Archive for February, 2012

As Emphas.is opens up its admissions process, we will be relying on our talented, passionate board of reviewers to help us maintain a high level of quality photographic projects on the site. To help you get to know the people looking at project proposals (and what they’re looking for), we are posting interviews will several reviewers. This week, meet photo editor and instructor extraordinaire, Nadja Masri.

Please tell us a bit about what your history with photography and what you do now.

I’m a photo editor mostly recently working for Das Magazin in Zurich, the Saturday weekend magazine of four Swiss newspapers. I’m also the head of the photo editors program at the Ostkreuz school for photography in Berlin. I’m producing a beautiful photo book with my photo editor students right now, an incredibly talented group of people. The theme: 12 selected New York stories photographed by ICP alumni from the photojournalism and documentary program. The book is scheduled to be published in December 2011.

From 2001 to 2009 I was the bureau chief and photo editor of German GEO magazine in its New York City office and from 2005 until 2011 a faculty member of the International Center of Photography in New York. Previously I worked for Bizz, a business monthly in Cologne, Stern magazine in Hamburg, and the photo agency Ostkreuz in Berlin. I have been a guest photo book editor, panelist, juror, and portfolio reviewer on numerous international photography events and I have written articles for Photonews and Photo District News (PDN).

How did you get involved with Emphas.is and why did you decided to join the Emphas.is board of reviewers?

Emphas.is founder Tina Ahrens and I are friends and former colleagues. We go a long way back. I feel honored to be part of the board and to be able to review photography projects that require in-depth storytelling and long-term commitment.

What qualities and elements are you looking for when you review a potential project for Emphas.is?

Is the photography strong, is the photographer talented, can you see his or her signature on the work? Is the project interesting, compelling, relevant, doable?

Do you have any advice for photographers who want to crowdfund a project, or are simply working on a long-term project and looking for alternative funding?

I think what is of the utmost importance to being able to fund a project successfully on this platform is to get proactive. It’s definitely not enough to only put the project on the Emphas.is website. You need to get people’s attention. You need to be a good networker and promote your project through all possible outlets. You need to be smart and resourceful about which group of people, which institutions etc. might be interested in funding the project and get in touch with them.

As Emphas.is opens up its admissions process, we will be relying on our talented, passionate board of reviewers to help us maintain a high level of quality photographic projects on the site. To help you get to know the people looking at project proposals (and what they’re looking for), we are posting interviews will several reviewers. This week, meet photographer, Knight Fellow, and TEDGlobal fellow Teru Kuwayama.

Please tell us a bit about what your history with photography and what you do now day-today.

I started off photographing punk rock bands and Tibetan monks. I lived as a traveler in South Asia, and then crossed into Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kashmir about a decade ago. Since then, my attention has been focused on this region and on the spectrum of intertwined military operations and humanitarian crises sometimes referred to as “complex emergency.” In the process I’ve become increasingly interested in communities, systems, and networks.

How did you get involved with Emphas.is and why did you decided to join the Emphas.is board of reviewers?

Karim asked me to participate. He’s a difficult person to say no to, and I do what I can do to help other people do what they can do.

What qualities and elements are you looking for when you review a potential project for Emphas.is?

I have no preconceptions, but a general suggestion that extends beyond Emphas.is proposals is to articulate your interests, intentions, and goals as clearly, simply, and specifically as possible – skip the poetry. Even ambitious projects are best served by concise, detailed, down-to-earth proposals. Explain the value of the project, not just the subject. There’s no shortage of photographs in the world, so what’s different about yours, or your use of them? What happens to the photographs? What’s the plan to make an impact?

Do you have any advice for photographers who want to crowdfund a project, or are simply working on a long-term and looking for alternative funding?

To quote Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Reach beyond photojournalism, or whatever species you belong to.

That doesn’t mean you should just add audio and video and wait for the old world to come back. It isn’t coming back, nor should it.

This generation of photographers operates in a much more complex ecosystem than its predecessors. Making photographs is now a part of what we do — the workspace has expanded to encompass financing, publishing, distribution, branding, marketing, strategic and tactical communications, and ever more. It’s a pain in the ass, but like it or not, here we are – and in crisis, there is opportunity.

Where it was once your assignment to make images for an organization – it is now your mission to imagine and organize. Go for it.