This summer I will reviewing at Rhubarb Rhubarb’s portfolio event ‘Collision’ here’s the press release announcing it all. Check it out, and hope to see you there… Check out Rhubarb’s website for more details: www.rhubarb-rhubarb.net

“Collision” is more than a portfolio review. The Rhubarb team is constantly researching cultural developments and activity in the image industry, and the “Collision” program is designed to immerse participants in a dynamic environment of visual and intellectual energy. The structure of formal reviews and informal social interaction is intelligently structured to encourage the easy flow of ideas, information and connections between disciplines, cultures and countries. Stephen Mayes, CEO, VII, New York

As the image worlds shift around and collide, Rhubarb’s 2010 International Review is designed to mark the changes and explore the hybrid forms of practices which are being created by photographers who fall in between, or across, the traditional categories. This year the intention is to see where documentary and commercial practices cross over into the world of fine art, giving participants the opportunity to show their work to specialists from different sectors and reviewers the chance to look at folios that may not usually come their way.

“Rhubarb has reached new levels. Every year, more diverse and challenging opportunities are offered to photographers whilst the professional, stressless and friendly atmosphere remains the same. Rhubarb was one of the key elements that kick-started my career in art photography. ” Vee Speers

As the only Portfolio Review where photographers are able to book all their reviews online in advance of the event, Rhubarb continues to attract respected reviewers from the UK, Europe and USA. Stephen Mayes, CEO of VII Photo Agency in New York and Harry Hardie from Foto8, sit alongside the commercial boys – Tim Paton, Balcony Jump Management and David Birkitt of DMB Media, connecting to fine art officianados including Stephanie Braun, Curator at the Photographers Gallery, London, and Debra Klomp Ching, of Klompching Gallery, New York.

“I am a big fan of Rhubarb’s booking system which allows me to arrange the exact appointments at the time suits me, enabling me to meet and develop working relationships with curators/editors that would have taken months to organise in the real world.” Kurt Tong

Photographers attending the Rhubarb Review are not promised anything, other than the opportunity to meet with their chosen reviewers. However, over the years there have been a succession of stories which give credit to the Rhubarb ethos, of insisting that participating photographers have had an exhibition or publication within the last three years, and are ready for international markets.

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

THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR PHOTO JOURNALISTIC CAREER

Curator Marc Prüst and Lars Boering (Lux Photo Gallery) have teamed up with Noorderlicht festival and gallery to create a one year master class for professional photojournalists and social documentary photographers. It aims at developing their skills as photographers and as marketers of their own work.

Selected photographers will get together at the gallery space of Noorderlicht in Groningen, the Netherlands. Under the direct guidance of Boering and Prüst, they will work on a themed project, for one year, in three sessions of four days each. Each meeting will be attended by at least two professionals from the photography business to instruct the photographers on photographic skills, but also on issues like marketing the work and finding a gallery. Top names from the industry will be working together with talented photographers to help them advance in their career.

The first session (starting 9 September until 12 September 2010) to aims at getting to the heart of what it is all about: the image. The participants will also get to know each other’s work and reflect on it. Main points during this session are the use of the light, composition, structure of a photographic image, and story editing. Magnum photographer Paolo Pellegrin and Financial Times photography critic Francis Hodgson will guide the students during this first gathering.

The second module (27 to 30 January 2011) turns to the contents of the story: journalistic elements like story telling, ethics, research, and setting up a long-term project. During this session, Adriaan Monshouwer, who was the secretary for the World Press Photo jury for 12 years, will give his vision on visual storytelling.

The third and final session (from 26 to 29 May 2011) focuses on getting the story out there: preparing for publication or exhibition, introducing the work to the right people. DMB Media founder David Birkitt will join the group during this session to explain the workings of the marketplace.

Each meeting will be organized around group discussions and individual meetings aimed at developing the assigned project. For each session two guest lecturers are invited to work with the group. The last two names will be announced shortly. In between the sessions Prüst and Boering will be available to answer questions, to direct participants to the right people in the business and to assist participants in the creation of their projects.

This master class sets itself apart from most classes because of its long term setup. Not just a weekend, but a year long intensive assistance to become even better at what photographers should do: making the right image for the right story.

Costs for participating in this unique project are 1750 euro ex VAT. We can also organize stay for you in Groningen, for 90 euro per night. If you want to know more: contact Marc Prüst marc@marcprust.com or Lars Boering at boering@luxphotogallery.com

Marc Prüst (1975) studied International Relations and Japanese language in the Netherlands and Japan. After graduating he started working as Project Manager Exhibitions for the World Press Photo Foundation in Amsterdam. In 2004 he became head of the Exhibition Department and, in 2005, was given the responsibility for the exhibition Things As They Are; 50 Years Photo Journalism in Context. He worked in close cooperation with curator Christian Caujolle and editor Chris Boot on both the exhibition and the award winning publication with the same name. In early 2007, he left the Netherlands for France to work with Agence VU in Paris, where he was mainly responsible for the international cultural activities of the agency. Currently Prüt is active as photography consultant and curator. www.marcprust.com

Lars Boering has been actively involved with photography for several years. He is an advisor to several (young) photographers and has (co)produced exhibitions with photographers, museums and art foundations. In 2008 he started Lux Photo Gallery in Amsterdam and as of 2010 he is also Director of the Dutch Photographers association in The Netherlands.

Noorderlicht – Distinctive, high quality and engaged Noorderlicht is a multifaceted and international podium for documentary photography. It is a place for photographers who explore their world and in their work picture its big events and everyday occurrences, and everything in between. There is scope for all genres of photography in the program, with documentary photography as the basis.
With a keen eye for developments, but averse to trends and hype, we give attention to photography of the world and the world of photography. We do this by organizing an annual photo festival, by programming exhibitions in our photogallery, by issuing specific photography commissions and by sponsoring activities to broaden understanding, skills and appreciation of photography, such as discussions, lectures and master classes. Noorderlicht supports an educational program, and in addition publishes high quality photo books and catalogues. Our exhibitions travel around the world and have been on show in galleries and museums, festivals in Europe and in, for instance, the United States, Syria, Australia and Indonesia.
Through its distinctive and responsive programming and publication of exceptional photography books Noorderlicht has built up an international reputation as an institution that is able to team socially engaged content with visual beauty.

All names of guest lecturers are provisional

The course will go through only when a minimum number of paying participants is confirmed.

Just found this announcement in my inbox… check out this opportunity to work with one of the masters of photography of our time: Antoine D’Agata. Besides being a fantastic photographer, he is a committed and strong teacher, recommended for passionate and motivated photographers.

Check the 1000 Words Blog for more details.

1000 Words is proud to present its first workshop with the Magnumphotographer, Antoine d’Agata, in Fez, Morocco (25-31 October 2010). We are making a call for photographers, professional and amateur alike, to submit entries for this unique creative experience.

“It isn’t the eye that photography poses on the world that interests me but its most intimate rapport with that world”
Antoine d’Agata

ANTOINE D’AGATA:
Antoine d’Agata is without doubt one of the most unique and important photographers of our age. His imagery is characterised by an intense and highly subjective experience that pushes the limits of social documentary photography. Born in Marseille, 1961, he left France in 1990 to study at The International Centre for Photography in New York alongside Nan Goldin and Larry Clark. His work has been published in the books Insomnia, Vortex, Stigma and Agonie amongst others, and he has been exhibited internationally at galleries and festivals including Rencontres d’Arles, Noorderlicht, FotoFreo and The Photographers Gallery, London.

He has been a member of Magnum Photos since 2004 and is represented by Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris.

ABOUT 1000 Words:
1000 Words Photography is an artist-led organisation that has promoted the work of more than 280 art photographers through publishing and exhibiting opportunities. The organisation’s flagship is 1000 Words, an online magazine dedicated to highlighting the best work in contemporary art photography worldwide. The site attracts approximately 140,000 unique visitors from more than 75 countries every month. The 1000 Words Workshop is organised by Tim Clark, writer and editor-in-chief at 1000 Words and Michael Grieve, 1000 Words contributing editor and photographer represented by Agence VU’.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
The location for the 1000 Words Workshop will be the beautifully evocative city of Fez, Morocco. The salon will take place in an authentically restored riad in the heart of the medieval medina of Fez. The workshop will be an intense experience lasting six days between 25-31 October 2010 and will consist of 12 participants.

FotoFest is coming to Paris this year! In November 2010, the MeetingPlace will be held at Spéos International Photography Institute. Check out the website for more details: http://fotofest-paris.com/ Registration for reviews to open in April.

Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010 will be
3 days of meetings and portfolio reviews with
120 photographers from around the world and
40 international photography experts.

The event offers all participants tremendous opportunities to share knowledge, connections and insights.

Participating photographers will get expert feedback about their work and have the possibility of getting editorial assignments, book publication contracts, art gallery representation, and feature articles in magazines, online and in print.

The one-to-one meetings with influential decision-makers in the photography field offer photographers opportunities to advance their career development and connect them to people who can help them with artistic and business goals.

In turn, the invited reviewers -museum curators, gallery owners, festival directors, publishers, representatives from photo agencies – will have the chance to discover new talent as well as the latest work of photographers who are already established.

Lens Culture FotoFest Paris takes place immediately before Paris Photo, and during the Month of Photography in Paris. Paris Photo is the world’s largest international fair and marketplace for contemporary photography. The Month of Photography in Paris, one of the world’s first urban photography festivals, features photography-related exhibits and events at more than 50 locations throughout Paris.