How to get your work featured in ZEKE

 

The answer is quite simple. You need to start with an exhibit of your work on the Social Documentary Network (SDN) website. 

 

When we begin to plan for the next issue of ZEKE, we do a few things. We scan recent work on the website for stories we feel are the strongest, and we then look how we can combine some of this work into themes that are timely and would be of interest to a broad range of our audience interested in global issues. But the strength of the work comes first.

 

The unique strength of SDN is that we encourage work from photographers from all over the world. Your resume is not what is important. It is only the strength of your visual imagery and ability to tell a story that matters to us.

 

If you have not yet submitted a project to SDN, follow these steps.

 

You will need to have the following to create an exhibit

• A minimum of six images (no maximum for a standard exhibit)

• An exhibit title

• An abstract explaining in words (in English) the context of the project. This can be up to 180 words

• Captions for each image. Captions can be very simple, or you can make them detailed

• Images must be a minimum of 1500 pixels in one dimension

• A free membership with SDN
   

Four steps to create and submit an exhibit

• Login to your account and follow the prompts to create and submit an exhibit

• You will need to also select a country where the photographs were taken, a date range, and select up to six categories that are used to search exhibits on SDN.

• After submitting, we will review your project within three business days (usually much sooner) and either approve or get back to you with comments. Greater than 90% of all exhibits do get approved.

• After the exhibit is approved, you make the exhibit live when you are ready. The exhibit will be live on the SDN website for one year at no cost. After a year, you can choose to pay to renew. Either way, you receive the full benefits of submitting a project to SDN. You do not pay anything if your exhibit is not accepted.

 

Other optional features

• While you must include an abstract and captions, you may submit other information such as a photographer's statement, contact information, additional credits, and any other information you feel is relevant to your project. While the abstract is limited to 180 words, these other fields have no limit.

• Once you have a live exhibit on SDN, you can create a profile page which includes your bio, a head shot (if you choose), a featured photo, and a list of all your exhibits on SDN. This is an example of an SDN profile page.

• At any time you can hide the exhibit, hide individual photos, or edit the text.

 

Benefits of submitting your work to SDN

• Your work is eligible to be featured in ZEKE magazine

• Your are eligible to be awarded Featured Photographer of the Month

• Most work gets featured on the SDN home page

• Each month we send out an email Spotlight to our nearly 9,000 global contacts featuring the strongest work submitted each month. Among these 9,000 contacts are leading picture editors, curators, publishers, and others who provide other opportunities for photographers

• We highlight projects in our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds

• You become part of a global community of documentary photographers.

 
If you do not yet have a free membership with SDN (the first step in creating an exhibit), click here.