The deadline for Homecoming was just extended to June 30th, 2021! Get on it, folks!
Members of the nationwide photo community come together to honor student accomplishments delayed by Covid-19 and quarantine.
In 2020, Covid-19 forced us to put public life on hold. Milestone events including weddings and commencement ceremonies were scuttled. We felt it in the art community, too. Undergraduate and graduate art students were denied the satisfaction and creative rite of passage of exhibiting their final projects with peers. As we round the corner toward post-quarantine life, plans are afoot to retroactively celebrate what was accomplished despite the hurdles.
Homecoming 2021, a FUJIFILM-sponsored collaboration between Booksmart Studio (Eric Kunsman), JKC Gallery (Michael Chovan-Dalton), and Float Magazine (Yoav Friedlander and Dana Stirling), celebrates those hard-fought creative triumphs. The free open call invites 2020-2021 photo grads worldwide to submit their work. All work will be published, select images will be exhibited at Mercer County Community College’s JKC Gallery, and one lucky student will be awarded a camera and lens donated by FujiFilm North America.
I spoke to the MFA Photography Review team via email to learn more about the project.
Roula Seikaly in conversation with MFA Photography Review
Roula Seikaly: What is Homecoming 2021? Who is involved, and in what capacity?
MFA Photography Review Team: Homecoming 2021 is a free opportunity for all photo-based graduates of the class of 2021 and 2020. Homecoming is open to graduates students that are fresh out of school in the hopes to give them a positive start in the photo community. This call for entry is based around the ideology of giving back to our community and supporting artists in their journeys to find their place within the photo world. In the hopes to keep it as open and inclusive as possible, there are no fees along the way, all you need is your talent and your motivation.
Homecoming 2021 will be a collection of a minimum of 100 artists working with photography or lens-based media, forming a collection of emerging talent that is this year's pool of creative minds that are on their first steps out of school in the U.S and internationally. This photo publication will then be distributed to curators, editors, and other such established members of the photo community, as a book of discovery, putting a spotlight on fresh talent that they might have yet to cross paths with, bridging the gap and exposing new artists to a vast potential of opportunities.
Selected students will have their work exhibited at JKC Gallery at Mercer County Community College, Trenton New Jersey, in a large group exhibition, having their work printed and mounted by FujiFilm at no cost to the selected students.
FujiFilm North America, has donated GFX 100S Large Format Mirrorless Camera and a FUJINON GF32-64mmF4 R WR Lens (approx. $8,300 value) for one lucky student. The camera will be given to a student who was chosen for the publication in a random lottery name draw.
Everyone who submits, regardless of if they are chosen to the publication and show, will be included in a large, free and downloadable PDF that will be hosted on our website and available for all to see and explore.
Seikaly: Why offer this opportunity to students?
Michael Chovan-Dalton: The pandemic disrupted what should have been a year of celebration for senior undergraduate and graduate students. Typically, the final year of an art program is filled with hope and possibilities, and while we know that most institutions did a good job of providing students with alternative modes of learning and interacting, the past two graduating classes have had to settle for limited access to artist visits and delayed or remote thesis exhibitions and graduation ceremonies. Homecoming 2021 is our way of helping students to continue their momentum forward to a fulfilling life in the arts.
Seikaly: What distinguishes this open call/prize from those offered by peer photo organizations and platforms?
Dana Stirling: I think one of the biggest struggles we sometimes face as artists is opportunity, having someone crack a small opening for us to walk through. With different gatekeepers, it can be hard to find these opportunities without the need to “pay to play”. We are trying to create not only an opportunity for these students to showcase their work freely and with no burden of economic stress, but also bridge a gap between the artist and the organization/curator/reviewers and allow for a dialog, discovery and true appreciation for photography.
Dalton: Outside of selecting 100 artists, we are not looking for a “Best in Show.” There will be no ranking of the top three artists or so-called winners. Even the camera will be given away by a random drawing. We want this show to be a celebration of community and a recognition that these students overcame obstacles together and succeeded together.
Eric Kunsman: We truly are trying to create a cohort for the graduating classes while providing an opportunity without barriers. We are not gatekeepers but rather opportunity makers as we are not creating any sort of ranking system. To take this concept one step further we will be creating a searchable PDF of all applicants to make sure that anyone who spends the time to prepare an application has the opportunity to be discovered. This will allow anyone to review the work submitted and not just the individuals receiving the catalog or providing free portfolio reviews in the future.
Yoav Friedlander: I will start by simply stating that there aren't nearly enough opportunities like this available. In addition, I’m very excited with the idea of offering portfolio reviews which are extremely helpful in learning to present your work, creating meaningful relationships with people of influence, and often a side platform for networking with peers! Reviews are expensive and out of reach for many fresh graduates but not with us.
Lastly is the publication and its audience - the idea of making an index of a graduating class and distributing them meaningfully to curators, editors, and other members of the community who are expecting the publication is a combination that sets an opportunity for the right kind of exposure. Given there is no ranking there is also no proposed bias and there is an opportunity for the recipient of the publication to identify work to share with their audience over their platforms (blogs, gallery shows, magazines etc.)
Seikaly: Why did you approach FujiFilm as a potential sponsor?
Friedlander: We approached FujiFilm as we were aware of their connection and commitment to education specifically when it comes down to supporting programs that support all individuals in the photo community.
They make digital cameras, they still manufacture analog film and fine art paper - and use all of the above to support the photo education community. Among us four we have great appreciation for FujiFilm for keeping analog photography alive while designing digital cameras that are designed and built with the legacy of film photography in mind. Their medium format digital camera is really good.
When we approached FujiFilm we knew they would be all-in for an initiative like a homecoming, so it made complete sense to get them involved. It is important for us to have a camera donation to broaden access to high-quality equipment and I am definitely already jealous of the future owners. And to top it all off FujiFilm has committed to print and mount the works for the gallery show at JKC gallery, helping us maximize the opportunity at hand.
Seikaly: Will this project continue in the post-COVID-19 era?
Kunsman: Yes, this project was originally a brainchild of mine from a few years ago, and COVID only helped me realize that the tools are available. Adding Dana, Yoav, & Michael to this project has only grown more robust, with a bit of a piece of everyone's ideas being added to make it what you see today, much stronger than I could have conceived.
The goal is to have two facets to the MFA Photography Reviews. The first being the annual publication, which will include graduating Bachelors and Masters students. The second is to provide free Zoom reviews for graduating MFA students, therefore the name MFA Photography Reviews. Why? We want to allow the next generation of image-makers of all ages, genders, backgrounds, and diversity the opportunity to have meaningful reviews with professionals. COVID may have made this possible, but the necessity to expose graduating students and curators to each other's work is the core reason we have started this project as a small team.
We intend to add additional members to our core group to represent the diversity we are looking for in our candidates. If you are interested in volunteering your time to help make this program a success, or if you know of space to exhibit the final exhibition, please contact us. If you are willing to review MFA students' work in the future or offer real opportunities, please inquire with us to add you to the list of catalog recipients and potential reviewers for next year.
Everything about the project will remain free to the students to make sure we do not create any roadblocks, excluding individuals. If you are a photo educator looking to make sure your students are included or aware of this opportunity, please sign up for our mailing list.
Seikaly: What can people in the photo community do to help spread the word about Homecoming 2021?
Stirling: We all know someone who might fit the description of this call for entry – just pass the link along, tell them about it, share it with your friends and fellow artists they might know some that could benefit from this opportunity. Reach out to your school so they can share with their graduates. Share it with your peers that might be interested in getting a free copy of the publication and becoming a part of the community we are building that could potentially offer these students opportunities in the future.