Over the past few months, Jongchul Lee has been getting around. The Internet and elsewhere. Some recent highlights include 1000 Words Photography Magazine, a few select portraits over at The Modern & Contemporary Art Blog and a write-up on the always forward thinking Asian Photography Blog.

We apologize for the relative silence over the past few weeks, but life has a way of getting in the way of blogging every now and then. On an aside, ASIAN Geographic has just launched its Asia Without Borders Photo Competition 2009, with categories for landscapes, portraits and creatures. Go forth.

Aaron Joel Santos will be traveling from Vietnam to Charleston, SC for a few weeks in the middle of May. So goodbye tropical climate, hello… tropical climate.

Black and white guru and Ladies’ Man Hall of Famer Aaron McElroy will have ten images from his hauntingly beautiful Drift series at the Parlor Gallery’s Rare Pleasures exhibition in Asbury Park, New Jersey, opening this Saturday. The Parlor Gallery describes itself as a place that puts “a focus on mixed media, abstract, outsider, erotic, graffiti and pop-influenced work”. If you’re anywhere near the area, don’t miss it.

First off is the Scion Photo Contest, boasting cash prizes and, a rarity these days, no entree fees. There really isn’t a good reason not to submit to this one. So go ahead. Categories include portraits, events and photojournalism.

Second is The Camera Club of New York’s annual national competition. Group F4′s very own Aaron McElroy walked away with third place last year. Entry is free if you’re a member of the club; and to join the club costs $40.

Third up is a bit expensive but probably well worth the cost. The New York Photo Festival 2009 boasts itself as “The future of contemporary photography”. That’s gotta be worth the $30 and $90 entry fees, right?

Fourth on the list is the inimitable Shots Magazine’s call for entry for their 104th issue. The theme is that there is no theme. And the fee is a reasonable $15. All the darkroom kids are doing it.

Fifth is the International Photography Awards. Prices are a bit steeper at $35 for a single and $60 for a series of 2 to 5 images, but certainly nothing to scoff at considering the exposure. There’s also a list of countries that are offered discounted fees in order to encourage more entries, which is really a great idea. This one is a must.

Lastly is the annual Soho Photo National Photography Competition (I think the title is a bit redundant, but what are you going to do). You can download the prospectus from the website.

Whew. Don’t forget about the two competitions mentioned a few days back. Just scroll down the page. We’d mention them again here but that would be encouraging laziness. You’ll have to exercise those finger muscles. Until next time.

Aaron Joel Santos will have images in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, accompanying an essay on specialty shopping in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. You can view the slideshow online here:

An Old Quarter’s Timeless Lure

You can also view outtakes and alternate scenes from Hanoi on Aaron’s blog, From Swerve of Shore, here:

Old Quarter Outtakes

Aaron Joel Santos’ Long Bien Bridge Project is currently being featured on the Invision Images website, an agency out of Athens, Greece that represents him. The agency website is featuring an extended cut of the series, including numerous images not seen on the photographer’s personal website.

Photography Served is also currently featuring a selection of images from Aaron’s Portraits from Asia series.

Stay tuned for information on several upcoming calls for entry and contests and such.

First, The Eddie Adams Workshop: Barnstorm XXII is one of the biggest things going for young and upcoming documentary photographers and photojournalists. If you’re accepted it’s a free four-day workshop in New York state with some of the best teachers in the world. Not to be missed.

Second is the Hey, Hot Shot! competition by the inimitable Jen Bekman and co. It’s a heavy handling fee at like $60, but the varied ways she shows and promotes her artists, even the ones that aren’t chosen as the final five or whatever, may make it well worth the money. There’s also a blog that keeps an eye on the best, most recent entries.

Good luck.

You can find all the details and rules HERE.

Group F4 member and dashing international playboy Aaron Joel Santos has recently signed on with two photographic agencies, Wonderful Machine and Invision Images, for support and representation in the US and across Europe and Japan, respectively.

He is also speaking to a gallery in Hanoi, Vietnam about participating in a local arts festival happening in October, as well as hanging some work from his Long Bien Bridge Project on their walls. He will be accompanied by many other (doubtless better) artists, both photographers and painters, at the festival, which will kick off the beginning of the year leading up to the capital’s 1000-year anniversary. More news as it breaks.