“In the world of photography, we typically hide behind our cameras and our images. Many of us are shy and would prefer to stay behind the camera, not in front of it. And then that starts to extend into our online brand as well,” writes celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart at PetaPixel. He tells the story of a recent meeting he had with a big-deal agency art director who sees hundreds of photographers a year; when it became obvious that his portfolio wasn’t impressing, he gambled on getting personal. “I said, ‘I know you’re busy but can I show you some other stuff?’” recalls Cowart, who went to show the AD not his commercial photos, but the work he was most passionate about—including his “Voices of Haiti” series.

Photographer Tim Matsui has won a $25,000 Fledgling Fund grant for his project “Leaving the Life.” Matsui will use money to produce several videos, each about 15 minutes in length, to spur dialogue about sex trafficking of minors in the US, reports PDN Pulse. Each video will be tailored for a different audience: One, for instance, will examine prostitution among minors from the perspective of law enforcement, which traditionally treats minors in the sex trade as criminals rather than victims. The Fledgling Fund provides filmmakers with grants to “move audiences to action” with outreach and audience engagement initiatives.

For a weekend of peace and love, art and music (is this beginning to sound familiar?) grab your camping gear and hop the Metro North Harlem Line to the last stop. After just two hours, you’ll emerge in the hamlet of Wassaic, New York (pop. 1,200), just about as far from the urban jungle as you can imagine. The three-day Wassaic Summer Festival — a free, multidisciplinary celebration of art, music, film and dance, now in its 7th year — will feature more than 100 ...