A Celebration of Single Images
Announcing the 2021 LensWork Community Book Project
For 28 years now, LensWork has been an advocate of project-oriented work — Seeing in SIXES being a notable subset of that idea. We’ve always championed groups of images because we wanted to be the counterbalance to the almost universal stand-alone, single-image that so dominates photography published in the other magazines.
In truth, we love single images, too! One of the great things about photography as a creative medium is that it is so malleable — and allows us so much flexibility in our creative output. I have no doubt that every photographer we’ve published in LensWork and Seeing in SIXES also has a collection of singular images of which they are quite proud. Just as we did last year, that will be the focus for the 2021 LensWork community book project — the best singular images possible, regardless of when or how they were photographed. We don’t normally do this in LensWork, but we know this will be an inspiring project — and book!
So in 2021, we are concentrating on outstanding single images. Our 2021 book project is for those of you who prefer to create a stand-alone, outstanding image.
More Photographers
If we have one component of Seeing in SIXES that we would have liked to change, it would be to include more photographers. In the four years of Seeing in SIXES, we reviewed just shy of 5,000 six-image projects. You simply cannot imagine how difficult it was to select only 200 projects for publication.
Said another way, the LensWork community is overflowing with talented and productive photographic artists. We want to publish more of them.
For us, most importantly this means the 2021 book project will include 300 photographers and their best image!
The Theme
The 2021 book will revolve around a theme, and will be titled Our Magnificent Planet. Obviously, the emphasis will be on landscape images, but there will be a number of “categories” represented:
- The grand landscape
- Our flowering world (plants, blossoms)
- Trees
- Water (ponds, creeks, rivers, oceans)
- Humans in the environment
- Mountains and snow
- Dunes
- Intimate landscape
- Boats and the water’s edge
Imagine a book of 300 outstanding examples of the most successful landscape images made by LensWork readers. I’m excited about this book just thinking about it!
Deadlines
The entry process will open April 15, 2021 and the deadline for entries will be Sunday, Sep 12, 2021 at midnight.
As we’ve done for the last four years, everyone who enters will receive the finished book. Entry fee will be $45 for three images — which covers the entry, the book, and the shipping. You may enter additional images for $10 each, but each entrant will receive just one book. Additional books will be available for purchase at a discount price. Because we want to give 300 photographers a chance for their work to be published, each selected photographer will have only one image in the book.
The 2021 book, Our Magnificent Planet, will be the same size and page count as the Seeing in SIXES books have been, that is, 8x9” with 312 pages, including both color and duotone work.
What We Will Look For
As is always the case for these kinds of projects, those who make the selections have a set of qualities they prefer and are looking for. We are no different than others in this regard. Here are some things that might help you think about your entries.
We are hoping to include:
- Outstanding examples of glorious light in inspiring locations.
- Things seen and photographed in extraordinary and novels ways. We won’t exclude an image because it has “been done before,” but we might lean more favorably if you’ve made an image with your own unique vision.
- Especially with single images, composition is a key to success. This is not just item placement in the geometry of the frame, but includes other intangibles. See my Editor’s Comments in LensWork #144 titled “Beyond Geometry.”
- Craft is important, too. When an image has the perfect tones, with a convincing depth of field, using the right lens, and the appropriate attention to details, it will be more persuasive than an image that appears sloppily crafted. Pay attention to edges and corners, distracting elements, and overly-processed images. It’s easy to overdo HDR, or color saturation and vibrance. Remember, techniques that are visible as techniques are probably too heavily applied.
- Titles are not necessary, but if your image is improved by a title or caption, we are happy to include it.
This project is going to be extraordinary! I can hardly wait to see your best images and share them with the world in this LensWork 2020 community book project.
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