South Central Chapter Conference Overview

SPESC Portfolio Throwdown

When April 14-14, 2019
Where Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX

WE'RE SORRY! ALL SPOTS FOR THE 2019 SPESC PORTFOLIO THROWDOWN HAVE BEEN FILLED! WE WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR, WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THEN!

Registration deadline is Thursday April 11 at midnight!

You've worked hard to make your photographs.  You studied the work of your photo-heroes, you set up your studio lights, found that perfect location, got that perfect angle, you put in the hours of editing tweaks to make them just right, you made the prints and you've shown then in class… so now what?

You're ready to take it to the next level.  Imagine yourself sitting across a table from the person who gets what you are doing- who might just help you get into grad school- or get a great internship- or who gives you the feedback that blows your mind and make you so excited to jump right back into your ideas and make them BETTER.

Here's your chance!  It's the Portfolio Throwdown!

A solid day of looking, talking, sharing, and learning about photographs, making connections and making new friends.  Join us on Sunday April 14 from 11:00AM-5:00PM at the beautiful Nasher Sculpture Center, the heart of the Dallas Arts District.

We've assembled a fantastic group of portfolio revewers from colleges, galleries, non-profits, and publications, to help you make the best of your photography.  You'll get to share your work with students from other schools as well. 

See list of portfolio reviewers here.

Reviewers will choose a single winner of the Throwdown Prize- a solo show at 500X Gallery, with gift certificates from Frame Destination and paper from Red River Paper.

Information about the location and parking can be found in the "location & travel" tab, or just click here.

Portfolio Review Strategies

• Bring a portfolio of 15-20 photographs.  Reveiwers are interested in seeing how well you can explore an idea in depth, not how many different styles of photographs you can make, so it's best choose images that have a cohesive theme or approach. 

• Reviewers will prefer to look at prints, rather then images on a screen, but if your work is sculptural, motion, or time-based, then bring a laptop or pad- just make sure ahead of time that your files are viewable and working.  Reviewers prefer not to look at images or videos on a phone.

• The best option is to bring prints in a clamshell-style portfolio box. Prints in a binder-style portfolio are okay, but some reviewers do not like looking at prints that are in any kind of plastic sleeve or page.  Matted prints are fine, but not required.

• Prepare your "elevator speech"- a brief description of your work, what you think it means, what your concerns are as a photographer, and what you hope your audience will get out of seeing your work.  Your "speech" doesn't need to be memorized and recited, but you will be better able to represent your work and ideas if you have some practice talking about it.

• Make some business cards or postcards, with an image and some contact information, and hand that to the reviewer at the end of your review.

• Reveiwers will ask questions about your work, but you should also have some questions ready to ask them.  Good reviews are dialogue between the reviewer and the artist, so it's best to be prepared, but also able to "go with the flow" of the conversation.