About The Ten

The Ten is a highly curated monthly online exhibit of ten photographic images.  Each image is available at a 13x19 size in an edition of 25 for $250.  The uniqueness of The Ten comes from its curation and its exclusivity.  Images on The Ten cannot be sold in any other size in any other location.  Once an image has been included in The Ten, it must be retired from sale.  The only opportunity to purchase that image is on the website for The Ten, and once 25 are sold, it is sold out forever.

The Ten was createdy to be an opportunity for photographers as well as for collectors.  We handle all of the printing, packaging and shipping of the sales.  You can provide guide prints and/or approve a test print for each image (the photographs will be printed digitally by a professional printer in Atlanta).  As the photographer, you will make $100 on each sale with no cost to you.  
But in order to maintain the exclusivity of The Ten, you would be required to sign a contract agreeing to only ever sell that particular image on The Ten.  You can exhibit it, show it online, include it in a book. . . but it would only ever be available for sale on The Ten.  No other editions or sizes would be made for sale. 

Submissions

Please email a short description of your idea for The Ten along with up to three sample images (if you have them) and a link to your website to info@thetenphoto.com. 

The submission fee is $10.  After your submission is received, you will be emailed a PayPal invoice for your submission fee.  You may choose to mail a check if you do not wish to pay online. 

Deadline and Notification

The deadline for submissions is June 30.  Entrants will be notified by July 10 via email.  The selected photographer will be featured in October (Tenth month!).  If the submissions are strong, additional photographers may be selected to be featured this fall.

Standing on the Stars

Swimming with the Octopus

Sleeping on It

Beach scenes + instant film = love.

What's the attraction to Impossible film?

It is unstable, unpredictable, frustrating, expensive, limiting, challenging and totally awesome. I love the instant format in general because of the immediate gratification you get combined with the "surprises" of analogue film. The Impossible Project film has a dreamy quality to it that is different than traditional Polaroid films. It is not trying to replicate reality but instead is augmenting it. For me, it is a path of least resistance to making transcedent photo art and as an added bonus I get to use classic, vintage cameras... No iPhone app or computer required.

Any tricks of the trade for instant film lovers?

Shield the film from light immediately as it's being ejected and scan it in your computer once it's properly developed. Also, don't get too attached to the negative - it most likely will not be visible in a year's time I'm guessing. The Impossible Project is a work in progress, and the film keeps getting better and more stable.

Favorite beach activity besides photographing?

As cheey as this sounds, I like long walks on the beach. People watching is good too, and if possible, enjoying an adult beverage with toes in the sand (tiny umbrella optional).

Why are you a photographer?

I am a lazy painter.

Favorite camera to shoot with?

Hasselblad X-pan, it's a 35mm panoramic film camera that can make most anything look cinematic.

If you weren't making art, what would you be doing?

Sleeping, eating, drinking coffee, wandering aimlessly.

Motto?

"Photography is not a crime" and "Buy a camera, you're a photographer. Buy a piano, you own a piano."

Who or what inspires you?

Inspiration surrounds me. It could be natural beauty (via landscapes or the female form), urban decay, good lighting or music.

Any new projects you want to tell us about?

Within the last 6 months I've traveled to both Iceland and Cuba, which has resulted in several bodies of work I'm excited about. Also, I have another Impossible film based series that is nearly opposite of my happy Ten beach series... It is a dark, moody, black and white series of the city as a living structure.

Dinner Party. 10 Guests. Who do you invite?

Jimi Hendrix

Stanley Kubrick

Jeff Bridges (possibly as the Dude)

Kermit the Frog

Barack Obama

Elle MacPherson (circa 1989)

Jennifer Schwartz

The Beastie Boys

Flocking by Clay Lipsky

Kind of Blue by Clay Lipsky

Big Wheel by Clay Lipsky

What initially fascinated you about paper dolls, and where did you find the ones for this project?

When I was creating my series, In Case of Rain, about things that will be obsolete in future generations, I thought about all the things that I played with as a child that have been changed by the internet and the computer. Paper dolls were part of my growing up and I wanted to include them in the series. Once I started re-collecting them, I realized I could use them to say much more. Most of the ones I now have are from eBay, or from friends who gave me their childhood collections.

This series, and most of your work, is fun and humorous. Reflection of you as a person?

Definitely. Both of my parents had great senses of humor, and my children will tell you I continued that tradition. As for my children, who are both funny, all a mother can wish for is that her children will someday appear on Saturday Night Live! There has been a lot of laughter in my life - something that can certainly come in handy as a parent. And yes, I'm always up for mischief and a martini. But I hope my work also resonates on a deeper level too... I not only see the humor in life, but the pathos and poignancy.

Why are you a photographer?

I am a visual person. I speak a visual language. I curate my life, my home, my dress, my photography because I want to express my sensibility. I've never been a great reader, but I've been a great looker (a quality that doesn't seem to garner the same respect), and being a seer has allowed me to understand the world in a profound way. I am a photographer, but I am an artist too.

Favorite camera to shoot with?

My most favorite camera (please don't mention this to my other cameras!), is my twin lense Rolleiflex. It's been in the family since the 1950s and I swear it has a soul inside of it. I also love my Hasselblad - I think it has a big heart that keeps on beating. I like old things, things with history and that have been banged around a bit. It takes me a long time to love a camera. I'm currently dating a Mamiya 7II, but we haven't gotten to second base yet. I still shoot with film, just because.

If you weren't making art, what would you be doing?

I would be a magazine editor, an actress, a clothing designer, a dog walker, someone who sits and does nothing but smoke and eat pizza in Venice, or an incredibily wealthy and snobby French gallerist, a painter, a pilot and most definitely a movie director.

Motto?

F*%k it and it's always something...

Who or what inspires you?

Everything. The man sitting next to me in his car, my daughter as she describes her hilarious life in Manhattan, all movies, my photographer friends, my non-photographer friends, my son when we start laughing about something, old people, my husband's solidness, seven year olds, dogs, paintings, old houses and anything mid-century modern. Tony Duquette and Iris Apfel. Anything in miniature. People that don't take themselves too seriously, but are smart.

Any new projects you want to tell us about?

I am working on something new, but keeping it quiet as I am still figuring it all out. Sort of a new direction... I am also putting finishing touches on a children's book that I have just completed titled, The Lonesome Doll.

What would be your perfect day?

Hmmm... I always ask this in my interviews, so this is fun to answer!

I would be in Massachusetts at the lake house we go to. I would stay in bed as long as possible. Then go somewhere and get a big plate of chilaquiles with tomatillo sauce, wander down the dock, take a swim, hear laughter, smell good smells, spend hours making work that gets me really excited and happy, have dinner surrounded by family and friends, play a little poker or beer pong with my kids, and fall asleep watching Amelie or To Kill a Mockingbird or Beginners or Mad Men in a big overstuffed chair. Or maybe do it all in Paris.

Dinner Party. Ten Guests. Who do you invite?

Everyone who has died in my life that I didn't get a chance to ask all my questions to, that I didn't get to know well, or didn't get enough time with. Normally, people list celebrities or famous artists, but I have often been disappointed when I have spent time with those I have admired, so I'm not wasting a dinner with them! I never met 3 out of 4 of my grandparents, and I wish I had!

Circle of Men

New Family

Bathing Beauties

Tami's images on The Ten reflect on her childhood growing up in South Texas along the Gulf of Mexico. She is able to capture carefree, timeless moments that make us all nostalgic for those hot summer days playing outside. This is a testament to Tami's ability to tell stories through photography. Take a look...

Redemption

Treasure

Ponderoso

Steve Harris appears throughout the images on the Ten, and other images from your larger project, Watershed. What do you find so compelling about him?

His optimism. When I met Steve, he seemed to have a really positive outlook on his situation. Even though his 20 acres of land is polluted by nuclear materials, he continues to live and work on the property. For over 30 years, Steve worked, mostly on his own, and turned what used to be a pit mine, into a healing community and organic farm. Ever since he found out about the pollution a couple years ago, he has not given up on his home. He continues to fight and try to find a way to continue living on his property as well as get compensation for the damages to his health and home.

One reason (I'm sure you have many) that people should care about the environment.

Well, I'll go for the simplest reason...

Water.

It is one of the substances that sustains life on this planet. It is where the earliest life forms appeared. Just like we need the air to live, we cannot live without water. Clean water is essential.

When I first sat down with Jeff to look through his portfolio, I was immediately drawn to two of the images he created on Steve Harris' property along the Nolichucky River.  Jeff's project, Watershed, covers such a large geographic area that he cannot spend too much time or film on one small area of land. In comes The Ten.  The Ten gave him an opportunity to revisit this area he was drawn to and spend time photographing it in detail.

I think we are all the better for it.

This Ten collection by Chloe Aftel redefines "imperfect beauty". The combination of striking female imagery and temperamental instant film creates unforgettable photographs.

Nostalgic. Beautiful. Luscious. Lovely.

Exclusively on The Ten.

Provocative old guard and ambitious new leaders. Masterpieces and can’t-miss marvels. This is Atlanta’s arts scene—and these are the 20 scene stealers changing the conversation.

Jennifer Schwartz is on a mission. This year, the 30-something gallery owner created The Ten (thetenphoto.com), a monthly online exhibit of 10 images with a low price point that entices new collectors to get their feet wet in investing in fine art photography. With the success of that project, she takes her show—Crusade for Collecting—on the road. “I am going on a 10-week, 10-city tour, where I do pop-up shows featuring works from incredible emerging photographers from across the country.” 1000 Marietta St. NW, 404.885.1080, jenniferschwartzgallery.‌com

by K. Abney, K. K. Bell, D. M. Byron, C. Cox, K. Skinner, A. Sverdlik, M. Welch |The Atlantan magazine | November 25, 2011