Hometown

Project Description

“Hometown” refers to the location where you grew up, the place to which you feel the most connected, or that becomes your principal residence over time.

Ideas around what a hometown can be are complex and layered.  Bruce Springsteen’s song “My Hometown” – relates the story of the speaker’s memories of his father instilling pride in the family’s hometown. The song sounds like it will be a typically nostalgic look at the speaker’s childhood, but then goes on to describe the racial violence and economic depression that he witnessed living there. The song concludes with the speaker’s reluctant proclamation that he plans to move his own family out of the town.

Artist Norman Rockwell exemplifies the stereotypical ideal of the hometown. His paintings of local residents in Stockbridge, Massachusetts have become American icons. On the flip side, the photographer Diane Arbus documented the deviant and marginal people she met in New York. More recently the work of Vivian Maier – a street photographer working from the 1950s through the 1990s – was discovered at an auction in Chicago, where she resided much of her life. In her off hours from being a nanny, Meier would comb the streets of the city taking photographs. Her work includes over 100,000 negatives, prints, and countless undeveloped rolls of film that brilliantly document her adopted “hometown” of Chicago.

The Young Photographers Alliance 2012 mentoring theme will explore what “hometown” means to emerging photographers. Home is where the heart is and it’s a place that often fills us with pride. For others, it is the opposite, a place from which to escape. How we feel about our hometown, or how we define our hometown, can change as we evolve and gain experience.

For this project we encourage the participants to explore their roots and show us what hometown evokes through their eyes and in their personal vision. Is it the daily life of a local family or an extraordinary individual helping someone in need?  Is it the smell of the ocean at dawn, or the silence of a starry night?  Maybe it’s a local sports team that’s beaten the odds or a neighborhood restaurant where people gather to exchange gossip and build a sense of community.

In Addition, we’d like the photographers to share their photos with the community they are documenting. What are some of ways in which the work can be marketed; a photo-essay in the local paper, an exhibition at a local gallery, or raise money for a local nonprofit? The goal of this mentoring initiative is not only about creating great images – but also about learning the value of marketing the work to the general public.

Hometown

Project Description for Students

Young Photographers Alliance Mentoring Program

Application Deadline May 14^th, 2012

May 14, 2011

Who’s this for?

• College students studying photography as major and recent graduates of photo programs.

What’s involved?

• You will meet with your mentor for 6-8 two-hour sessions over the course of ten weeks. The sessions may start as early as June 1, 2012.

• You will set the meeting times based on both your schedules. You must complete the project by August 15, 2012.

• Outside of meeting with your mentor you will be required to identify and photograph a subject based on the theme outlined above and deliver three images and a short essay of no more than 300 words and together with your team, complete a localized marketing campaign.

• You will also be responsible to work with your team to document the process that you and your team go through to create your work.

Locations

• New Orleans, LA
• Portland, Me
• San Francisco, Ca
• Miami, Fl
• Chicago, Il
• New York, NY
• Seattle, WA
• Toronto, Canada
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Beijing, China

Why should I do this?

• The project and your work will be promoted to the press.

• Work will be featured in a gallery exhibition and on the YPA website.

• You will learn from an established photographer.

• You will have some great work for your portfolio.

What do I need to do if I am interested?

Fill out the online application at: http://www.youngphotographersalliance.org/2012-mentoring.php to apply you need to submit one letter of recommendation and 5-10 images.

• Submitting an application is no guarantee of acceptance. Student selections will be based on quality of work as well as your location.
• YPA has programs in the areas listed on the left.

• Membership is required to apply to program.“YPA 21” membership gives you access to our programs, our members’ multi-media site and benefits and much more. Cost is $21.

• You will be notified about your acceptance no later than May 23, 2012.