Erik Satie is the patron saint of Pixels, and we love René Magritte as well.

It has come to my attention that some of my submission guidelines have been misinterpreted by some, and misrepresented by others, sometimes intentionally, to many iphonographers out there. I tried to make our policies very clear, but I guess I failed in that regard.

First off, there is no exclusivity requirement here on Pixels for any image or artist. The only thing I ask is that an artist not post an image on any sites that allow computer or off-iphone editing of images, if the artist wants us to consider that image for inclusion in Apple events or gallery shows that we put together. We believe that contests are anathema, an outrage, to art as well.

The reason for this is simple: we put tremendous effort into presenting works in a professional manner to give the utmost respect to the art and the artist.  We believe, with no equivocation, that the medium is defined by the device, the iPhone itself, that contests, rigged as many are, are abhorrent, and that posting on such sites is tacit approval of such policies and games. But that is the business of the individual artist. We would not prevent anyone from posting anywhere: it is the artist’s right. By the same token, we decline, as is our right, to print and promote and display (as at Apple events or in galleries) images that are also on those sites.

We also decline to publish or exhibit images which have been processed on any device other than the iPhone.  We have witnessed, first-hand, over and over, at our gallery shows, the reaction people have when they are told that there was no computer manipulation allowed. It is important to the public that it be so. It is important to the Pixels’ artists who do all their work on the iPhone that it be so, that we do not publish computer-processed work next to theirs and also call it iPhonography. Computer-manipulated imagery no longer is iPhonography. We must look out for all the Pixels’ artists who do the hard work of bringing forth their beautiful works of magical realism on the tiny iPhone screen, with the buggy apps we know so well, and love.

We are not requiring, nor have we ever required, any kind of exclusivity regarding images. Nor have we ever made any claim on copyright of images. Our submission policy is crystal clear here: Copyrights belong to the artist always. At any time, any artist may ask to have his or her pictures removed from Pixels and we will do so immediately.

We do have a number of well-known, well-respected, and loved artists who post exclusively to Pixels, their own websites, and perhaps Flickr, by choice, simply because they want their art to be associated only with the work of their esteemed peers on this heavily curated site. We are grateful for that loyalty.

We hope that we will be able in coming months to leverage our connections with Apple, with the press, and within the art world to materially benefit them, as well as any other artists who are willing to abide by our simple policies, as we continue on our campaign to bring forth and present this beautiful and emergent art form to the world, via galleries, museums, the web and other media, as well as fine art print sales.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, we hope to make the idea of being exclusive to Pixels, as with a gallery or an agent, a very attractive proposition for artists, but we are not quite ready for that. We are working on it. However, exclusivity will never be a requirement for having one’s work displayed here on Pixels.

Make no mistake: at Pixels, artists are always in charge of their works. Pixels is nothing without the pictures that come in from around the world every single day. But inasmuch we respect and honor every artist and his/her work, we would like to remind artists that any relationship is a two-way street and we ask for the same kind of respect in return. We work on our artists’ behalf, and for that of the iphonographic medium itself, every single day: we love doing so.

I hope this clarifies things. I welcome anybody to write to me directly for clarification regarding any aspect of this site, our events, our policies, and our plans for the future.

—Knox