Sursly

A few weeks ago my friend Adam Baker and I launched the preview/submission page for out new website, Pull Focus (pullfoc.us). For almost six months we brainstormed a theme-based photography exhibition site and put the pieces together. And on January 1st we happily launched the first theme with a beautiful photo from Ashley Baxter: The Very Beginning.

The idea is pretty basic, each week two things happen: 1) we announce a new theme (either a word or phrase) and photographers (of any level) can submit one photo with a brief description. 2) we launch the previous week’s theme, featuring only one photo from one person to represent the entire theme. We’ve capped the number of submissions at 50 for the time being, only to keep things manageable from our end and to encourage photographers to submit early. We’re really excited, and for the time being, neither one of us has plans to submit to any theme (which makes sense, since we’re also the jury).

We were excited to receive entries for the first theme from all over the world. It was very difficult to choose a photo, not only because it was the first theme but because of the quality of each entry. But we’re not complaining, that is a wonderful “problem” to have. We’re currently exploring options for displaying photos that almost made the cut.

As photographers Adam and I thought long and hard about the submission process and treatment of select images. The response so far has been positive, both from photographers and general site visitors (people who likely wouldn’t submit a photo). We’re open to feedback as we expect Pull Focus to evolve. We did our best to make the site work on your mobile device and tablet, but really, to do these photos justice you’ll want to browse it on the biggest screen you have.

Oh, and you only have a few days left to submit a photo to the latest theme: At Your Own Risk. Who wants a Pull Focus t-shirt?