Last week, I mentioned that I entered another contest. I don't think I mentioned which one it was. On a whim, I entered the following picture in the DC Fotoweek Cherry Blossom Contest (I'm paraphrasing the name, forgive me):
And, I submitted the following pictures to the NCCF contest:
I didn't receive official word about the first contest, but I'm 90% sure I wasn't selected. The winners were selected last week, and the work was displayed on Friday.
What about the NCCF contest? Well, no go either, but I'll get into that shortly.
So, why aren't I not upset? Two reasons:
1) Art is subjective, not objective. It's hard to take things personally when this is the case.
2) The chances were not high to begin with - thousands entered the DC Fotoweek contest, and the NCCF contest accepted entries for all art forms - not just photography. So, for the NCCF contest, I was competing with other types of art as well.
Back to NCCF - I assumed that since the notification deadline (on Friday) passed, then that would be it. I wasn't expecting to hear from them.
But, I did! The coordinator emailed me personally to tell me that she loved my work, but that she wasn't a member of the jury, so, unfortunately, I was not selected. She referred to me as AN ARTIST!
I thought I would be upset - but really, the NCCF email was encouraging. I felt that someone noticed my work. That's a huge step. Photography is my hobby and not my career, so it isn't as though I failed at anything - I didn't. I felt that I came close, and that there are things I can do to help influence my outcomes the next time.
Plus, she referred to me as AN ARTIST! :)
I also drew some parallels between all of this and my job - which is sales in the technology world. For some reason, I feel encouraged to keep pushing at my job, too. My customers and prospects will notice. Maybe not all of them, but enough of them for me to do well. All of this puts a lot in perspective!
Tomorrow - contest resolutions.
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