BRATTLEBORO — In-Sight Photography Project announces its first Youth Photo Contest & Fair.
For 30 years, In-Sight Photography Project has been nurturing the creativity of young artists in the Brattleboro community and across the country.
"Seeing an opportunity to give young artists an opportunity to have their work exhibited in the community and seen by professionals in the field, this year, instead of our Annual Benefit Art Auction, we made a choice to ask the community to support an event that will directly benefit and promote our talented youth," Emily Wagner, In-sight Photography Project's executive director, said in a news release.
The competition is open to youth 11–18 who live within an hour of Brattleboro. Contestants are invited to submit one image in each of the following categories: Analog Film, Artistic, People, Places, and The New England Experience.
The deadline for submissions is Sunday, Aug. 20.
Images submitted to the contest will be exhibited in In-Sight's gallery Sept. 1 through Oct. 6. Three winning images in each category will be selected by a blue-ribbon jury panel to win awards, with the top award being a DSLR camera kit.
Cathy Cone, photographer and long-time In-Sight supporter, is the event's honorary chair. Her works are in the collections of IBM, Hallmark Fine Art Collections, and American Express, among others.
As a long-time supporter of In-Sight and its students, Cone says this is an opportunity for the community to encourage and help guide a young photographer's dreams, especially now when the visual arts are so much in demand.
Cone and In-Sight are planning a red-carpet awards ceremony, a photo fair to include a display of the submitted images, a photo booth, games, and more that will take place at the Latchis Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 30.
In-Sight's board of directors vice-chair and local photographer, Rachel Portesi, has helped Cone assemble the jury panel, which includes a mix of local and national photographers, including Cone, Portesi, Jon Gitelson (Keene State College), Michael Kirchoff (Analog Forever magazine), Joan O'Beirne (Greenfield Community College), Geoffery Peckham (Tusen Takk Foundation), Dale Rio (The Halide Project), Aline Smithson (Lenscratch magazine), Vaune Tractman (Olcott Family Award/ The Print Center's Annual International Competition), and Tim Trelease (Deerfield Academy).
Additionally, viewers of the virtual show will be able to vote for one contest participant to win a People's Choice Award.
Most photography contests require entrance fees, but this competition is unique because it is entirely free to youth, thanks to the help of the community.
From its humble beginnings in the Brattleboro Teen Club, In-Sight's programs have always uplifted youth to use photography as an expressive medium and language. Throughout its history, In-Sight has offered a wide breadth of programming, such as the Exposures cross-cultural program that brought youth from different cultures together to the current Photo Team! Program, specifically designed to help youth explore professional pathways.
In-Sight's approach to photography is to foster personal expression, artistic growth, and self-confidence. The programming includes core classes in analog film and digital photography, after-school partnership programs, a Photo Team, and an Artist Residency. All classes are fully accessible through their sliding scale fee structure, and all equipment is provided.
For more information, visit insightphotography.org, or call 802-251-9960.
This The Arts item was submitted to The Commons.