I have the honor to be a reviewer at the first Lens Culture FotoFest Paris Meeting Place this November. It will be held at the same school where I teach Visual Identity, Sp?©os. Registration for photographers starts today, 6 May. Here’s the press release with more details:
A new forum for photography portfolio reviews to take place in Paris on November 15-17, 2010
Lens Culture and FotoFest International are delighted to announce a new forum for international photography portfolio reviews: Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010.
Over the course of three days, 120 photographers will engage in one-on-one meetings and portfolio reviews with 40 international photography experts, including museum curators, gallery owners, festival directors, publishers and representatives from photo agencies. These meetings offer photographers tremendous opportunities for career development, including potential editorial assignments, book publication contracts, art gallery representation, participation in international exhibitions, feature articles in magazines, as well as extensive business networking.
Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010 is the first formal portfolio review event of this scale to take place in Paris. The meetings will take place at Sp?©os Paris Photographic Institute, with the generous support of Sp?©os and Paris Photo.
Registration opens on May 6, 2010, and the event is expected to fill all spaces quickly.
For more details, see the website at www.fotofest-paris.com.
“We believe that formal portfolio reviews like this are among the most proactive and efficient ways for serious, career-oriented photographers to meet many international photography experts and colleagues in a professional atmosphere,” said Jim Casper, publisher of Lens Culture. “Photographers connect directly with people who can help them with artistic and business goals. It’s great for the reviewers too – they discover new talent, as well as the latest work of photographers who are already established.”
November 2010 is the ideal time for lovers of photography to be in Paris. Lens Culture FotoFest 2010 takes place immediately before Paris Photo (the world’s largest international fair and marketplace for contemporary photography), and during the Month of Photography (which will feature photography-related exhibits and events at more than 50 locations throughout Paris).
The Paris portfolio review sessions are modeled on FotoFest’s internationally respected Meeting Place portfolio reviews that FotoFest pioneered more than 20 years ago in Houston. Portfolio reviews based on FotoFest have been the catalysts for exhibitions, publications, and wider acclaim for many artists.
“When we were freelance photographers in the early ’80s, Wendy Watriss and I deeply understood the need for a program that coupled talent with opportunity. That was the genesis of FotoFest and the first Meeting Place portfolio review that we started in 1986. After more than 20 years of success and many refinements, we’re happy to be bringing this program to Paris in 2010. We are very pleased to be collaborating with Lens Culture, Spéos and Paris Photo in this venture.” – Fred Baldwin, FotoFest Chairman and Co-Founder
About Lens Culture www.lensculture.com: Lens Culture is a popular and influential online magazine about contemporary photography and shared territories. The website, established in 2004, welcomes more than 8,000 unique visitors every day, from more than 50 countries. Lens Culture also organizes an annual photo competition (Lens Culture International Exposure Awards) and runs an online gallery selling the work of selected artists.
About FotoFest International www.fotofest.org: FotoFest created the first international Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art in the United States. FotoFest is an international non-profit photographic arts and education organization based in Houston, Texas. FotoFest’s purpose is to promote the international exchange of art and ideas through the photographic arts. FotoFest gives priority to the discovery and presentation of important talent. The programs work globally and locally, bringing together an international vision of art and cross-cultural exchange.
About Spéos Paris Photographic Institute www.speos.fr: Founded in 1985, Spéos is one of the premiere international photography schools in Paris. With an international reach, and offering courses in English and French, Spéos is linked with some of the world’s finest universities, including Rhode Island School of Design, Hamilton College, Chicago Art Institute, and Rochester Institute of Technology, among others.
About Paris Photo www.parisphoto.fr: Paris Photo is the world’s largest international photography fair and marketplace. This annual event attracts collectors and photography lovers from all over the world. This coming year, a special emphasis will be on contemporary photography from Central and Eastern Europe.
For more info, contact Jim Casper: contact@fotofest-paris.com
