New York Photo Festival 2008

The First International Photography Festival in the United States Photography, one of the most important visual media of our lives, has been surprisingly uncelebrated, particularly in the United States. New York City, home to the most influential commercial and fine art photography community, has lacked—until now—a large-scale event dedicated to photography. powerHouse Books and VII Photo Agency have joined forces to launch the new, annual New York Photo Festival, the first international-level festival of photography to be based in the U.S. The inaugural New York Photo Festival (May 14–May 18, 2008) promises to deliver a dynamic, high-quality event in what is arguably the photographic capital of the world. The festival will celebrate both contemporary photography and the creative, inspirational talents of the people who produce this work. The New York Photo Festival will be headquartered in DUMBO, an off-the-beaten-track, but easily accessible neighborhood on the Brooklyn waterfront between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. World-Renowned Curators The goal of the New York Photo Festival is to document the future of photography in all its forms. Our group of internationally-respected curators will deliver their personal vision of the newest and most important trends in contemporary photography, each exhibited in their own pavilion and promising to draw the attention of the entire photographic community. Curators include Magnum photographer Martin Parr, The New York Times Magazine picture editor Kathy Ryan, Lesley A. Martin of the Aperture Foundation, and Tim Barber of tinyvices.com. Four Days Celebrating Contemporary Photography In addition to the curated pavilions, the festival will offer visitors an extensive range of activities that will generate dialogue and buzz among all the communities of photo professionals, amateurs, students, and aficionados of art and culture: seminars, slide shows, book signings, photographic workshops, live performances and events, and a gallery row. The festival will also be documented online in a regularly updated virtual environment. Our Growing Support The New York Photo Festival has already received support from major institutions and individuals in the U.S. and abroad: museums and galleries, photo agencies, the media, scholars, and more (for references, please refer to our list of advisory board members on page 4). The scope of our support demonstrates the expectations of the festival and the high standards on which it has been built thus far. Over 100,000 Visitors Expected With its unique scope and focus, the festival will appeal to all people involved in image-making and collecting: professional photographers and artists, arts editors, scholars, curators, collectors, as well as everyone with an appreciation for what is undoubtedly the most popular fine arts medium. The four primary international photography festivals in Europe and Canada each draw between 100,000 and 1,000,000 people per year. Our ambition is to attract a comparable audience to the inaugural festival in 2008, and to increase substantially in subsequent years as the scope and real estate available for the festival grows. http://www.nyphotofestival.com/