From 'The perfect place to die' (c) Toby de Silva

My colleague Toby de Silva from the University of Westminster MA in Photography has just won a Rhubarb-Rhubarb bursary. So congratulations to him on achieving this. In case you don’t know or haven’t heard of it before, Rhubarb-Rhubarb is an organisation that supports photography and photographers. In the summer they have an ‘International Review’ that provides a forum for photographers to put their work in front of a wide variety of professional reviewers, most of whom are from the art market, (Ansel Adams clones and nude photographers, in general, need not apply). Attending this shindig isn’t cheap, costing upwards of £215 for 6 x 20 minute reviews. However, if a photographer has a project of merit, attendance may be their gateway to exhibitions, publication and so on. The winners of the bursary get to attend this essentially for free and are featured in an exhibition and have their egos stroked in a number of confidence building ways. The value of this can’t be underestimated as attending these events can sometimes feel like paying someone to poke you not so gently in the eye (OK I exaggerate), so being pre-selected is a great way of getting a confidence boost prior to attending.

I’ll be attending this year as I have a project that is ready, The Rhubarb-rhubarb organisers don’t recommend attending to people who don’t have a project that isn’t already fairly well progressed or thought through. There are many other less expensive portfolio review options that are a better bet when the work is still being formed.

If you want to attend this years International Review, then its time to get moving, although the bookings only opened earlier this week, many of the slots are already booked up. One more thing to point out is that as well as the reviews there are numerous photography related events that take place around the core event, making the whole thing a kind of mini-festival.

Did I mention it all takes place in Birmingham, a city known for its excellent range of curry houses. There are fringe benefits.

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