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Thread: Call for Submissions - Small Town America

  1. #1

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    Greetings Everyone,

    This posting is on behalf of the Institute for Small Town Studies (ISTS) and the organization's quarterly publication "Fishwrap". I am working on a future article for the publication that poses the question "What are common perceptions or characterisitcs of American small towns as viewed by a specific subset of critical observers?" That's the long academic way of saying, is there something about the way large format photographers record images of small towns that reveals some universal conditions or perceptions.

    The essay will be comprised of selected black and white images to be accompanied by a short artist's caption and short editorial comment. Images for publication will be selected by members of the ISTS board of directors. At this time there is no set length to the article and should sufficient quality material be available the article may comprise the entirety of the issue.

    A PDF file detailing Submission requirements and artists release and credit information will be available by week's end. As the ISTS is a non-profit organization no compensation will be provided. For further information about the ISTS please visit the Institute's website.

    WWW.ISTS.ORG

    We will try to have the pdf available for download on the Institute's website shortly. In the meantime feel free to ask questions or post your interest here.

    Sincerely,

    Kevin Kemner

  2. #2

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    I don't have a problem with no compensation, but if I'm to offer up work, I need to feel like I can support the organization.

    Looking briefly at the website at www.ists.org, I'm left not really understanding the mission of the organization.

    I live, by very specific choice, in a place where the closest town is quite small (so small, we have a combination hardware/liquor/wine/lumber/feed store). One of the problems I see is that the interests of the nearby major metropolitan areas conflict with those of my community. Nowhere is this more clear than when the urban population sets agendas or enacts legislation (such as 'growth management' or 'critical areas ordinances') which they intend to help 'preserve the rural area and rural lifestyle' but which is in fact systematically destroying it. If the preceding text makes me sound substantially pissy about it, that's because I am.

    This leaves me a little skittish about this sort of thing. I live in a small town. I like living here, and I photograph here and in the other small towns nearby. I don't photograph it because it's 'cute' or 'quaint' or 'eccentric', I photograph it because it's where I live. I'm happy to share my photographs if the goal is for people to understand, at a deep level, what my particular small town is about. I'm not willing to share my work if the goal is to examine small towns in the way, say, Diane Arbus's photographs examined 'freaks'.

    So the question becomes, what exactly is this organization about? What, exactly, are you looking for, and what agenda are you pursuing? How do you see this project as advancing that agenda?

    I have to say, though, I'm inclined to favor any organization which publishes a quarterly journal with the title 'Fishwrap'. Small town pragmatic realism, that's what that is.

  3. #3

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    Hi Paul,

    Thank you for your question. The Institute for Small Town Studies is committed to the idea that the small town is a preferrable way of life and is established to provide scholarship and assistance to smaller communities. It is definitely pro-small town. I am copying the director's message to maybe help define the organization's position. I will speak with the director at some point today to see if he can provide some text to further describe their activities.

    Director's Message

    The Institute for Small Town Studies, is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit corporation based
    in Fairfield, Iowa. We provide community design assistance and small town planning services,
    pursue historic preservatioin, and develop educational programs based on small town themes.
    We are striving to become a valuable resource for small towns and for those who study them.
    For too long, the study of small towns has taken place in remote locations, by disparate voices,
    at best loosely organized, with marginal resources and means. At ISTS, we are working to bring
    these efforts together. We are building a library and small town archives. We publish a quarterly
    journal, fishwrap . And we recently opened a classroom and exhibition space in a restored railcar
    in Fairfield. Our developing Internship Programs and Institutional Affiliations continue to broaden
    and strengthen the expertise and talents we can bring to the needs of individual small towns. Although
    we are headquartered in southeast Iowa, our Research Fellows and national Advisory Board represent a
    broad geography of research and experience in small town studies. Our Strategic Partners and Useful Links
    offer an expanding resource for those seeking best practices and best practitioners working with small towns.
    We also host an annual Small Town Symposium for scholars and citizens to share their research and resources.



    Sincerely,

    Kevin Kemner

  4. #4

    Join Date
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    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    What do you consider a small town? Pop of 20 or fewer? 20-100? Under 250, 500, 1000 or 2500?

    "Small" due to the closing of the nearby big mining operation or just because the place never grew big?

  5. #5

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    Hmmmmm.

    Given Paul and R's comments I will try to better describe what it is I am trying to do with this solicitation.

    First, some background about myself. I was born and raised in the upper midwest and mideast. My childhood was spent mostly in small farming towns except for a brief period when my family lived in a small Pennsylavania industrial town. None of these towns had a population larger than 3200. For the most part we were country not townies. During the eighties I studied architecture I the Ohio State University. As a student I participated in an exhibition and publication titled "Dice Thrown" which was a critical investigation of Ohio vernacular farm architecture. The exhibit was first shown at OSU and later at Yale University. The publication was through Princeton Architectural Press. In the early 90's I taught architeture at the University of Florida and University of North Carolina at Charlotte. During my period at these institutions I developed an installation project titled "Living on the Second Floor" . This project, through the construction of five large furniture pieces, focused on the importance of place to a society that was increasingly nomadic. Thematically these furniture pieces were about bringing the qualities of my midwestern roots with me as I moved around the country. In addition to various exhibits this project was presented at the national ACSA conference and subsequently published. It would be fair to say a substantial amount of my academic work has been dedicated to the rural midwest. Since 1995, I have worked professionally in Las Vegas and taught at the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Architecture. I am a large format photographer as a hobby although I have been fortunate to have had three small exibitions in the past five years.

    My intention with this solicitation was twofold. First, a significant portion of large format photographers who work in black & white do so because they are passionate about the craft and choose subject matter that is significant to them. The critical nature of their vision makes them exceptional documentors as to the nature of place. In response to the Arbus comment, in opening the solicitation to individuals who feel that their ouevre is the small town I had hoped to establish a visual record devoid of overarching outsider commentary. Rather, the nature of that visual representation will be based on the nature of the submitted work. Second, the open ended nature of the solicitation (devoid of up front thematizing) was the hope that there would be apparent visual trends that may indicate deeper held beliefs as to the nature of the small town. These trends would be based on what was submitted rather than what was looked for. To illustrate this point, if we receive 100 submissions and 75 of them featured school buses this would be an important visual theme as to what the photographers were saying about their subject matter. FWIW I will not be submitting any images.

    Lastly, as for the ISTS and Fishwrap. The ISTS is a serious organization dedicated to the continued and dynamic existence of the small town. Paul, when I shared your email with Robert Dorgan, the Institute's Director, his comment was "That's exactly what we are about". As for Fishwrap, should any interested parties wish to learn the nature of past contributors I urge you to go to the website and view the table of contents for past issues.

    I hope that this really long post helps ease the concerns of any interested parties.

    Sincerely,

    Kevin Kemner

  6. #6

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    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    Kevin, the answer to your question (something about the way large format photographers record images of small towns that reveals some universal conditions or perceptions) is that readers will get the impression that nothing moves in small towns.

    Paul, your home sounds wonderful and reminds me of my childhood. My mother came from a town which was so small the local head of the mafia was Filipino.

  7. #7

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    My hometown hit a population high of 200 in the early 1900s and is now less than 100. There is not enough traffic on the main highway to justify having stop light, there is only a reduction in the speed limit to 45 MPH. Therefore, I qualify as a resident of a "small town" and am interested in this project. However, I have been blessed with eyes that see in color so that is how I shoot. I guess I am just not sophisticated enough in the "fine arts" to appreciate the lack of visual information that is inherent in B&W photography (no flame intended). I have several images that focus on the tranquility of a small town but, IMHO, a B&W image would be too harsh to adequately convey this feeling. Even dusk/night scenes benefit from incluing color, as exemplified in the previous issue of View Camera magazine. I believe that omitting color photographs will short change the readers. [Off my soapbox now] I realize that you did not make the rules but do you know why there is a prohibition against submitting COLOR photos?

  8. #8

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    Hi James,

    I apologize if the post implied that color was inferior to black and white. Its just that the publication is printed black and white.

    Thank you for your interest.

    Sincerely,

    Kevin

  9. #9
    Ted Harris's Avatar
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    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    I. likePaul and others who have responded so far, live in a small rural community. In my case it is in central New Hampshire. While I am in general agreement with the missionand goals of the organization that I read on the website and would be delighteed to submit a photograph if I knew more I still want to know more. I work with several non profti organizations, serve on on the board of one and am the past president of another and am deeply involved in fund raising for yet another. The first thigh I did after reading the initialpost was to go attempt to lookup "The Institute for Small Town Studies" at www.guidestar.org where almost all nonproftis have some sort of a listing. Nothing there. Am I doing something wrong or is the organizationso new they have not yet filed a taxx return?

  10. #10

    Call for Submissions - Small Town America

    Kevin,
    Without getting on a rant about urban sprawl, suffice it to say, I live in an ever increasing "small" town in the midwest. I would be interested to see the submission guidelines and deadlines for the article. Will you please let us know when the info will be available. Thanks -Matt

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