• MEET is an idea born in a world where it has become harder to meet.
• MEET connects photographers, curators, editors, gallerists, publishers and other cultural professionals for free.
• MEET matches a photographer and an expert through technology, based on common interests and goals.
• MEET aims to support artists to work on an ongoing project, and to make them happen with the right mentor or institution.
• MEET gives cultural professionals access to meet new artists and discover projects in a time when travel and prospection have become limited.

• MEET is a global project that aims to provide an equal opportunity to artists of different geographic and financial situations to find mentorship and collaboration through community.

Who is MEET for?

This platform is both addressed to non-commercial and commercial actors in the field of photography. It is for photographers of all career stages that are looking to present their work and seek mentorship, support and collaboration from experts from fields such as museums, festivals, publishing, galleries, agencies or media. It is for cultural workers, curators, editors, gallerists and publishers to discover new work and practitioners with similar interests and objectives from a range of career stages and geographies.

How does it work?

MEET is an experimental initiative using technology to bridge the gap. Based on a series of simple questions addressed to both artists and experts at the outset, each individual is tagged with preferences and matched. Experts will review profiles of all the artists they share interests and objectives with, and choose who they want to MEET! Meetings will happen using a video conference software, and benefit from the possibilities of Picter Workspace to have real-time meaningful discussions and work sessions.

There is no strict number of slots for meetings. Each expert will MEET with at least one artist. Some experts will choose to MEET many!

How to Enter

Artists working in photography of all career stages can upload work from an ongoing project to MEET for free. Individuals and collectives are welcome to apply. Artists should select and enter between 10-25 photographs from one particular project/series or body of work.

There is no theme or fee to participate in MEET.

Who is behind MEET?

MEET is an idea by Holly Roussell, an independent curator who values encounters based on shared interests, and Alma Cecilia Suarez, a photographer in the tech world who believes in serendipity caused by data. The initiative is supported by Picter, the visual-first collaborative content review software and the #1 infrastructure for professional image-based contests and submissions.

The 25+ international experts already on board:

Alessia GLAVIANO, Vogue Italia, Milan, Italy

Natasha EGAN, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, United States

Marie GOMIS-TREZISE, Galerie Number 8, Brussels, Belgium

Jae-hyun SEOK, Lumos Art Space, Daegu, South Korea

NI Liang, Imageless Publishing, Ningbo, China

Nathalie HERSCHDORFER, Museum of Fine Arts, Le Locle, Switzerland

William EWING, Photography Curator and Author, Switzerland

CHEN Shen, White Space Gallery, Beijing, China

Pascal HUFSCHMID, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva, Switzerland

Marina VITAGLIONE, Panos Pictures, London, United Kingdom

Alfio TOMMASINI, Verzasca Foto Festival, Ticino, Switzerland

Anahita GHABAIAN, Silk Road Gallery, Tehran, Iran

Maggie O'REGAN, In Situ Art Consultants, London, United Kingdom

Jeremie THIRCUIR, Independent Curator and Cook, Beijing, China

Louise FEDOTOV-CLEMENTS, FORMAT Festival/QUAD, Derby, United Kingdom

Tim CLARK, 1000 Words. London, United Kingdom

Amelie SCHUELE, FOAM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Federica ANGELUCCI, Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg, South Africa

Holly ROUSSELL, Independent Curator, Switzerland/China

Emanuele AMIGHETTI, Esquire/Harpers Bazaar, Milan, Italy

Mathieu BORYSEVCIZ, BANK / MABSOCIETY, Shanghai, China

Alma Cecilia SUAREZ, Artist and Iconographer, London, United Kingdom

Daniel BOETKER-SMITH, Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive & Photography Studies College, Melbourne, Australia

Ruben LUNDGREN, Independent Curator and Photographer, Beijing, China

Sunyoung KIM, Museum of Photography, Seoul, South Korea

Thomas SAUVIN, Beijing Silvermine, Paris, France

Lars WILLUMEIT, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland

Azu NWAGBOGU, African Artists' Foundation/ Artbase Africa/ Lagos Photo, Lagos, Nigeria

The MEET community is constantly growing. Please check our website for the most up to date list of confirmed experts.

Andrew Sanigar, Thames & Hudson, London, United Kingdom

Laetitia Florescu, Arteez Magazine, Geneva, Switzerland

Pauline Magnenat, Rocket Science Magazine, Paris, France

FAQ

Do I have to be a qualified visual artist to participate?

MEET  is open to all emerging and established professional visual artists working in photography worldwide. We encourage photographers at all career stages from current-students or recent graduates to mid-career artists. The range of cultural professionals involved  will have a variety of interests.

Is there a theme to participate in MEET?

There is no theme to participate in MEET.  We encourage artists of all career stages to share an ongoing project or series that they would like to develop further or seek mentorship to develop with our community of cultural professionals.  

When is the deadline?

The deadline is October 18, 2020, 11:59 pm, Swiss time.

How much does it cost?

It is free to submit your project to MEET.

How many projects can I submit?

Artists may submit a thoughtful selection of photographs from one series or project. MEET is not a portfolio presentation of your work, it is intended as a way to keep working. With this in mind, we encourage artists to apply with one project or idea they are looking to develop further with the support of an expert.

Is it mandatory to apply with an ongoing project? Your project can be finished but are still actively working on it and/or aiming to get it visibility (exhibition or publication, etc)

What are the age requirements?

All the participants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission. There is no other age restriction.

Do I need to speak English to participate?

At this time, applicants must only submit their application in English. If chosen, artists must be able to communicate in a video conference setting with an expert in English. Of course, if the expert and artist share another common language, they are encouraged to communicate in the language best suited to a productive conversation.

If you do not speak English but would like to participate in MEET, you are responsible to find an English speaking friend/colleague who could support you during your video meeting.

Can I send my submission by email?

We do not accept entries by email. Please register on picter.com and upload your entries online.

Can I submit video stills or installation shots with my submission?

You can submit video stills and/or installation shots as part of the images for a series if this is relevant to your work. Make sure to explain that these are installation shots or video stills in the image description.

My work has been awarded in other competitions. Can I still submit them?

Yes. You may submit work that has received awards as long as this project is still ongoing and it is not restricted by an exclusivity clause at the time of submission to MEET.

Can I enter as a duo or collective?

Yes, duos and collectives are more than welcome.

Who will decide which works/artists are selected?

Each expert in our community will individually choose the artist(s) they would like to MEET.

When will I know if I have been selected?

Selected artists will be notified on October 31st. The artists names will also be announced on our website as well as social networks. All applicants will be notified in November 2020. If you have not been notified that your work has been selected by October 31st, please assume you did not find a match for this edition of MEET.

If I don't get a match with an expert, do I have a MEET? It is not possible for all artists who submit a portfolio to MEET to find a match. This could be for a number of reasons -- from the number of applicants, to the profiles of our current experts. We will take into consideration the learnings from this edition to inform how MEET may evolve for the future. 

Can I select which experts see my work or that I would like to MEET? MEET uses technology and common goals and interests to match experts with artists so that they can collaborate on an ongoing project. MEET is not a portfolio review. For this reason, we do not accept suggestions. 

Should I expect 1 meeting, or more? We ask both photographers and experts to commit to 1 MEET. If an expert can mentor over multiple sessions, we encourage her or him to do so. It is based on his or her availability. Likewise, artists may be invited to multiple MEET-ings. Some artists may not have any meetings.

When will the meetings take place?

Meetings will take place in early November. The exact dates will be announced shortly.

If the mentor does not show up to our MEET, do I have a guarantee of having a MEET with another mentor? MEET cannot be held accountable if a MEET is postponed or cancelled last minute due to an expert's availability. But, in this case, we will do our best to make sure you get a MEET -- either with the initial expert or another member of the MEET community.

If my work is not selected, will I receive feedback about it?

Due to the high number of submissions, it is not possible to provide personalized comments to all participants.

Got a question not covered by this FAQ?

Get in touch with a member of our team via email (cecilia (at) meet-photo.com or holly(at) meet-photo.com), and we'll be more than happy to answer your questions!