Gallery 364 "Bay Ridge's First Fine Arts Gallery" is pleased to go forth with our Sept. Art Competition, entitled "THE ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT".

Gallery 364 "Bay Ridge's First Fine Arts Gallery" is pleased to go forth with our Sept. Art Competition, entitled "THE ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT".

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings.

By photographing a person in their natural surroundings, it is thought that you will be able to better illuminate their character, and therefore portray the essence of their personality, rather than merely a likeness of their physical features. It is also thought that by photographing a person in their natural surroundings, the subject will be more at ease, and so be more conducive to expressing themselves, as opposed to in a studio, which can be a rather intimidating and artificial experience.

The surroundings or background is a key element in environmental portraiture, and is used to convey further information about the person being photographed.

While it is often true that the background may dominate the subject, this need not necessarily be so. In fact, the details that convey the message from the surroundings can often be quite small and still be significant. The key seems to be in the symbolism expressed by various elements in the background; for instance, a baseball cap may not tell you much about your subject (unless he or she is a baseball player), but a chef's hat gives you a lot more detail about who he is and what he does.

If you are interested in submitting work for this competition (all mediums accepted), for consideration please call Georgine for an appointment to show your work, or email jpegs for review. No URL's please. You will be notified by email or phone of acceptance. And we look forward to seeing you at our opening reception.

The entry fee is $25.00 per piece, for work accepted, with a limit of 4 pieces per artist. All art must be ready to hang.

This competition is open to all media. Criteria for judging is as follows: Beauty (symmetry,composition, proportions, framing) Skill, Meaning, Uniqueness, and Intent.

All art will be for sale. Gallery 364 retains 30% of all sales. Gallery 364 will award: ONE "Best In Show" winner will receive $150 Cash Prize. TWO "Honorable Mention" winners will each receive $50 Gift Certificate. (Winners will be announced at Opening Reception)

SPECIAL GUEST JUDGE: AWARD WINNING NEW YORK DAILY NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER, TODD MAISEL

This Show is Sponsored by Harbour Abstract Owner Rhea McCone.

Deadline for submissions: Tuesday, Sept. 12th, 2011

Artists Opening Reception: Thursday, Sept.15th, 2011 7-10PM

Show will be on view, thru Oct. 6th, Sept. 15th, 2001

Contact Georgine for more info: Gallery 364 364 72nd Street Brooklyn, NY 11209 917-767-3848 www.gallery364.com

DATE: July 28th, 2011 TIME: 7PM-10PM LOCATION: GALLERY 364

Award Winning Photographer Todd Maisel To Guest Judge "Brooklyn Neighborhood's" April Competition At Gallery 364

Todd Maisel is an award winning staff photographer for the New York Daily News, specializing in both still photography of spot news events, and more recently videography for nydailynews.com. He has been a member of the staff since 1999.

He is currently vice president of the New York Press Photographers Association where he also served as chairman of the Gallery committee in organizing the Forbes Magazine Gallery. He is currently Director of Region 2 NPPA and an adjunct professor at the College of Technology, City University of New York. Maisel also serves on the board of the Northern Short Course and contribute to its courses and organization.

He has been a journalist since 1984 since graduating from New York University School of Journalism. He also attended classes at School of Visual Arts and the New School.

In 1998, he was named Photographer of the Year by the New York Press Photographers Association, the first freelancer to ever obtain that distinction. He has won numerous photography awards from that organization since then. He also three times named by the New York Press Club to be “Spot News Photographer of the Year.”

Since joining the staff of the News he has specialized in spot news, but he has done many features and sporting events including the Subway Series, Superbowl, and US Open. Most notable was his work at the World Trade Center where he took numerous photos of the terrorist attack at great personal risk. He was honored by the National Press Photographers Association at their national convention in Minneapolis with the Humanitarian Award for saving the life of a firefighter trapped in the debris after the collapse of one of the two towers, assisting in the rescue of injured photographer David Handschuh and for his work during rescue operations. The Uniform Firefighters Association also honored him for his photo and rescue work.

In 2003, he spent nearly two months embedded with the military, his military units entering Iraq and holding important shipping ports and clearing mines in southern Iraq.

Maisel was also an integral part of the Daily News team of photographers during both the Boston Democratic Convention and the New York Republican Convention.

Nationally, Maisel garnered a honorable mention in spot news and first place in the National Press Photographers Association Region 2 in spot news photography. He also received an award for his work as Associate Director for Region 2.

During the past 20-years, Maisel has been both a photojournalist and journalist. He served as executive editor of the weekly newspaper Town and Village in Manhattan for seven years. During that time, he created a picture intensive newspaper, while continuing his photography throughout the city.

He is married 16 -years and has two children, Lucian, and Alana. He resides in Marine Park, Brooklyn, and has lived in Brooklyn all of his life.