[Reader-list] Theme Photofestival 2011 :METROPOLIS - City Life in the Urban Age / Persephone Miel Fellowship :Fellowship for Crisis Reporting

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

Theme Photofestival 2011 :METROPOLIS - City Life in the Urban Age

"On May 23, 2007 the world celebrated the beginning of the urban 
millennium. It was on this date that, worldwide, for the first time in 
history more people lived in cities than in the countryside: 3.3 
billion people, on 3 percent of the earth's surface. This development 
has far-reaching implications. Is a decent, humane life possible in a 
modern megalopolis that is bursting at its seams? And how can the 
countryside survive the economic, demographic, cultural and ecological 
clear-fell that urbanisation brings with it?"

The main exhibition at Noorderlicht 2011, METROPOLIS, City Life in the 
Urban Age, deals with the role of the city as the nerve centre of 
modern global society.

It is the second part of a diptych, a follow-up to the 2010 theme LAND, 
Country Life in the Urban Age, which looked at the shrinking role of 
the countryside worldwide.

The city, as a phenomenon, has an almost schizophrenic character; its 
many  personalities are constantly encountering one another. It is our 
intention that these multiple personalities will emerge in the 
structure of the exhibition, running the gamut from utopia to dystopia.

Call for submissions

Noorderlicht calls on photographers, curators and photo agencies to 
submit work for METROPOLIS, City Life in the Urban Age.

We are looking for photo series that present a distinctive, even 
idiosyncratic vision on the character of the modern city. Economic, 
social or urban planning aspects can each play a role; the series may 
be literal or metaphorical. We are striving for a global picture; the 
group exhibition  as a whole will be a journey through cities in all 
parts of the world.

The precise sub-themes will be set out in a following stage of the 
project. We would list several possibilities as examples:

Symphony: The city as the effervescent economic and social nerve centre 
of modern society, a place for progress, interaction and infinite  
possibilities;
Mutability: Space that is the product of urban planning, with 
architectonic dreams of the good life for all the city's inhabitants; 
from old ideals of equality to modern technology and sustainability;
Expansion: The urge for unbridled expansion in the name of progress, 
creating new chances but also pushing the old into oblivion; a place of 
migration, on the way to a better future, even if that means a life in 
the chaos of the slums;
Seduction: Where massive economic differences exist and everyone is 
seduced by a mass media landscape to seek greater wealth, where 
millionaires live next to the homeless;
Fear: Places where the individual can be swamped in a mass of 
strangers; where the demands of the rat race for success stand in the 
way of authentic living; where criminality lurks, security demands 
control and Big Brother is always watching;
Home: Small societies, seeking a place of one’s own in the large, 
anonymous world around one, or the excessive separation from that wider 
world; the creation of suburbs where affluent urban life can again 
appear rural; the shift of the social environment from the real to the 
virtual world.
Submissions can be sent to Noorderlicht between now and 31 March, 2011. 
Tips from colleagues are also very welcome. Do not however wait too 
long; the curatorial process begins as soon as work comes in.

We are using a special email address for submissions: 
pandora at noorderlicht.com. Our ftp server is also open at all times. For 
further (technical) details on submitting your material please read 
these instructions carefully.

Correspondence regarding the theme can be sent directly to the curator 
Wim Melis, at his email address: wim at noorderlicht.com.

Contact

Address
Noorderlicht Photography
Akerkhof 12
9711 JB Groningen
The Netherlands

Telephone
+31 (0) 50 3182227
Email
info at noorderlicht.com
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Persephone Miel Fellowship :Fellowship for Crisis Reporting

The Persephone Miel Fellowship for Crisis Reporting is intended to give 
non-native English speaking media professionals the opportunity to 
reach audiences beyond their home countries on critical under-reported 
issues.  The fellowship, overseen by the Pulitzer Center in 
collaboration with Internews, is designed to help media professionals 
outside of the United States do the kind of reporting they've always 
wanted to do, and enable them to bring their work to a broader 
international audience. The fellowship will benefit those with limited 
access to other fellowships or international distribution of their work.

See the announcement of the fellowship at the Internews ceremony in 
honor Persephone. 
http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/news/honoring-persephone-miel-launch-memorial-fellowship

Terms of travel grant:The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting will 
provide a travel grant of $7500 for a reporting project on topics and 
regions of global importance, with an emphasis on issues that have gone 
unreported or under-reported in the mainstream American media. Specific 
grant terms are negotiated during the application process based on the 
scope of proposed work and intended outcomes. Payment of first half of 
the grant is disbursed prior to travel, upon receipt of required 
materials, and the second half on submission of principal work for 
publication/broadcast.

The Center will also work with the fellowship recipients to distribute 
the work across multiple platforms in the US to reach the widest 
possible audience. Projects with multi-media components that combine 
print/photography and video are strongly encouraged.

Eligibility:The Persephone Miel fellowships are open to all 
journalists, writers, photographers, radio producers or filmmakers; 
staff journalists as well as free-lancers who are non-native English 
speaking media professionals seeking to report from their home country.

Selection:The fellowship recipient will be selected by the Pulitzer 
Center in consultation with Internews. Selection will be based on the 
strength of the proposed topic and the strength of the applicant's work 
as demonstrated in their work samples. We are looking for projects that 
explore systemic issues in the applicants' native countries and that 
provide an overarching thesis, rather than individual spot-reports from 
the field.

Deadline: February 1, 2011

How to apply:

Applications should be sent to: mielfellowship at pulitzercenter.org

Applications must be received in English.

Applications should include the following in the body of the e-mail:

A description of the proposed project in 250 words or less
A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs. 
Travel grants cover hard costs associated with the reporting, please do 
not include stipends for the applicants. Fixer/translator/driver fees 
are acceptable
Three links to samples of work in English if available online (if not 
available, please attach to the e-mail; video samples can be sent by 
mail to below address in DVD format)
Three professional references. These can be either contact information, 
or letters of recommendation (can be attached or sent separately).
As attachment: Curriculum vitae

Applications may also include a more detailed description of project 
but this will be considered as optional supplement only. The most 
important part of the submission is the 250-word summary.