May 2010 Archives

Agnes Dherbey has continued her coverage of the Red Shirts protest in Bangkok since violence flared in Spring 2010. Lens Culture and VII The Magazine are pleased to update her earlier dispatch with this graphic account of the recent events and her personal feelings and observations about what has been happening in Thailand.

In Moscow Nights Antonin Kratochvil takes us on a journey into a sphere of decadent sensuality and a salacious, circus-like combination of nudity, lust and sex for sale or trade. It's Kratochvil's view of Moscow’s underworld and it is hard not to sense the hollow emptiness in the action he captures.

A new photo exhibition in Barcelona looks at our domestic spaces and what these mean in the context of the wider world, and in the development of contemporary society.

Featuring over 300 documentary and artistic photographs, audiovisuals and installations by 80 photographers, the exhibition is also the result of work by anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and historians. It's showing in the in the heart of Barcelona's city centre, in Espai Cultural Caja Madrid in Plaça de Catalunya, and entry is free!

Thanks to Arianna Rinaldo for informing us about this expo - Arianna is consultant photo editor at D-La Repubblica delle Donne, the weekend supplement of the newspaper La Repubblica in Milan and director of Ojodepez, the documentary photography magazine published quarterly by LaFabrica, Madrid. Arianna also judged the World Press Photo awards in 2009. She'll be reviewing portfolios at Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010.

Domestic
Espai Cultural Caja Madrid
Placa de Catalunya, 9. 08002 Barcelona
Until 27 June 2010
Free entry

Photographers — Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010 portfolio reviews are filling up fast!

We're delighted at the early excitement about our first international portfolio reviews in Paris scheduled for November 15-17, 2010.

Photographers from 24 countries have registered to participate so far:

Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Iraq, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

If you are planning to participate, please be sure to sign up soon. Registrations are limited, and are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. We anticipate that the demand will continue to be high, and that places will sell out quickly.

If you are accepted, we will send you an invoice via Google Checkout for the registration fees. Payment in full will be required within 10 days of acceptance. We will maintain a waiting list, in the order of applications received, to fill any vacancies that arise.

We're especially delighted to confirm the participation of several additional influential international photography experts, with more reviewers to be added to the list in the coming weeks. You can see all of the details at the website: www.fotofest-paris.com.

Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010 is a collaboration between Lens Culture and FotoFest International in Houston, with the generous support of Spéos Paris Photographic Institute and Paris Photo:

3 days of portfolio reviews, networking, inspiration, biz, and fun.
120 photographers.
40 international expert reviewers.

We hope you will join us in Paris for a remarkable event in November!

Cheers,

Jim Casper, Co-founder, Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010

The latest multimedia slideshow from VII The Magazine:

Members of the French Operational Mentor and Liaison Team, O.M.L.T., and the Afghan National Army share a base in the Alasai Valley, some 50 kilometers east of Kabul. The Alasai Valley is a stronghold for the Taliban and various other allied insurgent groups. The O.M.L.T. soldiers live with and train Afghan forces here.

Here is some truly uplifting positive news, in a special multimedia report by Marcus Bleasdale from VII Photo.

The mere existence of The Kimbangist Symphony Orchestra seems like a miracle in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country utterly destroyed by war, pillage and corruption. Founded in 1994, the orchestra consists of about 80 instrumentalists and a chorus of about 60 members. Most have paid for instruments out of their own pockets, others rely on Albert Matubanza who taught himself how to build string instruments using wood from the local market and cable wire to replace broken strings. Scores of Händel’s “Messiah”, Verdi’s “Nabucco” or Mozart’s “Requiem” are often copied by hand. The orchestra is committed to popularizing classical music in their country.

The human spirit rises above so much daily tragedy. This is a great story.

With the launch of Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010, we thought this was an excellent time to answer the question, "Why attend a portfolio review?"

First of all, Fred Baldwin, FotoFest Chairman and Co-Founder of FotoFest International explains how and why this format of professional portfolio reviews started:

“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. In 1982, Wendy and I attended informal portfolio reviews in Arles, France that revolved around Jean-Claude Lemagny of the Bibliothèque Nationale and a few others. As a result of those few face-to-face meetings, we sold work, got exhibits and assignments!

"That was the genesis of FotoFest and the first Meeting Place portfolio review in Houston, Texas, 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.”

Jim Casper, founder and publisher of Lens Culture, says this:

“I 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. 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.”

And it's not just the event organizers who see things this way. Here are a couple of articles, one by photography expert and reviewer Mary Virginia Swanson, and one by photographer Michael Kirchoff, who both see huge value in portfolio reviews.

Registration for Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010 opens May 6, 2010.

For our latest multimedia story from VII The Magazine, photographer Stefano De Luigi completed a four-year journey delving into the life of the visually impaired around the world. We invite you to take a wordless journey of your own with this imaginative piece that combines remarkable still photography with animation, white light, and chiming meditation bells.