https://chennaiphotobiennale.com/event-detail.php?event_id=134

 

Events

Events > Reimagining the family portrait – A residency program: Open Call

Reimagining the family portrait – A residency program: Open Call

Date: Aug 01-31, 2019
Venue: Chennai

REGISTER HERE

Important Dates for Application

 

  • Call for proposals open Aug 1, 2019
  • Application Deadline Aug 31, 2019 by 11:59 PM IST

 

  • Announcement of selected participants Sep 15, 2019

Overview

The making of a family photo until the mid-20th century was an extraordinary once in a lifetime event. It was often created in a studio, subjects were lent clothes and accessories and the photograph was sometimes hand-painted to colour or embellished with gold/silver for a richer look. Setting the models, the frame, the lens was a long process and the result was nothing like an instantaneous click on the spot. 

Family photos are an essential testimony of the way of life of a given period of time. They inform on the social status of the subject family, the event for which photo was taken, the selection of family members displayed in the photo. The sociological background of the group is reflected in the print. The family was often depicted in a way to figure the social group that was by then considered as ideal. The usual family patterns have been married couples with children, sometimes along with the grandparents. The group that is now considered to be a family is no longer with the same cast. On the photographer’s side, the information lies on his social status, on the image he reworks on to adjust the result to his own and the client’s expectations.

This project invites photographers and lens-based artists to reimagine the Family Portrait by establishing the transition from the accepted definition of ‘the family’ to what it represents today. With support from the Franco-German Cultural Fund Project, the Alliance Française of Madras, Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai, the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation invite submissions from artists and image practitioners who seek to reflect on the “Modern Family representation”  in their work and documentary practices. In any case, an exploration of innovative ways of looking at socio-cultural and ethnographic histories, value-systems and current familial equations from different sections of society, including your own, is particularly encouraged.

This is an open call for proposals on the theme ‘Reimagining the Family Portrait’ – the proposals can be a work-in-progress or proposed ideas for a new project. A team of experts from France, Germany and India respectively will be mentoring 8-10 selected applicants from the ideation stage and guide them through the direction each project will take forward. 

The residency will be conducted within the period September – November 2019 in two phases with three mentors, some of it as live sessions in Chennai and remainder of it remotely via skype and email. 

Important Dates

 

  • Call for proposals open Aug 1, 2019
  • Application Deadline Aug 31, 2019 by 11:59 PM IST

 

  • Announcement of selected participants Sep 15, 2019

Mentors

Timeline

Phase 1: 

  • Sep 27 – Oct 5, 2019: Live Sessions With Martine Fougeron in Chennai

Phase 2: 

  • Nov 1 – 3, 2019 Live Session With Martine Fougeron
  • Nov 4 – 10, 2019: Workshop on Zine Making with Markus Dreßen
  • Nov 11 – 17,  2019: Workshop on Multimedia with 13Jara Collective

Residency Grant

Each participant will be allotted a total grant of INR 40,000 towards travel and accommodation and required research. Participants are expected to be physically present in Chennai during all the live sessions with each mentor on the dates mentioned above. Participants will be paid the residency fee in two parts, before each phase. 

Note: Attendance is mandatory for both phases of the residency

Details of Residency

  • RESIDENCY PERIOD WITH MARTINE FOUGERON

Phase 1: Sep 27 – Oct 5 | Phase 2: Nov 1 – 3 

Participants will be introduced to the mentors via skype sessions and will start ideating and discussing their respective projects with Martine Fougeron before their arrival in Chennai. 

    • Sep 27: Martine Fougeron will kickstart the residency with introductions and a theoretical session on how to read a portrait, the history of the portrait and begin work on project ideas. 13Jara will also be present to give initial guidance to the participants for the multimedia workshop in November and outline additional elements to capture and think about that will add value to the making of a multimedia presentation for each participant project.
    • Sep 28 – Oct 5: Participants work with Martine on their projects
    • Oct 6 – Oct 31: Participants continue to build their bodies of work in guidance and discussion with Martine Fougeron via skype and email. 
    • Nov 1 – 3: Martine Fougeron and Markus Dreßen meet along with participants to discuss the next leg of the residency for the zine workshop and to give an introduction to Markus on each participant’s project.

  • RESIDENCY PERIOD WITH MARKUS DREßEN

Nov 4 – Nov 10

Markus Dressen, a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Leipzig will help mentor the creation of zines with the works produced by the participants.

  • RESIDENCY PERIOD WITH 13 JARA COLLECTIVE 

Nov 11 – Nov 17

13 Jara will mentor participants on how to use multimedia for your work produced.

  • RESIDENCY CULMINATION AND SHOWCASE  

Nov 17 

A final presentation for the Residency Project with all participants in attendance. On display will be the dummy copies of the Zines as well as the digital multimedia showcase. Martine Fougeron and Markus Dreßen will be looped in through Skype for interactions.

Selection Criteria 

  • Residency is open only to practising lens-based artists and photographers of South Asian origin across the world (South Asian Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
  • Applicants can submit proposals for existing projects they are working on or new ideas on family portraiture they plan to work on.  

How to Apply

  • A project proposal of max 500 words as PDF named in the following format:Yourname_Surname_FPR2019_Statement
  • A minimum of 10 and a maximum of 15 images to be sent in the form of a coherent body of work (either from an existing family portraiture project or from a similar reference body of work). Please title the images in the following format: Yourname&surname_FPR2019_image no. (For eg: MartineFougeron_FPR2019_01)
  • Applicants using reference images for their proposal can include screenshots from the web, illustrations, weblinks to video references or samples of images from a collection/archive you will be working with. 
  • Applicants would additionally need to submit a body of existing work of 10-15 images (on any theme or topic) to showcase their photographic/artistic style. 
  • Short bio (100 words) and a CV highlighting your previous shows, grants, projects and Commissions. 
  • Please provide links to video/multimedia work from any of your projects, if any Images to be accompanied with captions as well as date, place and format in which the work was made (for existing projects).
  • Image size: 1000 pixels on the shorter side @150 dpi. 
  • You would need to provide 25 high resolution printable images at the end of the project, by Nov 1 for the final submission.
  • All submission material to be put in one folder and named as: Yourname&Surname_FPR2019_Application
  • Email to: residency@chennaiphotobiennale.com (for submissions and queries), with the subject line FPR Submission – Firstname Lastname. Only submissions sent to this email address within this deadline will be accepted. If you are unable to send via email due to file size please recompress your images to our specifications and try again.

Intellectual Property: 

  • Images/Video/Audio/Artworks produced by the resident participants during the residency program could be used for promotional and communication purposes in print and online and participants will be issuing non-exclusive rights to use the same to the organisers. 
  • At the conclusion of the residency, participants will be required to grant non-exclusive rights to reproduce 3 selected images from created works to CPB Foundation archives for use across promotional, merchandising and collectables in either original or derivative formats.
  • CPB Foundation retains the rights to publish and market copies of the final Zine and other printed material to promote the residency program and CPB.
  • CPB Foundation retains exclusive rights to material (photo/video), behind-the-scenes footage in any format created during the course of the program and associated activities. 

 

PHASE III 

There might be a possibility of Phase III of the residency, post-Jan 2020. This would be evaluated by the mentors and organiser basis the quality of the works produced and opportunities for further funding to develop a more significant showcase including but not limited to a published photo book and/or exhibition during Chennai Photo Biennale 3rd edition.