Color photography tended to be regarded as tacky and amateurish – the type of photography found in the pages of family photo album or at best within applied photography – commercial advertising. In the 1960s, two Williams arrived on the scene – William Eggleston and William Christenberry. These two Southerners obliterated the dogmatic mantra of photo-snobs everywhere who professed that only black & white photography was art. The rest is history, today color photography is king of the photo-art world.

When practicing analogue or digital photography, one of first and primary aesthetic decision a photographer must make is whether to produce images in monochromatic black & white or color. The photographer must ask him/herself the fundamental question – Would the subject matter, theme, lighting, and concept of the photograph be better served in black and white or color? The Color exhibition explores this essential aesthetic decision that every photographer has to address. A particular emphasis of the Color exhibition will be put on how the photographer incorporates color as a means of creating atmosphere, mood, balance, and rhythm within a photograph. Perhaps, Mr. Eggleston is on to something – because the world is in color, it only makes sense to photograph the world the way it is – in color.

Richard McCabe

Curator of Photography, Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Entering Your Images You can enter your images online at Smarter Entry For best results, make sure your image is 1200 pixels @72 dpi on the longest side, Images should be in JPEG format, sRGB color space. Please name your files: Color.Last Name.First Initial.Image#.jpg (Examples: Color.Smith.J.Image1.jpg, Color.Jones.R.Image3.jpg) If you need help entering your images or are unable to, please contact [email protected] or call 864.605.7400

Eligibility All photographers regardless of location, age or skill level. Images previously selected for exhibition at the SE Center for Photography within two years of the current exhibition are not eligible.

Fees $35 for up to 5 Images, $6 for each additional image up to 10. Members, $28 for up to 5 Images, $5 for each additional image up to 10.

Juror: Our juror for Color is Richard McCabe. Richard McCabe was born in Mildenhall, England and grew up in the American South. He received an MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University in 1998. That same year he received a fellowship to the American Photography Institute, National Graduate Seminar at New York University. Over the last 18 years, he has lived and worked in New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana. His art has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums throughout the United States. Mr. McCabe works primarily in photography, painting, and installation art. In December 2014, McCabe had a solo exhibition – Once Around the Sun – Instant Photographs by Richard McCabe, at Boyd Satellite Gallery, New Orleans. Currently, Mr. McCabe is the Curator of Photography at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Exhibition Details 35-40 Selected images will hang in the SE Center’s main gallery space for approximately one month with the opportunity to be invited for a solo show at a later date. Openings are timed to coincide with Greenville, South Carolina's First Fridays, a celebration of art, food and music. Participating artists that can attend have the opportunity for a Portfolio Review by SE Center Director Michael Pannier on the following Saturday morning (reservations needed).

Juror selects the final number of images to be included in the exhibition. In the rare occurrence an insufficient number of images are selected, the Director of the SE Center reserves the right to include additional images from those submitted.

Selected images must be matted and framed up to 20x24” to professional standards, white mat with simple black metal or wood frame unless prior approval has been obtained. The Center reserves the right to reject any piece not framed to our standards. To avoid shipping costs & headaches, the SE Center for Photography will print your photographs for you upon acceptance. For $15 per image, we'll print on archival paper and after the show either return the print to you ($15 additional for shipping) or you may choose to donate the image to the Center's flat file for future access to collectors.

The SE Center for Photography will mat & frame your images at no charge, using our selection of 11x14, 16x20 and 20x24 black, metal frames with white, archival mats and conservation clear glass for the exhibitions assuming it will fit one of our standard mats.

Sales The SE Center encourages sales during exhibitions and retains a 40% commission on work sold. The artist receives 60% of the sale price. If a print is sold it will be ordered from the photographer at the time of sale.

Copyright Artist retains all copyrights to their own images. Artists whose work is chosen for exhibition inclusion grant the SE Center for Photography permission to use images for promoting the exhibition, artist, or SE Center and its programs, and current and past exhibitions. Images may be placed on social media for promotion and features. Artists grant usage as stated without further compensation.

Lodging/Transportation The SE Center does not provide lodging or transportation for artists participating in an exhibition. The SE Center is 16 miles from GSP International Airport and we can provide suggested lodging options in the area. We do have a discount in place with the Hyatt Place next door to the SE Center, click the logo below for details.

Calendar

Submissions Open 5/8/20

Submissions Close 7/5/20

Selections Announced 7/20/20

Drop Off or Arrival at SEC 8/28/20

Exhibition Opens 9/4/20

Exhibition Closes 9/26/20

Return of Works 10/20/20

After the Show If your art does not sell at the exhibition you have the option to have it returned (Prepaid) or donate it to the SE Center’s Flat File. Flat File artwork is available for viewing, may be exhibited again, donated to another organization or sold to benefit the SE Center. If sold, the SE Center retains all profits of the sale. Flat File art is destroyed after two years of close of original exhibition.

Thank you for entering the competition and good luck!