Want to submit your work?

Send the following via email to stephanie@photobetty.com. You may send the images via snail mail, but you'll have to contact me to get the address.

Requirements for the Spotlight and Singles sections...The photographers are chosen based on the quality of their work.

Photos:
Send as many photos as your project warrants -- up to 15 images.
All formats are accepted.
Size images 7 inches at your longest width/length, at 72 dpi.
Save images in Photoshop as JPEGs.
Please include copyright permission.
Include captions, if appropriate, in plain 'ol text in the body of an email message
Spell/ fact check your work.

Essay:
An essay is required for each project submitted, including singles, and should be about one typed page. I want to know how this project relates to who you are. What was your experience like? Who did you meet? Where did the idea originate? Whatever you would tell your friends ... This should also be spell/fact checked and sent as the body of an email message.

Bio:
Polaroid self-portrait. And yes, from a real Polaroid camera (all formats welcome), flat bed scanned with borders. A bio, written in the third person, describing your background, achievements and any other personal information you want to share.

Email address and personal Web site address if you have one. Let us know if there are any links you want included in your bio or essay. Yes! This too should be spell/ fact checked and sent as the body of an email message.

Can guys submit work?

I am definitely interested in including work by men on the site. But I want it to be centered on female issues. This is loose. I'm thinking anywhere from the birth of a child to a fashion shoot and/or anything else in between. It will just depend on what it is.

Please feel free to email us if you have any further questions. Thanks!

On a Mission...

The idea of Photobetty came about as I was looking for information on the 1999 Women in Photojournalism Conference. While searching for their Web site, I kept running into porn sites when plugging "women" and "photography" into different search engines. Obviously, this was quite infuriating. So after some thought, I called some girlfriends in the biz and asked them what they'd think about a site for women photographers. So we bounced around ideas of what the women in our field might want in a site like this. And with the help of computer genius Rob Ray, Photobetty became a reality.

I chose the e-zine format because I wanted the site to be casual so we could build a community for women in all areas of photography -- fine arts, digital and documentary. And as the works of these photographers are shown, I hope that women photogs will be able to find common threads and inspiring differences in relation to their own work. In the end, I hope that Photobetty opens communication between women of all skill levels and fields, possibly even establishing a network of photographers willing to help one another out or have lunch if a colleague comes to town on assignment or for vacation.


So what are the different sections about?

The Spotlight features the work of professional and student photographers. Not just any work, but work that motivates and means something to the photographer. To reiterate that point, we've made one of the requirements an essay in addition to the standard caption information. I am interested in the photographers telling the stories they would tell their friends. Why did they want to do it? Who did they meet? I wanted this to be a primary part of the site because the experience is what being a photographer is about for me. And I think that the photographs are the physical translation of the experience.

We made a Singles section so those without large bodies of work could still participate. Not to mention that there are some amazing single images out there that aren't part of a particular project.

In Charge is an idea Robin Daughtridge, chief photographer/picture editor at the Chicago Tribune, came up with. I had been trying to think of a way to include women in the business who have inspired me but weren't shooters themselves. Robin, our first victim, suggested doing a funky Q & A. I thought this was a great idea since several female editors have helped me develop my personal vision. Through lengthy conversations with these women, I have grown as a photographer and as a person.

Before You highlights historical women photographers. It is important to know who the women are that paved the way for us in our field. It's also interesting to learn about what drove these women who entered the profession when it was seriously male dominated.


And what about the name?

Well, for those of us who grew up around skate ramps and the like, betties were girls who hung around the ramps but didn't skate. While in college at the University of Florida, those who hung out in the photolab at our school paper, The Independent Florida Alligator, we called photobetties (guys and girls). Now we know that this site is for the girls who are bringing home the bacon with their photography, but we thought the name was fun and embodied the spirit of the site.

So that's it. I hope this meets some of the needs of the female photo community. I am super excited about getting to know all the vixens of the photo world, past and present!

Thanks!
--Stephanie Sinclair