I endorse both!
I.
Hi There,
My Name is James Sandberg and I am contacting you on behalf of my client TED India with an exciting opportunity for you...
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. It started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then, its scope has broadened to include science, business, the arts, and the global issues facing our world. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives — in 18 minutes.
TED has decided to hold a conference in India in November 2009. Organizers are actively looking to select 100 promising individuals from around the world to attend the very first TED India Conference. You can apply to the TED India Fellow program. The deadline is June 15th, 2009.
II.
A month ago, Google announced the Google Photography Prize. To quote from their website: “The Google Photography Prize is a global competition for students to create themes for iGoogle. Run in collaboration with the Saatchi Gallery London, the Google Photography Prize was open to students across the world. We received thousands of entries from around the world and have shortlisted the best 36 for you to vote on…The most popular 6 from the vote will make it to the final, have the opportunity to exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery London and the chance to win the first prize of £5,000 ($7,500).”
I am an art historian writing my Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. As a person strongly interested in the South Asian image-world, photography has always been a mode for me to document the continually changing visual culture of the sub-continent.
As you might be guessing, my photo-series was among the 36 shortlisted for public voting. (My photograph is the center image in the second last row). Shot in a mela in Kolkata (2007), the photographs are part of a series titled “Made in China - Marketed from the United States - Consumed in India: Globalization and its new "emerging" markets...” As the name suggests, this project was about excavating images of changing consumptions in a post-1991 globalized India. The ways in which the local, regional, national, and global collide in a world of plastic strainers and aluminum bartans. It would be great if you would be willing to promote (for the lack of a better word) my entry (and here I am being blatantly shameless!) in your blog. The vote will run until 17th June. Of course, if you like the images and think its worth posting about.
Cheers
Sugata Ray