Exposed DC

for the love of DC photography

Exposed DC Opening Night Wrap-Up

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Photo by Jim Darling
Photo by Jim Darling

Thank you to everyone who came to our 8th Annual Exposed DC opening reception at Long View Gallery last night! We thought the event was a huge success, and enjoyed meeting and talking with so many of you throughout the evening. The celebration continues to get bigger and better every year, a tribute to the 49 talented local photographers whose work we are so proud to share with such a large audience.

We hope you caught this excellent write-up about the exhibit and what we’re trying to do here at Exposed DC in today’s Washington Post Express Weekend Pass. The show is up at Long View through April 6. If you’re interested in purchasing a photo, please contact us at info[at]exposeddc.com.

Photo by Jim Darling
Executive chef Dimo Kolouas puts finishing touches on one of Tel’Veh Wine Bar’s Mediterranean dishes. Photo by Jim Darling

We have many wonderful people to thank, including our generous sponsors.

Our guests enjoyed three of Bluejacket Brewery Navy Yard-brewed beers on tap, including their popular Forbidden Planet; Middleburg, Virginia-grown wine from Boxwood Winery; a selection of South African wines from Cavanagh Family Imports; and Brazilian wines, including a particularly delicious sparkling wine, from A&M Imports. Founding Farmers & Farmers Fishers Bakers brought our guests their mouthwatering bacon lollies, Everlasting Life Vegan Cafe dished out some wonderfully tasty soul food, Tel’Veh Wine Bar cooled us down with some lovely Mediterranean fare, and District Doughnut gave out their handcrafted mini-donuts to the first 200 guests through the door. Meanwhile, DJ Sequoia and v:shal, our long-standing Exposed DC ambiance providers, kept the room bumping.

Congrats again to our inaugural Best in Show winners, made possible by the Corcoran College of Art + Design with the help of our panel of distinguished judges, Jacquelyn Martin, Jamie Rose, Dan Westergren, Susan Sterner, Nancy Walz and Lucian Perkins.

The after party at The Passenger went well into the night with photography-themed cocktail specials (the Exposed Sparkler was the perfect way to end the evening) featuring El Buho Mezcal and Rhum Clément.

The Bluejacket Brewery team. Photo by Jim Darling
The Bluejacket Brewery Team. Photo by Jim Darling

We could not have done this without additional support from D.C. institutions Washington School of Photography, Capital Photography Center, the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and HOIST Studio, each of whom we look forward to working with again in the future.

Photo by Jim Darling
Founding Farmers’ (left) bacon lollies were a huge hit. Dr. Baruch Ben Yehudah and Exposed DC staff member Meg Fogarty dish out delicious soul food from Everlasting Life Cafe. Photo by Jim Darling

For those who are new to Exposed and want to know how to get involved next year, our contest opens each year on the first Wednesday of December. We host monthly happy hours for photographers and photography fans throughout the year, and feature local artists, resource guides, and event information here on our website each week. The best way to keep up with us is to sign up for our monthly newsletter, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.

Announcing the 2014 Exposed DC Contest Winners

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2014_show_graphic10We hoped that the many supporters in the photography community we’ve cultivated over the years would follow us when we decided to launch Exposed DC on its own, as a year-round entity. We’re relieved to say: Boy did you ever! A contest with over 200 contestants and 560 entries can be a tough one to judge, but our team had an amazing time going through all your visions of Washington area life and culture. Our sincere thanks to everyone who participated, and we hope you’ll keep up with us throughout the year.

Before we get too far: Don’t forget to join us tonight for our January meetup, and to celebrate our 2014 winners, at The Hamilton at 6 p.m. We hope to see lots of new faces!

Yes, the winners of our contest, which will be exhibited in the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show, are after the jump. Congratulations to those chosen this year; you’ll be notified by email with more instructions soon. Your photos are now in the hands of our team of special judges: Lucian Perkins, Jacquelyn Martin, Dan Westergren, Nancy Walz, and Jamie Rose. Five of you will win their Best in Show award, which comes with a $100 cash prize sponsored by the Corcoran College of Art + Design. Focused on the idea of direct and intensely creative education, the Corcoran College of Art + Design is the only accredited college of art and design in the museum and college-rich environment of Washington, D.C. We’ll announce these prizes closer to the show.

Exposed DC 2014 Contest Sponsors

The Exposed DC Photography Show will open on March 19, 2014 at the newly renovated Long View Gallery, and we’ll take over all 9,000 square feet with our celebration of Washington, D.C. You’ll enjoy featured beers from the new and already highly praised Bluejacket DC, made onsite at their Navy Yard warehouse. Grab a selection of tasty snacks from local restaurants, including Founding Farmers and Farmers Fishers Bakers, dedicated to eco-friendly and sustainable dining, and mouthwatering flavors from Tel’Veh Wine Bar‘s Executive Chef Dimo Kolouas. Our popular table-turner is back again this year, so you can enjoy all this goodness with mood-setting music from DJ Sequoia and v:shal kanwar.

The fun doesn’t end at the gallery this year. After you’re done gazing at all the art you can handle, walk a couple blocks over to The Passenger, which is hosting our first-ever afterparty in their theater.

Additional and much appreciated support for the Exposed DC Photography Show comes from some D.C. area businesses that have helped build up the photography scene that exists today:

  • The Washington School of Photography in Rockville, Md. offers classes, workshops, professional programs, as well as regular events, and all the facilities a photographer could need.
  • The Capital Photography Center offers classes with tons of individual attention and hands-on experience in the field.
  • HOIST Studio in Fairfax, Va. offers rental space and hosts resident photographers who use the studio as their private workspace.
  • The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. collects, interprets, and shares the history of our nation’s capital, including over 100,000 historic images of Washington. They also photography workshops and neighborhood tours and develop exhibitions on the city’s history.

If you are interested in sponsoring the Exposed DC Photography Show, it’s not too late! Email us at info[at]exposeddc.com for more information.

Tickets to the March 19 opening from 6 to 10 p.m., which includes the exhibit, snacks and open bar, are available for purchase now for $15. Limited tickets may be available for $20 at the door, but we always sell out so don’t be left in the cold!

And now, the envelope please. Your 2014 Exposed DC Photography Show winners are:

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Announcing the 8th Annual Exposed DC Photography Contest

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2014_show_graphic10We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our contest for the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show! Oh sure, it’s actually the first “Exposed DC” show in name, and we couldn’t be happier that so many of you have supported Exposed and local photography so that we could step into our new shoes this year. We also want to thank DCist, along with its many staff volunteers and wonderful readers, for giving us a home for the previous seven years.

Now, to the contest! For the uninitiated, the annual Exposed exhibit is a celebration of Washington, D.C. and the metro area. We want to see your images of the people and places, the art and music and food and sports, and the culture and nostalgia of this incredible town we live in. D.C. is too often reduced to, at best, a tourist destination, or at worst, a political mudpit – but these things are blips on the radar for those who live, work and love in this town. Show our city to us.

Our judges will pick a selection of not only the best images, but also those that, when exhibited together at the beautiful Long View Gallery, will show a diverse cross-section of local culture. Exposed is geared towards photographers who generally don’t exhibit their work, but anyone can enter – send in your excellent iPhone photo or your sharp Leica exposure. If you just love taking pictures, this is your contest. You can submit your work until January 8, 2014, so if you don’t have the perfect shot, you have plenty of time to go out and get it.

UPDATE!  On December 11th, we announced that five very special guest judges will each choose their Best In Show photo, which includes a $100 cash prize! 

BluejacketHiResTonight, December 4, we’ll be at Bluejacket Brewery’s Arsenal, 300 Tingey St SE, to kick off our eighth year. Join us from 6 to 8 p.m. (it’ll be crowded so come early!) and meet the Exposed DC team, previous years’ winners, and all your fellow photography lovers. We’ll have past years’ magazines available for purchase, so you can take a good look at what we love to see at Exposed. Bluejacket has generously agreed to be our 2014 beer sponsor for our March 19 exhibition opening night, so test out their wide variety of unique D.C.-brewed beverages tonight to whet your appetite.

Please read through our rules below, about both entering the contest and participating in our exhibit. Questions, comments? Drop them here and we’ll get to them quickly, or ask us tonight at Bluejacket, and subscribe to our newsletter for all our contest and exhibit updates. If you’re interested in volunteering for our team to any degree, drop us a line.

See you tonight – or in our contest Flickr pool soon!

Exposed DC Photography Show Rules

HOW TO ENTER

  • Fill out our quick application form and follow the prompt to PayPal to submit your $10 application fee. We won’t share your info, but we will send you email if there’s a problem with your application or if your photo wins.
  • Join the Exposed DC 2014 Contest Flickr group. If you don’t have a Flickr account, please create one at least a week before the contest closes, even if you aren’t ready to submit your images, because Flickr will sometimes limit your posting to groups for several days to a week. You only need a free basic account.
  • Enter up to 3 photos. Film is great, but you’ll have to scan your images and upload them to Flickr.
  • We will post links to the winners here and notify the photographers via email on January 15, 2014. Some photographers may have more than one image selected.

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Friday Links

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"the bends" by Bryan Bowman
“the bends” by Bryan Bowman

This batch of Friday Links includes a list for your library run, an “original” street photographer, cats on rice, and, of course, your weekly tiger shot.

  • Photogenic Alchemy is an exercise in controlled chaos and a study in the science of art.
  • Whatcha gonna do when they come for you: Cop Selfies.
  • “The notion of the individual photograph was really a problem because it had been exhausted.” Landscapes in Passing is currently on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Artist Spotlight: Pablo Benavente

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In Artist Spotlight, we occasionally ask photographers to tell us in their own words about their work and how they challenge themselves. Today’s Spotlight is by Pablo Benavente. 

"Saudah - Union Station" by Pablo Benavente
“Saudah – Union Station” by Pablo Benavente

– “These people come here to take our jobs, man.”

That’s what the guy on the street said to my coworker. Perhaps he thought that I was just another Latino that didn’t speak English, or perhaps he didn’t care.

Like many of you, I started in photography by taking photos of monuments, the zoo,  parades, and sometimes friends and family. I shot using different styles, settings, reflections, sunsets, moon rises, filters, etc. As I learned and practiced, I started getting offers to do professional gigs like weddings, events which I still do. But inevitably, when you’ve tried many things, there’s a point at which you ask yourself: “Now what?”

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