RFP for Portrait Photographer
The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship
Portrait Photographer/Photojournalist
Request for Proposals
Summary
The PA Wilds Center is looking to hire a juried photographer from The Wilds Cooperative of PA program to capture images of other juried artists in the program creating their artwork in their unique workspaces throughout the Pennsylvania Wilds. The photographer would be responsible for selecting 24 artists to photograph, taking a minimum of 10 shots of each, and then curating these pictures into a gallery show. The PA Wilds Center would then schedule the show to run in various venues across the Wilds throughout the year. Overall the show should reflect the splendor and uniqueness of the Pennsylvania Wilds landscape and rural lifestyle, and the resourcefulness and talent of the artists who live and work here. This project is made possible through grants from the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts.
RFP Issued: Dec. 21, 2016
Responses Due: Jan. 16, 2017 (COB – 5 p.m.)
Send questions and proposals to: Abbi Peters, Managing Director, [email protected].
Contract Amount: $5,000 (includes travel)
Timeline: Take photos January-May and curate and assemble show pieces. June: first show.
Project Scope
The PA Wilds Center is looking to hire a juried photographer from The Wilds Cooperative of PA program to capture the stories of other juried artists in the program through photographs of the subjects while creating artwork in their unique workspaces throughout the Pennsylvania Wilds.
The photographer will be responsible for working with the PA Wilds Center to select 24 artists to photograph, taking a minimum of 10 shots per subject, and then culling and curating these pictures into a 24 picture traveling exhibit. Each picture will have a short description (1-2 paragraphs) mounted on or near it that help tell the overall story of The Wilds Cooperative’s artists.
The photographer will be responsible for contacting all artists and securing necessary permissions for their participation, and for preparing and mounting the final show pictures using a separate installation budget ($1000). In addition, at minimum 10 images of each artisan photographed will also be submitted to the PA Wilds Center on jump drive to become part of the Center’s photo library. PA Wilds Center will own the copyright to all submitted images.
The photographer will also be responsible for helping price the mounted show photos, which will be sold and profits donated to the PA Wilds Center to support its nonprofit mission in the landscape and The Wilds Cooperative program.
The PA Wilds Center will be responsible for scheduling the show to run in various venues across the Wilds and state throughout the year. These events will be free to the public and promoted through the Wilds social media networks. The author of the photos will be promoted as well, and should be comfortable with the public nature of the show. The photographer is required to attend at least three of the show openings.
The successful candidate for this contract must be a Juried Photographer with The Wilds Cooperative at the Professional Level whose dues are current. The candidate must have experience in portrait photography in a storytelling format, strong writing skills, and excellent time and project management skills.
Overall the show should reflect the splendor and uniqueness of the Pennsylvania Wilds landscape and rural lifestyle, and the resourcefulness and talent of the artists who live and work here. One goal of the show is to raise awareness about the many skilled artists who live and work in the Wilds. Another goal is to create a free public art experience for residents and visitors to enjoy and learn from.
This project is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Timeframe
Work on this project will begin immediately. Major milestones are as follows:
Mid-January: select photographer for project and execute contract
Late-January: meet with photographer to identify 24 artisans to photograph
Mid-February: photographer has finalized list with responses from artisans
Feb-May: photograph subjects (we will want some spring time photos)
May: Assemble and mount show
June-Aug: hold three shows (1 per month), schedule others for throughout the year
Equipment Requirements
Contractor must have all equipment needed to produce high quality portraits. Contractor must have dependable vehicle and required insurances.
Budget Details
As listed in the summary, our budget for this project is $5,000. This amount would be paid to the contractor half up front and half at completion. Travel is included in this budget amount. A separate budget of $1000 has been set aside for mounting and transporting the show.
Proposal Requirements
Please submit your proposal in pdf format to Abbi Peters, Managing Director, by COB Jan. 16, 2017. Files over 2MB should be sent using a Dropbox or similar file share method. Include the following in your proposal response:
• Cover letter summarizing your qualifications.
• General description of your operation (freelancer, full time photographer, etc).
• What experience do you have taking portraits in a storytelling format like the one described here? Please provide examples.
• Is there a ‘behind the scenes’ talk/workshop or similar public experience you could offer in conjunction with this project at its conclusion. If so, what would it cover? What is your comfort level with public speaking?
• Explain why you joined The Wilds Cooperative.
• How would you mount the show pictures with a $1000 budget?
• Equipment: Briefly describe the equipment you would bring to bear on this project.
• Social Media: Are you active on social media? If so, please explain which channels/platforms and roughly how often you post to them. Would you be willing to do periodic posts about this project as it is being undertaken that we could share on our social media channels?
• Submit an example of the model release you will have subjects sign before photographing them for this project.
• Please list 3-5 references.
RFP & Project Timeline Details
RFP Issued: Dec.21, 2016
Responses due: Jan. 16, 2017 (COB)
Project Kick-off: Mid-January
Project Conclusion (majority of work): May 2017
Learn more about The Wilds Cooperative of PA here: www.pawildsartisans.com.