Womens’s Committee Announces 2012 Photography Portfolio Competition

The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is pleased to announce its second Photography Portfolio Competition. The competition is open to all photographers age 18 or older. A jury of nationally recognized experts will select one photograph by each of six artists for inclusion in a 16” x 20” portfolio to be published in an edition of 25 in fall 2012. Peter Barberie, The Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, will select one additional curator’s choice entry to be sold as an individual print in a limited edition. Jurors will include photographer Andrea Modica, photography critic Vince Aletti, and Peter Barberie.

“We are committed to collecting contemporary photography very ambitiously and internationally,” says Barberie. “We look broadly for new work, and this competition will bring many talented photographers to our attention. The success of the 2010 competition was a strong foundation and lodestar for our future, and we are truly excited to embark on the 2012 competition.”

Each winning photographer will receive $1,000, a 2012 Photography Portfolio, and 5 percent from the sale of the portfolios. The curator’s choice photographer will receive $500, an individual print, and 5 percent from the sale of the individual print. The portfolio and curator’s choice photographs will become part of the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Museum will exhibit the portfolio and the individual print in fall 2012 and a First Look event will be held on October 11, 2012, to celebrate the production of the portfolio.

The portfolio will be sold through the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a limited edition of twenty-five boxed sets to be produced by Silicon Gallery. Two additional editions will be printed for the Museum and the Women’s Committee. The portfolio will include six photographs and information about each artist. The curator’s choice photograph will be sold as an individual print in a limited edition.

All applications must be submitted by May 4, 2012. 

Founded in 1883, the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the oldest organizations of women in support of a cultural institution in the United States. The Committee has raised millions of dollars in support of the Museum, and its efforts have benefited a vast array of exhibitions and programs.