New Orleans Jazz Fest Volunteer Photographers 2014

The Volunteer Photographer Program is a community outreach project of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation's Archive. The program provides documentation of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell for the Foundation Archive, capturing not only the stages and music but also the "internal culture" of Jazz Fest—the food, art, culture, and people who attend the festival. The program joins photographers from a variety of backgrounds with the Festival and Archive to provide the unique experience of photographing the world-renowned New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Volunteer Photographers must be at least 18 years of age. Applicant categories include Student, Amateur, and Professional. Selected photographers must be able to manage and edit hundreds or thousands of digital images. The work is physically demanding, requiring photographers to walk many miles around the Fair Grounds Race Course while managing their own photography gear. Weather conditions vary—rain with mud or shine with dust—and can be very hot. Festival dates are April 25-27 and May 1-4, 2014.

Selected volunteer photographers are responsible for providing the Archive with CDs of images taken at the festival along with a complete index of images on the disk. The images are owned by the photographer and may be used to promote the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation for non-commercial and educational purposes. A four-person jury consisting of one NOJHF Archive Committee member and three photographers/curators will select photographers based on Artistic Merit (60%) and Experience photographing live cultural events and/or professional reliability (40%). No more than 150 applications can be accepted.