Dear reader,
As a fine art photographer, submitting images to contests, publications, and galleries is part of the job. Thus, receiving rejections and acceptances are part of the job as well. The former is an obvious challenge, the latter a thrill that sometimes passes on too quickly, but nonetheless is something to be thankful for and, of course, needs to be added to your CV right away.
In my workshops, I talk about how to deal with rejections, I talk about how fleeting the joys of acceptances are, and I also talk about how focusing on the creative process can help you deal with both. Plain and simple, rejections are hard to take, and it’s ok to be upset, but you have to move on from them rather quickly. Acceptances are amazing, of course, and you should celebrate and shout them out to the world. The creative process is what is ultimately feeding you, keeping you grounded and reminding you that creating for the sake of creating on a daily basis is all one can and should do, and that that is enough.
It’s all part of the job and it can be a roller coaster.
I sort of hit a low point in 2022. I received rejections - lots of them. And it was difficult to swallow. All the advice I give to my students went straight out the window, and self doubt crept in trying to infest my whole body and mind.
The thing is, as an artist, you pay for submissions, but rarely get any monetary reward back. Sure, the exposure is great, but when you receive rejection after rejection, you not only deal with self doubt, but also think about all the money, time, effort and energy that is now seemingly wasted.
So, I decided to stop. I deleted all the emails that I received from galleries, magazines, and other publications announcing the newest call for entry and inviting me to submit my work for an amazing opportunity to be seen by an international audience - something like that. I quickly deleted them all. And I did so for more than a year.
After what felt good for a while - maybe what was needed at the time - I realized that I needed to change my mindset, be brave, be bold and simply suck it up (the rejections, I mean).
‘Just do it.’
‘Take a risk.’
‘Maybe it will be different this time.’
Unexpected Inspiration
My husband called me from his downstairs office to tell me that one of our cats, who loves to be outside and hunt, mostly for mice, brought in a dead but complete and beautiful dragonfly. While I usually get upset about any dead animal that my cat offers me as a “gift,” I was ecstatic about this one. I honestly love dragonflies - preferably live ones - but this…this was an incredible find. It was probably the only time in our cat’s life that the gift he offered was received as a true gift.
How did the wings not break off? I do not know, but I looked at them in awe and cautiously picked up the whole thing.
‘I need this for a photograph’, I immediately told my husband after thanking my cat.
I knew exactly how I wanted to use it, how I wanted to photograph it, and how it was all going to come together.
I had been working on a new series of photographs that I titled “Anonymous Women”, and while I had already ten photographs that I was quite pleased with, I knew that it wasn’t finished. I needed a dragonfly for the next image.
The above image is the result and it fits perfectly with the rest of the series.
Unexpected Emails
After a year of not submitting any images to anything, I decided to be brave, and read some of the emails again instead of immediately deleting them. There was one magazine I loved and had dreamt of getting accepted at for one of their print publications - a dream, a goal.
A couple of weeks ago, one of their emails caught my eye: “Portraits contest for AAP Magazine.”
I had some portraits, eleven of them that I liked. Why not give it a try? I felt emotionally stable enough to receive the dreaded rejection email. So, I submitted. I wasn’t particularly hopeful, but felt it was worth it.
On a recent Saturday morning, a time when I usually don’t read my email or at least try to check them later, I glanced at my inbox and briefly noticed an email from AAP magazine, but didn’t give it any more attention at that time. When I checked my email later that day, as one does, I noticed the word “Congratulations”.
I immediately clicked on it and couldn’t believe my eyes. My series “Anonymous Women” had gotten accepted for the upcoming print edition of AAP Magazine. Maybe this sounds cliché, but I truly could not believe it - 25 photographers were selected out of hundreds of submissions, out of thousands of images from all over the world. And there it was, my name with one of my images saying that my images would be printed in the upcoming edition.
So, after countless rejections, I am celebrating! I am thrilled and I am not shy to tell the world. The thing is, in a month or so, maybe in a few months, I will have moved on from it, but right now, I am happy, and I am so grateful and still surprised. I mean, go ahead and check out all the winners. How does my work fit in there?
I greatly appreciate the curator Sandrine Hermand-Grisel, who is a beautiful artist herself. She is kind, and she looks at and values a variety of styles and backgrounds. Here are some of my personal favorite images of the selections:
Aline Smithson is a hotshot in the fine art world. No surprise she won first place. Her use of color is striking. Her connection with the subject is strong.
This image by second place winner Manuela Besse from France is my personal top favorite. This image to me encompasses everything that portraiture should be -expression, truthfulness, depth, beautiful use of light, vulnerability, and exceptional details.
I love this photograph!
And here are a few of my favorite Merit Award Winners:
And then there is me:
The results are posted only online so far. It is not yet determined when the magazine will come out, but believe me, I will share it with you when it does.
The best way to support me and my work right now is to become a subscriber and share this or other posts with people who might enjoy it.
Thank you so much!
Amazing!! This absolutely resonates with where I am with my own work and I've been actively trying to share more of what I do and any successes that I have as well. Congratulations! I love your portrait!
The photos are all phenomenal - including yours!! I'm partial to double exposures so its tenderness speaks to me. Knowing the backstory is also even more lovely... You do realize that your kitty is an angel, right??? CONGRATULATIONS!