Each month this year, Fstoppers is running a genre specific Critique the Community contest with some amazing prizes.  The theme for March is “Weddings,” and we are giving away $3,000 in prizes to 3 lucky winners. Oh, and one of the most successful wedding photographers I know, Pye Jirsa, will be guest judging the images. Here are the details!

We are excited to have Pye Jirsa guest judging the March wedding edition of Critique the Community.  Pye is an amazing photographer, and his wedding company Lin and Jirsa Weddings based out of Orange County, California is one of the most in-demand wedding and portrait studios in the entire world. Have you ever heard of a $70,000 engagement session?  Yeah I hadn’t either until I met Pye. We are super excited to have him giving his professional opinion about your images. 

Not only is Pye going to sit in and critique some of the best images submitted to this contest, but he is also offering up the top prize for this month’s contest.  One lucky winner will win a full year of group coaching through Pye’s new mentorship program $10k for $2k. This program will give you real time access with Pye in a Zoom setting but also some Done-For-You resources that have been tried and tested by Pye and his team such as social media templates, pricing guides, sales scripts, and AI tools.  

The second place winner will receive a free Loupedeck CT customizable console system worth $560! This USB and Bluetooth accessory allows you to program all sorts of dynamic shortcuts, custom photo brushes and adjustments, different workspaces, and video editing tools directly onto the Loupedeck interface.  Not only will this open up your creativity but it will also speed up and streamline your favorite photo, video, and livestreaming programs.  

Finally, the third place winner will receive a free copy of any tutorial in the Fstoppers store valued up to $300.  

To help all our readers who are trying to get into wedding photography, Lee and I have also decided to mark down our own wedding tutorial, How to Become a Commercial Wedding Photographer, and sell it for just $45 during the month of March. This tutorial was designed to give you an overview of all the different aspects and potential hangups you will face on a wedding day. We show you all the shots you need to master as well as share some of the best lighting setups and planning techniques we have used in our wedding businesses.  This was one of the first tutorials we ever produced, but the content is evergreen and sure to help you get rolling in your own wedding business.  

To submit your images, Click the Contests tab at the top of Fstoppers or head directly over to the Wedding Critique the Community page to upload your images.  All entries must be uploaded by March 29th at 1pm.  We look forward to checking out your work and giving our professional opinions to help make you a better wedding photographer.  Good luck to everyone who enters!

Taylor Swift‘s father, Scott Swift, will not face any charges after allegedly assaulting a paparazzi photographer in Australia last month. 

In a statement to ET, a member of the New South Wales Police Media Unit told ET that  Aussie police “conducted an investigation following a report of an assault” on Feb. 27 involving “Papa Swift,” 72, and decided that “no further police action” was required or would be taken in the incident. 

According to TheAustralian.com, the incident occurred at the Neutral Bay Wharf as Taylor and her dad were disembarking from a ferry and were bombarded by people waiting for them on land. The photographer involved, Ben McDonald, 51, talked with NCA Newswire after the fact and alleged that Scott became aggressive with him before jumping into a vehicle with Taylor. 

In late February, a New South Wales Police Media Unit rep first confirmed that an investigation was underway in a statement, but did not share the names of those involved, only identifying the parties via their ages. 

“Police are investigating an alleged assault on Sydney’s North Shore this morning,” a representative stated at the time. “Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2.30am (Tuesday 27 February 2024), before leaving the location. The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command.”

In his interview with NewsWire, McDonald shared video of the alleged assault and told the outlet that he only recognized Scott as the alleged perpetrator upon reviewing the footage. Scott was in Sydney with his daughter, 34, for her Eras Tour shows at the time. 

“I looked back at the pictures and saw he was holding hands with Taylor. It then became evident that was her father,” McDonald said.

He added that he endured a “bruised ego more than anything.”

Another video shared with 9News Sydney of the alleged assault shows a different angle in which Scott, Taylor and several security guards can be seen walking toward the singer’s waiting vehicle as security team members hold back a photographer — purportedly McDonald. 

In a statement following the altercation, a spokesperson for Taylor told ET, “Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water.”

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A monographic exhibition of the Japanese artist, in collaboration with Kyotographie, will be held in the Salle Henri-Comte, in Arles.

In the context of an important focus on Japan by the festival, Kering and les Rencontres are also proud to show, through the Women In Motion LAB, I’m So Happy You Are Here, a group exhibition of Japanese women photographers presented by Aperture at the Palais de l’Archevêché.

Kering is also delighted to support Transcendence, an exhibition presented by Kyotographie.

Lastly, Women In Motion is proud to continue to support the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro dedicated to emerging female talent.

2024 WOMEN IN MOTION AWARD FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTED TO ISHIUCHI MIYAKO

On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, Kering and Les Rencontres d’Arles will present the Women In Motion Award to Japanese photographer, Ishiuchi Miyako, at the Théâtre Antique d’Arles. During this special evening, she will present her work and share with the audience her personal journey and her view of women’s place in photography and society in general.

The topic of women representation permeates Ishiuchi’s work in subtle yet powerful ways. She critiques the objectification of women by reclaiming the female body as subjects of her art. Her photographs celebrate imperfections, scars, and aging, in opposition to the standards of beauty shown by mainstream media. By presenting this intimacy, Ishiuchi invites viewers to confront their own perceptions of femininity and womanhood.

Through projects like ひろしま/hiroshima and Mother’s, she confronts Japan’s wartime past and its impact on individual lives, especially women who were often overlooked in historical narratives. In her artistic practice, Ishiuchi Miyako embodies the principles of female empowerment by advocating for women’s autonomy and representation. Through her photographs, she continues to inspire dialogue on gender, culture, and memory in today’s society.

In Kyoto in 2023, Kering proudly supported the exhibition Views through my window, a dialogue between Ishiuchi Miyako and Yuhki Touyama, as part of its partnership with international photography festival Kyotographie.

THE WOMEN IN MOTION LAB 2024: I’M SO HAPPY YOU ARE HERE, JAPANESE WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM THE 1950S TO NOW

The third instalment of the Women In Motion LAB will highlight the contribution made by Japanese women photographers. This first collective exhibition in France dedicated to this history will feature twenty-five photographers, including Rinko Kawauchi, Yurie Nagashima, Kunié Sugiura, Tokuko Ushioda, and Eiko Yamazawa, among others. Curated by Lesley A. Martin, Mariko Takeuchi and Pauline Vermare and produced by Aperture and Les Rencontres d’Arles, the group show will take place at the Palais de l’Archevêché in Arles. Likewise entitled I’m So Happy You Are Here, Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now, this first publication on the topic, edited by Lesley A. Martin and Pauline Vermare with Carrie Cushman, Kellie Midori McCormick, and Mariko Takeuchi, will be published by Aperture in English and Textuel in French.

The first Women In Motion LAB-supported project, which ran from 2019 to 2021, funded the research that led to the French publication of a reference work – A world history of women photographers; it also supported its English edition. For the second LAB program, started in 2021, Kering and Les Rencontres d’Arles supported research to promote Bettina Grossman’s archives by the artist Yto Barrada, with an eponymous book, Bettina, and an exhibition of her work held as part of the festival in 2022.

KERING SUPPORTS TRANSCENDENCE, KYOTOGRAPHIE CELEBRATES CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHERS

Presented by Kyotographie and featuring the works of Mayumi Hosokura, Aï Iwane, Mayumi Suzuki, Hideka Tonomura and Tamaki Yoshida, this chorus of contemporary women photographers provides a glimpse into the modern complexities of Japanese society. From intimate portraits to stirring landscapes, this collection of stories illuminates the resilience, creativity, and diversity of women who actively employ photography to survive and self-express, transcending their realities and forging their own narratives.

About Ishiuchi Miyako

Ishiuchi Miyako was born in 1947 in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. She grew up in the city of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture. In 1979, she won the 4th Kimura Ihei Award for her work Apartment. In 2005, she represented Japan at the Venice Biennale with her series Mother’s, for which she photographed items inherited from her late mother. In 2007, she began her internationally renowned ひろしま/hiroshima series, for which she photographs belongings of atom bomb victims (hibakusha). In 2013, she received the Japanese Medal of Honor with purple ribbon, and in 2014 the ‘Hasselblad Award’ (known as the ‘Nobel prize for photography’).

Recent exhibitions include the solo shows Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2015), Grain and Image (Yokohama Museum of Art, 2017), Ishiuchi Miyako (Each Modern, Taiwan, 2022), Ishiuchi Miyako (Stills, Edinburgh, UK, 2022), and group show Roppongi Crossing (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2022). Her photobook Frida: Love and Pain (Iwanami Shoten) was published in 2016. Ishiuchi’s works are part of the permanent collections of Tokyo’s National Museum of Modern Art, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, the Yokohama Museum of Art, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Tate Modern.

About Women In Motion

Kering’s commitment to women is at the heart of the Group’s priorities and extends, through Women In Motion, to the field of arts and culture, where gender inequalities are still glaring, even though creation is one of the most powerful vectors for change.
In 2015, Kering launched Women In Motion at the Festival de Cannes with the ambition of highlighting women in cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. The program has since expanded in a major way to photography, but also to art, design, choreography, and music. Through its Awards, the program recognizes inspirational figures and emerging female talent, while its Talks and Podcasts provide an opportunity for leading personalities to share their views on the representation of women in their profession.
Since it was created, Women In Motion has become a platform of choice that contributes to changing mind sets and thinking on the place of women – and the recognition they receive – in the arts and culture.

About the Rencontres d’Arles

Through exhibitions held in various exceptional heritage sites around the city, the Rencontres d’Arles has contributed to supporting worldwide photographic heritage every summer since 1970, and in so doing has become a melting pot for contemporary creation. A true cultural incubator for artists, the Rencontres d’Arles is an annual hub for photographic creation. Echoing and promoting artistic reflections and practices at a crossroads of disciplines, the Rencontres d’Arles each year presents the work of more than 130 artists and curators, through around forty exhibitions in venues with specially designed scenographies. For an ever more discerning public, the festival reveals trends, forges new paths, explores, and questions the status of the changing image, creating content that reflects the sociological and geographical diversity of our world. The 55th edition of the Rencontres d’Arles will take place from July 1 to September 29, 2024.

About Kering

A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin, Ginori 1735 as well as Kering Eyewear and Kering Beauté. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: “Empowering Imagination”.

For more information
Please visit the Women In Motion press section