Challenges, prizes, and your photos in the Museum
Starting in the 1930s, a group of New York photographers called The Photo League, newly equipped with the then cutting-edge 35-mm camera, took to the streets, capturing the people, places, and stories that made their city. With the rise of digital and mobile photography, it has never been easier to make art on the go. As a San Francisco response to the exhibition, The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936–1951, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) invites you to participate in #SFphotohunt, a creative scavenger hunt inspired by these street photography pioneers.
How to Play
- Photo Hunt challenges are inspired by San Francisco and the exhibition. Every two weeks (Sep 26–Jan 3), the CJM issues a new photo challenge here and through Facebook and Twitter.*
- Tag your photos on Instagram with #SFphotohunt and the challenge hashtag, or email them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
- Photos are judged by the following critera: originality, creative interpretation of theme, overall impact, and best showcase of the Bay Area.
- Select images will be shown in the Museum, and winners for each challenge will receive 35mm Lomography cameras ($100 value). The grand prize winner will receive a Lytro camera ($500 value).
Contest Rules | Entry Guidelines
Challenge 8: #PerfectPortrait (ended 1/12/13)
Winning entry by @teamsnake (Michelle Oblena).
How much can you say about a person with a single image? Share the photographs of people that reveal more than meets the eye.
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Sid Grossman, Coney Island, c. 1947. Gelatin silver print, 9⅝ x 7⅞ in. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Photo League Collection, Purchase with funds provided by Elizabeth M. Ross, the Derby Fund, John S. and Catherine Chapin Kobacker, and the Friends of the Photo League. Copyright © Howard Greenberg Gallery.
Challenge 7: #StreetsBelow (ended 1/1/13)
Examine the geometry and poetry of city streets.
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Arthur Leipzig, Chalk Games, Prospect Place, Brooklyn, 1950, printed later. Gelatin silver print, 14 x 17¾ in. The Jewish Museum, New York, Purchase: Rictavia Schiff Bequest. Copyright © Arthur Leipzig.
Challenge 6: #NotWhatItSeems (ended 12/18)
Winning entry by @hannaquevedophoto (Hanna Quevedo).
Layers, contrasts, juxtapositions, contradictions. Share the mysteries of the city.
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Erika Stone, Lower Eastside Facade, 1947. Gelatin silver print, 10½ x 13¼ in. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Photo League Collection, Purchase with funds provided by Elizabeth M. Ross, the Derby Fund, John S. and Catherine Chapin Kobacker, and the Friends of the Photo League. Copyright © Erika Stone.
Challenge 5: #WithFreshEyes (ended 12/4)
Winning entry by Lenny Pevsner.
Share photos of something completely new to you, or something old that you're seeing in a new way.
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Louis Stettner, Coming to America, c. 1951. Gelatin silver print, 9¼ x 14 in. The Jewish Museum, New York, Purchase: Photography Acquisitions Committee Fund. Copyright © Louis Stettner, Courtesy Bonni Benrubi Gallery.
Challenge 4: #MorningMoment (ended 11/20)
Winning entry by Lawson Jiang.
Share the sights and stories from the early hours of the day.
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Weegee, Max Is Rushing in the Bagels to a Restaurant on Second Avenue for the Morning Trade, c. 1940. Gelatin silver print, 14¾ x 18⅞ in. The Jewish Museum, New York, Purchase: Joan B. and Richard L. Barovick Family Foundation and Bunny and Jim Weinberg Gifts. Copyright © Weegee/International Center of Photography/Getty Images.
Challenge 3: #FaceInTheCrowd (ended 11/6)
Winning entry by Darwin Bell.
A city is made of the people who live there, and the Photo League sought to capture them all. For the next two weeks, turn your camera toward crowds and think about the people in them.
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
David Robbins, Antiwar Demonstration, c. 1941. Gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 in. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Photo League Collection, Purchase with funds provided by Elizabeth M. Ross, the Derby Fund, John S. and Catherine Chapin Kobacker, and the Friends of the Photo League.
Challenge 2: #CityRitual (ended 10/23)
Winning entry by Kseniya Tuchinskaya.
This image portrays boys around the stump of "The Wishing Tree," which performers in Harlem would rub for good luck before going on stage. What are your city rituals?
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Aaron Siskind, The Wishing Tree, 1937, printed later, from Harlem Document, 1936–40. Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 in. The Jewish Museum, New York, Purchase: Lillian Gordon Bequest. Copyright © Aaron Siskind Foundation / Courtesy Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York.
Challenge 1: #SecretSpaces (ended 10/9)
Winning entry by @seenyarita (Rita Harowitz).
What urban surprises or hideaways have you stumbled upon? Or do you dare share the places you go to get away?
> See all selected submissions on Facebook
Walter Rosenblum, Girl on a Swing, Pitt Street, New York, 1938. Gelatin silver print, 6 6⅜ x 8 in. The Jewish Museum, New York, Gift of the Rosenblum Family. Copyright © Estate of Walter Rosenblum.
* #SFphotohunt challenge dates: Sep 26; Oct 10, 24; Nov 7, 21; Dec 5, 19; Jan 2
New Media Initiatives at the CJM are made possible with major support from the Leavitt Family and supporting sponsorship from the Toole Family Charitable Foundation and Alyse Mason Brill and Nathan Brill.
Supporters
The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936—1951 was organized byThe Jewish Museum, New York and the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio.
The exhibition was made possible by a major grant from the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Betsy Karel.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum presentation is made possible with the Lead Support of the Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund.
Major support is provided by Nellie and Max Levchin. Supporting sponsors include the Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund, Baird Private Wealth Management, Jim Joseph Foundation, Denise Garone and Stuart Kogod, Joyce Linker, and Randee and Joseph Seiger.
The Koret and Taube Foundations are the Lead Supporters of the 2012/13 exhibition season.
