In early August, the Memphis Brooks Museum asked locals to pick up their cameras and go out on Saturday, Aug. 16, to take photos. Their goal was to capture "A Day in the Life" sort of thing -- images of Memphis. They called it Memphis 8.16.08.
To encourage people, they made a competition out of it. There were various categories (based on age and professional/non-professional). Winners would have their photos exhibited at the museum and online. I have a camera and I was one of the players. I took photos of a dog jumping in a lake and retrieving a frisbee, the famous Beale Street, downtown trolleys and much more. I had a fun day and blogged about it. Because it involved a contest combined with taking pictures, I got cutesy and gave the blog piece the name Taking a shot.
I had about eight or nine photos I wanted to submit. Unfortunately, we were limited to one per person. It was a hard choice. This was not because my photos were so great, but I was trying to second-guess what would appeal to the judges. Some of the shots that I liked the best were ones I didn't think they would go for (Examples: One was a collage that I wasn't sure was allowed. Another was a protestor at the National Civil Rights Museum -- I wished later that I'd gone ahead with that one). Finally, I entered a medium-quality one that was not controversial.
Winners were to be notified by e-mail and no later than Sept. 5. That day came and went and receiving no notice was revelatory. I was mildly disappointed that I didn't "win" anything. There was no money involved, of course, but we all have egos. I'm just sayin'.
Today, I remembered that I had not gone online to see the photos that were exhibit-worthy. Guess what? There was the photo I submitted! (EDIT: It looks like they accepted a photo from anyone who bothered to submit one -- some are not very good.)
They spelled MOJO wrong and came up with "Dave Smith." I hate slipshod work. What's wrong with these people? To see for yourself click here, and scroll down.
I guess I need to visit the Brooks Museum and see if they misspelled MOJO there, too!
I've been to Memphis several times -- a couple for NCAA basketball tournaments, and a few just to go. I like the vibe in the town and really miss Corkey's. Maybe a fall trip is in order.
ReplyDeleteMOJO,
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating in the Brooks Museum's Memphis .8.16.08. We have had a wonderful response from the community. We apologize for the misspelling of your name and will make sure that it is corrected.
Just to clarify, all 200 photographs that were submitted digitally are shown online. Because of limited gallery space, our judges had to narrow this down to forty-nine prints, which are currently on exhibition at the Brooks. The photographers of these 49 images were contacted by email or phone on September 5th.
Again, we apologize for the spelling mistake and thank you again for your participation in this very successful project.
BTF, sorry about the misunderstanding. My name wasn't misspelled, I was kidding. I go by Memphis Mojo on my blog, at poker online, and in my online fantasy sports teams. It was my lame attempt at humor. I do, however, appreciate your concern.
ReplyDeleteI agree it was a successful effort by many people, and I had a great time participating in it.
Lightning, if you come, let me know and we can do some pokering.
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