About humble arts foundation

Founded by Amani Olu in 2005 as "Humble Media," Humble reorganized itself in January 2007 as Humble Arts Foundation a not-for-profit corporation that seeks to advance the careers of emerging fine art photographers by providing grants and exhibition opportunities.

group show is Humble's premier and most successful project. A monthly online gallery featuring one photograph from 18-24 different photographers, group show is one of the largest and leading showcases of fine art photography in the United States and abroad. There is no central thematic requirement, but each show offers rich visual commentary on contemporary society. In addition to following through with its commitment to advancing the work created by emerging photographers,
Humble, through group show, has also featured established artists such as Alec Soth, Jen DeNike, Pieter Hugo, Brian Ulrich, Angela Boatwright and Todd Hido.

After 18 months of planning, Humble independently released its first book, Story, in December 2006. A collection of black-and-white photographs, Story treads the line between traditional documentary and staged narrative. It references traditions ranging from the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson to "postmodern" tableaux photographers such as Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jeff Wall, and Gregory
Crewdson. It also includes new work by emerging photographers like Mikael Kennedy, Todd Deutsch, and Jack Bridges.

To raise awareness about Humble's mission, and demonstrate the relationship between its projects, Humble launched its first physical exhibition at 3rd Ward in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with two shows, "New in Town: group show Pinned Up" and "Story." Both were gallery extensions of the aforementioned projects.

Following on the success and popularity of group show, Humble released solo show in February 2007. Each month, solo show exhibits 16-24 photographs from a photographer previously featured in group show, departing from the one-image-per-photographer format to showcase adeptly curated, long-term, focused bodies of work. The premier show exhibited the work of New York-based
photographer Rachelle Mozman, who examines the lives of young children living in isolated exurban development communities in New Jersey and Panama, Central America. Shortly after the online show, the piece was picked up as a sixteen page spread by the Chinese glossy art and fashion Magazine Vision.

In March 2007 Humble launched its Chelsea debut at New Century Artists Gallery simply titled "group show." The exhibition featured 21 veterans of group show further heightening the buzz for both the site and photographers. The show generated a stable of online press, and rave reviews in Mass Appeal Magazine and local paper Chelsea Now. Shortly following the show, in April 2007, Spin
Magazine invited Humble to co-curate a benefit auction for VH1's Save the Music Foundation at the legendary Milk Studios, and raised over $25,000 for the cause.

In June 2007 Humble's curatorial director Jon Feinstein curated Humble's first themed group show at Gitana Rosa gallery in Williamsburg. The show featured six group show alums Jason Lazarus, Reka Reisinger, Stephanie Diamond, Rachel Sussman, Christian Siekmeier, and Angela Smith, whose work addressed issues of human interaction with the natural world. The show received a great deal of
online press, most notably in Photo District News' online blog, and on galleryhopper.org.

In August 2007, Humble established the Grant for Emerging Photographers (GEP) to support fine art photography projects in the United States and abroad. It is a modest grant of $500 – $1,000 awarded twice annually to one outstanding photographer, and is intended to cover miscellaneous expenses such as travel, hotel, film, processing fees, etc.

Also in the month of August, Humble launched its limited edition print initiative, a project put forth to help emerging fine art photographers sell work and connect with buyers andcollectors.