Noorderlicht International Photofestival - 21st Edition

 

Today, August 31st, An Ocean of Possibilities, the twenty-first edition of the Noorderlicht International Photofestival, will kick off and run until October 26th.

The Festival has this to say: We hope to see you in the Fries Museum, and at the ancillary locations, the Nature Museum Fryslân, Zaailand and the Blokhuispoort in Leeuwarden. This year more than 60 photographers participate in the festival with work that in most cases has not been shown before in the Netherlands, or will have its world premiere in Leeuwarden. Visitors can enjoy a cross-section of the many forms in which photography manifests itself: as photojournalism, documentary photography, art and fashion photography, including mixed media collages and projects that work with found footage or arose out of a collaboration. What unifies this diversity is the way in which the photographers - individually and out of personal engagement - give a voice to the central theme of An Ocean of Possibilities: the quest for renewed control over our future in the realization that the current status quo is not sustainable, and that we are not powerless by-standers, but can have a part in how that future unfolds. We hope that An Ocean of Possibilities will be a starting point to think how and to what extent we can do things differently, and perhaps improve on them. Consider the collected work as a blueprint, a manifesto and an invitation to reflect. In turbulent times like these, it is easy to lose sight of all the constructive endeavours that are happening simultaneously. During the festival, we will create a digital platform where visitors can share their own experiences, stories or examples of ingenuity and ardour. We are curious to find out what visions inspire you to live more consciously, or to plot your own course. 

Because Noorderlicht is an actively international event, An Ocean of Possibilities will travel to Singapore, where it is part of the Singapore International Photo Festival. From October 31 to December 28, 2014 the main exhibition with the work of 31 photographers will be on view at the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. 
The festival magazine, also available in printed version, can be previewed and browsed online via the following LINK.

Noorderlicht International Photofestival 2014 31 August to 26 October 2014 Open Tue- Sun 11 am - 5 pm Main location: Fries Museum Wilhelminaplein 92 8911 BS Leeuwarden The Netherlands.

PHOTOBOOK AWARD KASSEL 2014 - BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Now in its seventh edition photography experts from around the world were asked to nominate their favourite photobook from the previous year and to justify their choice. The result - 30 books from 34 jurors.

Christopher Anderson »Stump« – selected by Thiijs groot Wassink / WassinkLundgren
Paul Andriesse »Compared to What « – selected by Cuny Janssen
Ruth van Beek »The Arrangement« – selected by Willem van Zoetendaal
Pawel Bownik »Disassembly« – selected by Thomas Sauvin
Frédéric Brenner »An Archeology of Fear and Desire« – selected by Laura Moya
Lard Buurman »Africa Junctions« – selected by Viviane Sassen
John Cage and William Gedney »Iris Garden« – selected by Jason Fulford
Piergiorgio Casotti »Sometimes I cannot smile« – selected by Ed Templeton
Mark Cohen »Dark Knees« – selected by Kevin Messina
Diverse »The Unphotographable« – selected by Paul Schiek
Eamonn Doyle »i« – selected by Martin Parr
Verónica Fieiras »the disappeared (1st and 2nd edition)« – selected by Josef Chladek
Joan Fontcuberta »Trepat« – selected by Xavier Barall and Timothy Prus
Jim Goldberg »Rich and Poor« – selected by Mikhael Subotzky
Guido Guidi »Veramente« – selected by Delphine Bedel
David Hornillos »Mediodía« – selected by Julián Barón and Ricardo Cases
Thilde Jensen »The Canaries« – selected by Gerry Badger and John Gossage
Vladislav Krasnoshek and Sergiy Lebedynskyy »Euromaidan« – selected by Hannah Watson
Jochen Lempert »Phenotype« – selected by Sebastian Arthur Hau
David Magnusson »Purity« – selected by Markus Schaden and Carlos Spottorno
Thomas Mailaender »The Night Climbers of Cambridge« – selected by Rémi Faucheux
Peter Mitchell »Strangely Familiar« – selected by Gordon MacDonald
Sakiko Nomura »Tamano« – selected by Nobuyoshi Araki
Momo Okabe »Bible« – selected by Manik Katyal
Aleix Plademunt »Almost There« – selected by Tony Cederteg
Michael Schmidt »Natur« – selected by Thomas Weski
Giovanna Silva »Inch by Inch House by House Alley by Alley« – selected by Kent Klich
Mikhael Subotzki »Ponte City« – selected by Susan Meiselas
Vasantha Yogananthan »Piémanson« – selected by Sonia Berger
Daisuke Yokota »Linger« – selected by José Pedro Cortes

Kummer & Herrman - excellence in design

Utrecht based Dutch design team Kummer & Herrman highlight a clutch of outstanding design projects in their latest newsletter. Here are just three of Kummer & Herrman's recent projects, all photography based.

1. The exhibition 'On the Move – Storytelling in Contemporary Photography and Graphic Design' at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam focuses on recent developments in photography and reveals the myriad ways in which artists and photographers build their narratives in dialogue with graphic designers. Exhibition and supporting publication designed by K & H.

2. The PhotoBookMuseum gives a tribute to the central form of expression within photography: The photobook. For the initial phase of the museum, Photoszene Köln and Foundation Schaden.com present 24 exhibitions and PhotoBookStudies in a space of over 5000 square meters. A diverse parallel programme includes lectures, workshops, discussions and signings. The K & H team has created the visual identity in all its manifestations.

 3. We Love Britain! The Sprengel Museum Hannover commissioned K & H to produce the  campaign and catalogue for the exhibition 'We Love Britain!' with photographs by Martin Parr. Parr was asked to search for possible traces of Britishness in and around Hannover, the background being not only the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the crowning of the Elector of Hannover as George I of England in 1714 but also the more recent history of Lower Saxony as part of the former British zone of occupation.

 You can see more on the Kummer & Herrman website HERE.

PHOTOBOOK BRISTOL - The Future of Photobooks

For those who didn't attend Photobook Bristol in June, you can watch the panel discussion THE FUTURE OF PHOTOBOOKS with Michael Mack, Dewi Lewis, Thijs groot Wassink and Stephen Gill moderated by Martin Parr - HERE. In 48 minutes the video tells you all you ever wanted to know about getting your photobook out there...

PHOTOBOOKSTORE - August NEWS

It's always a pleasure to get the UK based PHOTOBOOKSTORE monthly newsletter. Here is a photobook seller who really knows their business and informs as well as sells. There are reviews, recommendations, video previews and a lot more.
You can go to the PHOTOBOOKSTORE site HERE. And while you are there you can sign up to their newsletter.

INFOCUS - an exhibition of self-published photobooks at the Phoenix Art Museum

Running until September 28 the Phoenix Art Museum presents an exhibition of self-published photobooks. Folllowing an open call, 271 submissions from 15 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australasia were received. The exhibition represents the 151 books chosen by a panel of industry professionals. 

The Museum has this to say:  The purpose of the INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks is to explore the range of ways that artists are using newly available commercial technologies to self-publish photobooks in order to express themselves. Photography’s history is inextricably linked to the book, starting with examples from the dawn of photographic technology, such as Anna Atkins’ handmade Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843) or William Henry Fox Talbot’s serial Pencil of Nature (1844). Throughout much of the twentieth century, photographers who wanted to present their work in book form worked with established publishers who often provided editing, design, and distribution, and who oversaw the printing and binding process.  Now, in the early years of the twenty-first century, photographers are using new printing technologies and internet-based services to self-publish high quality photobooks, with a new degree of involvement and control. The photographic book is experiencing a renaissance.

You can see a full list of the selected bookworks HERE and more on the Phoenix Art Museum's website HERE.

The Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information, 170,000 photographs online

Headed by Yale Professor Laura Wexler, historian of race, gender and photography and supported by a team of scholars, archivists and researchers,  Photogrammar is a web-based platform for organizing, searching, and visualizing the 170,000 photographs from 1935 to 1945 created by the United State’s Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI).

The site is amazing! Using a series of interactive maps the archive can be viewed by photographer, date and location. There is a tree map which allows viewers to browse by classification. For example under the heading People As Such there are 12,241 photographs. Within that there are 73 photographs of Migratory Farm Workers where one finds Dorothea Lange's famous photograph Destitute Pea Pickers in California made in 1936.

Photogrammar is an incredibly rich resource, you can go there HERE.

The PhotoBookMuseum opened in Cologne this week

 

The much anticipated PhotoBookMuseum opened in Cologne this week. The brain child of photobook expert Markus Schaden, the museum will help further consolidate the place of the photobook as an important art-form in its own right.

The PhotoBookMuseum is a tribute to the central form of expression within photography: The photobook. As a public institution it will create a platform for exhibitions, archives, collections, events and education dedicated to the photobook. To introduce the concept, the Photoszene Köln will present an international exposition at the Carlswerk in Cologne-Mülheim from August to October 2014. The program will include exhibitions, workshops, PhotoBookStudies, talks and discussions.

A stella group of photographers were at the opening including Oliver Sieber, Carlos Spottorno, Todd Hido, Ed Templeton and David Alan Harvey.

You can see more including the full programme of events HERE.

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' GALLERY presents: PRIMROSE - Early Colour Photography in Russia

PRIMROSE - Early Colour Photography in Russia showcases the appearance and development of colour in Russian photography from the 1860s to the 1970s. It presents both the history of Russian photography and the history of Russia in photography, depicting life over the course of a century, as the country endured unprecedented upheaval. The exhibition is arranged in chronological order and shows the development of photographic colour technology and the social transformations which altered the role of photography in Russian society. Early experiments range from hand-tinting of images to early 20th century tri-plate isochromatic photographs and autochromes. After the 1917 Revolution photomontage quickly developed in the Russia of the 1920s and 1930s, facilitating the creation of visual utopias. Bolshevik propaganda utilised this ‘visual weapon’ and the colour red became dominant. From the mid-1940s to the early 1960s costly colour film was used only by a small number of official publications to produce the Socialist realism that served the Stalinist ideological machine. From the early 1960s the Khrushchev Thaw stimulated the growth of humanistic photography in the USSR. In the 1970s unofficial culture developed rapidly and inexpensive colour transparency film was made available to the general public. Underground photographers used it to create slideshows accessible to a small circle of like-minded people for home viewing. The exhibition includes work by Pyotr Pavlov, Pyotr Vedenisov, Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Ivan Shagin, Georgy Petrusov, Dmitry Baltermants, Boris Mikhailov and other classics of Russian photography. Curated by Olga Sviblova, Director of Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow / Moscow House of Photography Museum. The exhibition is part of the UK-Russia Year of Culture 2014.

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' GALLERY, 16–18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW

Wim Wenders and Mary Zournazi - INVENTING PEACE

I've just been reading the collaborative book, INVENTING PEACE, a dialogue between photographer and film maker Wim Wenders and Australian writer and philosopher Mary Zournazi. The book is a compelling and insightful read. Inventing Peace revolves around the question of how we look at the world, but do not see it when there is so much war, injustice, suffering and violence.

What are the ethical and moral consequences of looking, but not seeing, and most of all: what has become to the notion of PEACE in all this? In the form of a written dialogue, Wim Wenders and Mary Zournazi consider this question as one of the fundamental questions of our times and consider the need to reinvent a visual and moral language for peace. Inspired by various cinematic, philosophical, literary and artistic examples Wenders and Zournazi reflect on the need for a change of perception in everyday life as well as in the creation of images. In its unique style and method, Inventing Peace demonstrates an approach to peace through sacred, ethical and spiritual means, helping to make peace visible and tangible in new and unforeseen ways.

 Among other things Wim Wenders has this to say, a comment that is profound, sensible and obvious. American politics should never have declared "WAR" on terrorism. That upgraded terrorists to soldiers... and brought our own morals down to theirs: into the pits. There WAS an alternative... for a small loophole in time, in late September and early October 2001, as America was mourning, and as it had ALL the world's sympathy, there was potential of hope and a future for peace. The remote possibility of another way of thinking. The vague realisation that the "Right of the Stronger" could be replaced by the "Right of the Wiser". But then the opposite happened and Bush imposed the "Right of the Foolish", combining American Strength with the desire for Revenge, and coupled with an unhealthy greed for influence, resources and profit. In that loophole in time, an alternative existed and that would have been the "War on Injustice". Not to fight the symptoms of terrorism, but rather their roots: Poverty and Inequality... that would have decapitated Terrorism, instead of pushing millions towards it.

You can read more on the site INVENTING PEACE - HERE.