See.me Exposure Awards

[bernie west]

Does anyone know anything about this competition?  More specifically if it is a legit operation and if so, how respectable it is?  I managed to enter the free part of it via a recommendation from 500px, but found it to be utterly unprofessional.  I gave them some feedback and left it at that.  But yesterday I receive an email from them saying they want me to enter my portrait into the paid part of the competition which is apparently being displayed and judged at the Louvre in Paris.  If it's shown in the Louvre, then I figure it could be good exposure for me to pay the $55 to enter.  But if this is just a money generating exercise for them and they are sending this same email to basically anyone who has a non-amateur image entered, then I don't want to have anything more to do with this seemingly unprofessional competition.

So does anyone have any experience or opinions about this competition?

[spidermike]

I have no experience of it but have looked at it before. It seems to be a genuine competiton but along the lines of 'facebook photos voted on by facebook users' - the 'entry fee' seems more of their cut for you getting a higher level exposure for your work. It sounds to me like an organisation wanting to sound bigger than it really is, some people seem to call it a scam others look on it as a disorganised bunch who take ages to get anything done.

This seems to sum it up
http://pando.com/2013/01/18/accidental-startup-see-me-now-600000-artists-strong-revamps-site/
At least they make no claim to have rights over your photos

I had a look on the Louvre website and they have nothing listed for July 13th so it is either a very low key event or so small as to not even register on their list of things to see.


PS I didn't bother entering because I did not think my photos are up to that standard.

[bernie west]

Yeah, it's probably being displayed in the back carpark...   

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... displayed and judged at the Louvre in Paris. If it's shown in the Louvre, then I figure it could be good exposure for me to pay the $55 to enter...

Apparently, it is a "private reception" for the winner, and it is a "digital display" (read: big TV screen). Sounds like a far cry from exposure for all participants. Many museums rent their space for private parties, most likely in their cafeteria section.

[bernie west]

Yeah, that's what I figured.  I gave it a miss.  I really don't like the idea of rewarding such a joke of a competition (despite all See.me's big talk about the size and reputation of it).