The description of "The Ten" project on www.thetenphoto.com captures the innovation and intelligence of this undertaking far more adequately than this anonymous blogger could and for that reason, the following text is a direct quote from www.thetenphoto.com/content/4-about. Visit the website: http://www.thetenphoto.com to see, purchase and discover images from a group of extremely talented photographers.
If photographers are true to themselves and their art, their focus will be on their work – on making strong images that connect. And in order for the images to make an impact, move a dialog forward or spark an idea or emotion, they need to be seen. The best way for a photograph to reach the highest volume of viewers is online. The photograph and the internet are a beautiful pairing, full of opportunities for photographers and viewers alike. The cost is low, the exposure is high, the conversation is endless.
The drawback to a photographic body of work having an exclusive online presence is the inability for photographers to receive any direct financial rewards from the exposure. Photographers want potential patrons to be able to acquire physical prints for their collection, which gives the work a home and permanence. A traditional gallery allows for this transaction to take place, but often at a great expense (printing and framing costs that come with gallery exhibitions) to the photographer with a much more limited audience.
Jennifer Schwartz Gallery’s mission is to go beyond the traditional gallery model and explore this new contemporary photographic landscape to help our artists move their careers forward and introduce their work to a larger audience. We [Jennifer Schwartz Gallery] want to marry the opportunities for exposure online with the ability to acquire limited edition fine art photographs in order to help photographers reach a large audience and make money to finance the creation of future work.
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. Whether a photographer makes a new body of work for The Ten, a guest curator selects images from different photographers, or a photographer self-curates from within his or her existing bodies of work, The Ten is an opportunity for photographers and curators to explore the creative possibilities of pulling together a selection of work with a strong statement and a tight edit.
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.
