Christi Ginger's dashboard

that is really nice to know... :) gives me a little bit of hope.

At current count, I HAVE 35 HOT PHOTOS. Almost ALL of my first two pages are HOT. 35 images. So what does this mean? Apparently, not much.
Personally, I DO believe I do good work, and I DO believe I know what good work is. I have Masters from an Ivy League University.
But will it matter?
I think not.

35 HOT PHOTOS, which should mean my work is consistently good. And I do NOT do pics that are, by standards of fine art photography, unnacceptable. I don't do flowers, kittens, old barns and old trucks, that lone tree. My years at University taught me, you just don't deluge a saturated art market with the tired old same. So, I do not.
I also do dark room work, use a medium format camera, and do not alter my images, and yet, they are still hot.
But will I ever get published here?
I doubt it.

I don't know anyone here at the magazine, I only know photography. The published selections should be about excellence, not pals.

Of course, I'd wish everyone well, and say "Hooray" to those of you who do this photography for the sheer pleasure of the art. But for ME, my ultimate goal is of being published.

The rest of this, I could just as well do at home, on my own, without all the drama, romance, mystery and nuttiness! I may just be at the wrong magazine!

Also, a few people have asked me this by email and site mail, so just to clarify-- we don't just look at total votes for voting or hotness. Since photos are in the themes for different lengths of time, we also take views and time in theme into consideration.

Ok! So... here is how the sausage is made. (visual aid)

The editorial staff doesn't look at every photo. But we do look at a LOT of them--through browsing the site, checking on new submissions to the site or to themes, contact's photos, surfing hotness, and sometimes just by clicking through "newness" on an open theme to get a feel for trends and what the community is doing with a theme. During this process, we mark any photos that stand out to us as being great fits for the coming issue, or even future issues. So we have our eyes PEELED the whole time. (This immersion in the community helps us brainstorm new theme and photo challenge ideas, story ideas, section concepts -- and is also just really fun)

Then when the themes and voting close, we use our handy admin tools to look only at the photos that have been most popular during the two months. We then mark a bunch of these too (though there is often overlap with stuff we've seen before).

The final step is to go into a room with the printed out photos and descriptions (YES! descriptions are increasingly important) and make final selections based on photo quality, content/meaning, editorial cohesion, narrative, and fit with the overall set. I've said this before, but every single time each one of us has to cut photos we love... for the good of the set.

We often describe it as being 80% community and 20% editorial, with the editorial component helping to make it more cohesive and varied, and also keeping it from being a straight-up popularity contest. We do very much factor in hotness/favorites/voting in what we choose though: it's incredible feedback to be able to have when making a magazine.

Did I miss anything?

Thanks Christi! – calvin_xa, on May 23, 2008 08:01

Hey Calvin-

Christi here, hello! Great idea, and we agree!

We've got a bunch of JPG features we're hoping to add to the site in the future and forums are on our list. Forums probably won't be coming in the short-term, but we definitely are working on it.

For now, I can point you over to the Unofficial JPG Group over on Flickr. This was started by JPGer Codooaustin and is member-run:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/jpgmag/

I'm not sure where you're located, but Mr. T out in Portland has also been organizing some JPGer photo workshops he set-up through JPG site mail (you can find his tips on setting up a workshop here: http://jpgmag.com/stories/4175).

Also, if you're getting a group of JPGers together, let us know and we can put a note in the JPG blog to help wrangle up some more photographers.

Hope that helps for now!

Christi
support@jpgmag.com

I'm somewhat concerned about the conversation at this point, especially as being singled out as an individual who has had an 'image deleted' due to over-photoshopping?

Erm, not to deflate your sense of what's possible with a camera but while the image in question did receive nominal exaggeration in photoshop, it certainly did not receive the level to which you imply, nor did it get 'deleted'? I would really like to know more about what you mean by "It took JPG forever to remove Karl Randay's The Last Lighthouse", as I personally received no notification that there was any dispute as to its authenticity and if it was not considered for publication due to concern about it would like to know why it would get removed from this list without any consultation or ability to argue against those who believe it to not fit the standard?

I left JPG a while ago, not because of a lack of published work, but mostly due to not feeling very original or that varied. It was great when it started, but really feels like it has lost the pizazz that was around when members like Myla Kent and Sara Heinrichs left.

This is looking good! Hopefully we'll start seeing some improvement on JPG. :-)

Are you going to also add something about having a photo removed because it just doesn't fit the theme it was submitted to?

yes, claudia! HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!!!!!!!!!

yes, claudia we shall go forth on horseback and fight the good fight like the mujeres de la revolucion mexicana, las adelitas!!!!!!!!

"rrrrAa jaaa!'

The world belongs to the people of action. Give me horse, Gigi, and I follow you as amazone

i'm suggesting nothing. what i made was a statement.

suggestion time is over.

I'm actually confused by the length of this thread... aaahhhhh!!!

If I'm not mistaken, Gigi, you're saying the best way to rid the problem of non-participation is to eschew the mechanisms of that participation...

I just wanted to be clear, as there is so much back and forth here, I don't know who is saying what...

claudia you are one of my favorite communicators here, and you express the way life is perfectly and yes, with a bit of philosophy wisely thrown in (as a good peacekeeper would and should). philosophy has always been maddening for me because although it is the "place" where ideas are formed, mulled and pondered, unless an action is taken it's just laziness and self indulgence. there is no commitment in philosophy alone. we have to think a bit, and then get off the fence and take the most appropriate action we believe will yield the best results. and yes, the natural ebb and flow of our rhythms is inevitable. i too admit that i move and react differently depending on my mood, the day, the hour, etc.

that still does nothing to support the fact that some jpger's motives and rhythms remain in a constant state of inertia, save for their postings.

Gigi, you should set up an mp3 site or something... I think the JPG comunity is just a reflection of our society in general, which is as it is, as Struan says. But above all, it is a living organism, made of many living organisms, each one programed and conditioned in a singular way and with it's own life span. People come, people go, Here dies one, there is new one born, and that's what makes every adventure so exciting. I found this whole upheaval seemingly caused by the renouncement of one member very interesting. It shows we are alive. Does a silent member sitting in his isolated corner weigh so much? Sometimes I leave nasty comments, sometimes I share flowers, there are days when the contacts flow and sparkle, and days, when nothing happens and it seems that everybody has forgotton you and negates your undeniable genius, and then again, the sun shines brightly, everybody likes me and I'm ioh so cool, and some day I shall leave this place or die which is the same...So it is, always. (Well, maybe I should set up a philosophy site, hehe)

It's disappointing that there is no easy answer or quick fix to this issue, but you have been heard! This conversation will without a doubt have a larger influence than it may seem now.