Perspective: A place for photographers and artists to showcase Dakota life and beauty

Every other issue of Dakotafire magazine features a section called “Perspective.” The goal of this section is to highlight a scene or work of art that shows some insight into Dakota life. The section also includes space for the artist or photographer to share a little bit about his or her perspective on the world, and more specifically how he or she sees the Dakotas.

Here are some details of what we’re looking for:

• The artwork can be in almost any medium, but what needs to be sent to us is an image of at least 300 dpi. Images should be horizontals; to fit on one page, the image should be 10.25 inches wide, 7.5 inches tall. Extreme horizontals to fit on two pages are also welcome. They should be 20.5 inches wide, 7.5 inches tall.
• PHOTOGRAPHY: The images must have been taken in North or South Dakota. The scene can be of nearly anything: Dakota scenery, or images from events, for example. Images of people are acceptable, though the image should show that person’s connection to place.
• ARTWORK: The images should depict some aspect of life in North or South Dakota. The description should explain what aspect of life is depicted, and why that aspect was chosen.
• One scene we do not want, however, is “abandoned” art—decrepit farmsteads, rusty cars, etc. We know these images can be exceptionally beautiful, but Dakotafire’s mission is sparking rural revival; most of the time, simply reminiscing about the way things used to be doesn’t help us to that goal. The one exception to this guideline is if something old and something new reside in the same image, which can tell the story of change over time.
• Images that are connected with the season of the issue may receive preference. For example, images that depict a fall scene may be saved for the September/October issue.
• Every image should be submitted with a 50- to 75-word description of what’s in the image, plus how that image relates to the artist’s perspective on the world and the Dakotas specifically.

We don’t pay for publication of images submitted for this section, but artists or photographers can include a tagline with information about where the artwork can be viewed or purchased. Dakotafire magazine goes out to about 25,000 households in the Dakotas—this is a chance for marketing to them.

Taglines should follow this format or something similar: “Fred Jones is a photographer in Milbank, S.D. His work can be purchased at …”

READY TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK?

E-mail a small version (less than 5 MB file size) of the image to heidi {at} dakotafire.net. If we are interested in publishing your image, we’ll request a larger version of the image. Include the 50- to 75-word description, plus a tagline of up to 25 words.