Shutter Bugs: Sept. 18 Deadline Looms for Entries in Bellingham Library Photo Show

The Bellingham Public Library will host a 300th Anniversary Photography Show on Saturday, September 21st to celebrate not only the Town’s 300th Anniversary, but the 125th Anniversary of library services in Bellingham and the 30th Anniversary of the Blackstone Street Public Library Building.  The photography show will highlight photographs taken IN Bellingham.
 

Entry Requirements

• Images must be taken IN BELLINGHAM.  The application asks for the location/street address where the photo was taken. Images must be framed or framed and matted.  Frame size must be between 5 x 7 inches and 16 x 20 inches.  (Smaller or larger submissions will not be accepted.)
• Images must be originals executed and altered by the photographer only.
• Images should be non-offensive to a general audience of all ages.
• Images cannot display the artist’s name or any identifying mark on the front of the image or frame.
• If you would like your image to be included in a digital slide show of submissions, please send the photo in a .JPG format to [email protected] with a subject line of:  “Photography Show Submission” and include your name and phone number in the text of the email.
• Entrants are encouraged to donate their submissions to the Friends of the Bellingham Library for sale at the conclusion of the event. Submissions that are not donated must be picked up at the library no later than Monday, September 30, at 8 PM, or their return cannot be guaranteed.
• Winning submissions will be put on display in the library for at least one year and will not be offered for sale.
• Other submissions will be offered for sale to Photography Show attendees at the end of the event. During the event there will be a clipboard where attendees can register their interest in purchasing the submissions.  If more than one person is interested in any particular photograph, the library will have a random drawing to select the purchaser. Entries that are not sold within one month will be offered back to the photographer.  Prices will be set based on frame size.

Categories

• Architecture/Landmarks
• Black & White
• Nature
• People
• Town Events

Judging and Awards

Photographs submitted will be judged by a blind jury review process. The photographs will be judged based on final presentation of artwork including the image quality, content, frame, mat and tile. Photographer identification will be hidden from view of the judges.

Each category will have a first, second, and third place winner.  The first place winner in each category will be eligible for the “Best of Show”.  Show attendees will vote the “People’s Choice.”  Each attendee will be given one vote to choose their favorite photograph.

Entry and Fees

Photos and applications will be accepted at the library between September 3rdand 18thduring normal business hours.  The suggested donation is $10 per entry.

Presentation

All images must be delivered framed and ready to hang. Framing must meet gallery quality standards. Frames must be undamaged and reinforced with hardware and taut picture wire (D-rings and braided picture hanging wire is acceptable; saw tooth hangers are NOT acceptable). If you provide a piece of artwork with no wire, it will be turned away. We ask that the wire be taut, not loose and adequately secured. Framed, finished images must be a minimum of 5 x 7 inches and a maximum of 16 x 20 inches. A label must be attached to the back of the image, identifying artist, title, category, location

JUDGES

Amanda Leeland has a BFA in Photography from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  Her work has been featured in the Standard Times Newspaper, Ground Work Gallery, the Bellingham Bulletin. She is a Bellingham resident and the official photographer of the Bellingham 300th Anniversary Committee. She has won numerous photography awards including the Whaling City Camera Club competition, and the South Coast Standard Times Photojournalist and is a member of the Whaling City Camera Club. 

Kathy Wotton is the owner of Bellingham’s Artworks Studio.  She is a graduate of Rhode Island College with a degree in art education. Kathy is an art teacher who is passionate about the advantages that exist to people involved in the arts and believes that people of all ages can enjoy creating.  Kathy has partnered with the Bellingham Library on numerous paint nights for teens and adults.

Jim Justice has a MS in Computer Science and, in 2016, he received a Certificate in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design. As part of the RISD courses, he participated in two photography exhibits at the Warwick, RI library.  Jim is a Bellingham resident and currently teaches a photography class at the Bellingham Senior Center. His body of photographic work focuses mainly on travel photos, theme photo shoots, flowers, and landscape photography.

Ric Allendorf is not only our acoustic performer for the evening, he will also be judging the “Best of Show” category from the winners of each of the five categories selected by the other judges.  Ric teaches illustration at Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston, and has designed CD packaging for a number of musicians.  He is a native New Englander and has spent nearly half his life as an acoustic musician, visual artist and educator.

Photography Show Program Schedule: Saturday,September 21st, 6-9 PM

6-6:45 PM

• Opening reception with light refreshments
• Enjoy the photo exhibit in the Community Room
• Register to purchase any photograph that interests you
• Vote for People’s Choice Award Winner
• Purchase Tickets for the Friends of the Library Raffle
• Purchase Friends of the Library 300thAnniversary Coasters

6:45 PM

• Recognition of Photography Show Winners
• Short presentation recognizing the library anniversary, including dedication of the library’s new History Room, funded by Middlesex Savings Bank and the Friends of the Bellingham Library

7-9 PM

• Acoustic concert,with singer, songwriter Ric Allendorf
• Photo exhibit and light refreshments

7:45 PM: End of People’s Choice Award Winner Voting