Submit to the current theme

For my user generated content assignment, I submitted a picture to Pictory. Unfortunately, the topic won't close until after this class is over, so I won't be able to find out if they selected my photo or to see any feedback which is a little disappointing.

When I was looking at the different options for this assignment, when I saw Pictory for the first time I knew that was where I wanted to share my content. The site impressed me with how beautiful it is. The pictures are amazing, the stories compelling and the organization and layout of the site itself is nicely done. Clean look, easy to read and navigate, the overall experience is really enjoyable. My wife and I spent a long time looking at the Overseas and Overwhelmed and Platonic Love Stories themes. Setting up my account was as easy and fast as I could have hoped for.


When looking at the Themes open for submission page, I immediately thought I would choose the

Take Me Out to the Ballpark

theme. Nothing I love more than sports. The only problem was, I didn't have any good sports pictures. At least, none taken by me, which I figure is a minimum requirement for "user generated content". So after looking through all of the pictures on my computer, I decided to use the

Open Theme

Which is described like this:

 "Submit a great captioned photo on any subject to this theme without a theme."

 I choose a photo I took of the child lock on the cabinet under the sink at my best friend's house, the place where the drain cleaner and other nasty stuff is stored. The child lock is not attached because the "child protection" people gave their foster daughter back to her meth addicted mother. I picked this one because, while not the strongest photo, it had the most  powerful story. Pictory seems to be about stories as much as pictures. Here is their mission statement:

"Pictory is an online photojournalism magazine that documents love, loss, family, travel, and our lives and culture in big pictures."

So I figured that photo was the best one for Pictory. It certainly met the all four categories. I really liked the picture and found it really powerful. Obviously, it means a lot to me because it is about my best friend, but I hoped it would translate to other people. Given I hadn't used any identifying information, I didn't worry about telling such a personal story.

After I submitted my photo and story, the page disappeared. I figured I could at least find it under my user profile, but no. When I went back to the theme page, I just got a

You have already submitted to this theme. Thanks!

message. After a couple  minutes, I got a confirmation email that said:

You should hear back within a few weeks about whether or not it has been chosen for a showcase. Thank you very much!

--Laura Brunow Miner, Pictory Editor

The email also contained my story text, so I could copy it to my Flickr page.

Given how amazing the photos on this site are, I will be really surprised if the choose my photo. But I had a lot of fun doing it either way.