Jamie Rose Archives - Exposed DC

2014 Best In Show: Aziz Yazdani

March 10, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

As we were excited to announce earlier this year, we’re introducing Best In Show prizes for the 8th annual Exposed DC Photography Show. We invited a panel of distinguished Washington-area photojournalists to, in their esteemed opinion, pick their favorite photograph from our group of 49 images. Each Best In Show winner receives a $100 prize sponsored by the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

We’ll be announcing the winners each day through next Monday.

Today’s Best in Show image is the fantastic “Orange Line” by Aziz Yazdani. Congrats Aziz! His photo was chosen by judge Jamie Rose, an international photojournalist and senior partner at the Momenta Group, LLC. (We interviewed Jamie about Momenta last month.)

Exposed: The contrast between the people in the photo is so striking, and a perfect slice of life on the Metro where everyone is in their own world. I know everyone is wondering what caused the girls in the background to have the reaction they did. Do you remember what it was?

Yazdani: This photo was taken on Halloween night and this group of adolescent girls definitely wanted the entire train to know they were ready to make some noise. They wanted attention, so I gave it to them.

Exposed: What were you thinking when you took the photo?

Yazdani: As soon as I saw the man with the headphones blocking out the ruckus from behind him, I knew that I had to frame him in the photo. The juxtaposition was immediately obvious so I framed, focused, and hit the shutter.

Exposed: Did taking the photo cause any reaction from any of the subjects? Did they even notice that you took it?

Yazdani: They definitely noticed me. Although I had my small unassuming Leica M7 with me, I had my big old Vivitar 283 flash firing while photographing them. I took about four or five photos of them (see strip from Contact Sheet). I generally try to engage people in situations like this. I may have complemented them on they’re hair accessories or something, who knows? Long story short, they didn’t mind at all.

Exposed: Jaime Rose from Momenta awarded this prize to you, are you familiar with her work?

Yazdani: I am familiar with her work. She may have come through the Leica Store DC, where I work, for a Momenta Workshop that was hosted here. I really respect and enjoy her photographs. I see too many mundane political grip and grin shots from photographers in this city and she is able to break away from that boring type of photograph and make interesting, well-thought images. I am flattered and appreciate that she chose my photograph.

You can see more of his work at STRATA Collective and his website.

Exposed Interview: Jamie Rose, Momenta Group

January 22, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

Uganda's Kids of Africa have been helping orphans find a home in a safe, loving community. (Photo by Jamie Jackson/Momenta Workshops) — Uganda’s Kids of Africa have been helping orphans find a home in a safe, loving community.
(Photo by Jamie Jackson/Momenta Workshops)

Jamie Rose is an international photojournalist. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree from American University, and a Master’s Degree in Visual Communications from Syracuse University. She has won awards and grants from the United Nations, the Alexia Foundation and the White House News Photographers’ Association. Her work has been published in leading newspapers and magazines around the country.

In 2008 Rose helped found the Momenta Group, LLC, a communications company based in D.C. that runs Momenta Workshops and Momenta Creative. The Momenta Workshops are photography and multimedia workshops held around the world, with a focus on using photography for social change. This year alone, Momenta is hosting workshops in New Orleans, Bali, and Sierra Leone. All photographs accompanying this interview were shot by Momenta students.

Rose is also a special guest judge for the 2014 Exposed DC show. We spoke with her about Momenta, working with non-profits, and the D.C. photo community.

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Managing Digital Files

January 7, 2014 By Meaghan Gay

We were asked a question by reader @franckhertz via twitter, wondering how others manage their digital files. He said, “I’m producing ~40GB a year of photos… I’d love a post on how people manage their (ever-growing) photo libraries.” The new year is always a great time to start better habits, so we thought it was a great idea to tackle this often confusing subject. We reached out to several professional photographers to see how they manage their large catalogs.

Their answers are as varied as their work, and as with most things in photography there is no one size fits all answer. While they may use different techniques and software, the common theme is a thorough system of file naming and backing up files on more than one hard drive. We hope that learning from them can help you organize your own system. We also encourage you to spend some time on their portfolios, because there is a lot of inspiration on their websites.

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New! Guest Judges Awarding Best in Show Prizes for 8th Annual Exposed DC

December 11, 2013 By Heather Goss

Update: We’ve added a 6th judge! The post below reflects the addition.

In our efforts to make the Exposed DC Photography Show bigger and better for its 8th year and our first year flying solo, we have an exciting announcement for you: We’re awarding cash prizes!

The contest will be judged as usual by our team, choosing about 45 winning images to appear in our exhibit at Long View Gallery and our exhibition program. But this year, we’ve asked six prominent D.C. photographers to serve as Special Judges: Lucian Perkins, Jacquelyn Martin, Nancy Walz, Dan Westergren, Jamie Rose, and Susan Sterner. They will study the pool of winners, and each judge will each choose a personal best in show. Those six photographers will receive our special judge’s award and a $100 cash prize.

This award is made possible through the generous contributions of the Corcoran College of Art and Design.

Meet our Exposed DC Special Judges, who may be putting their discerning eyes on your photograph. Get those potential winners entered into our contest by January 8!

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