Photography
In 2008, the New York Photo Festival emerged in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn as the brainchild of Daniel Powers and Frank Evers. If you live or work in the neighborhood, you may have seen two others who were hired that year–Sam Barzilay (director of the festival) and Dave Shelley (production manager)–working tirelessly as they make mad dashes in and out of meetings, run between the numerous festival venues, or organize a team of volunteers to carry out production duties. Four years later, the round-the-clock work seems to have paid off. The international photo festival, termed by Shelley as “the Sundance of the photography world” is holding strong as one of the largest of its kind in the States. From May 11 to 15, it will take over the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
Sitting down in the festival office at powerHouse Books, I had a chance to talk with Barzilay and Shelley about the nature of the photography industry. Our conversation took on a somber tone as we spoke about civil unrest, natural disasters, and the sadness wrought by the deaths of two influential photojournalists. It was also a conversation about the excitement of the transforming image-making industry and the ease with which emerging artists can now break into photography thanks to social media and the digital age.
The festival’s two curators, Elisabeth Biondi, who worked 15 years as visuals editor of The New Yorker, and Enrico Bossan, an accomplished photojournalist, collaborated on an exhibition that engages the audience in a world view documenting truth in life. The overarching theme of the festival this year is aptly titled, “Photography Now: Engaged, Personal and Vital”. According to Shelley, this is the first year they invited only two curators, but the team is powerful. “We picked two people who actually have the force of six,” Shelley said.
The festival offers a fresh look at contemporary photography, showcasing the work of both seasoned and emerging photographers. And because the work is not for sale, it is also unhindered by the constraints of the commercial realm. The five-day affair includes an abundance of exhibits, a panel discussion and lecture series, special evening events, and a Leica scavenger hunt.