New York Photo Festival coming soon

Apache sign © Seba Kurtis, from Home For Good curated by Jon Levy- Foto 8
Untitled 2003 © Manolis Baboussis, from All Over The Place! curated by William A. Ewing

The New York Photo Festival/NYPH '09 is coming to DUMBO for its second year, from May 13-17th. I managed to miss the entire thing last time around due to sick kids, sick self and the like, but I plan to get to the happenings for 2009 if I have to drag myself there. Once again there will be opportunities for photographers to submit work to The New York Photo Awards, a great way to gain exposure; submissions are now open, see all of the details here.

From the press release: "The New York Photo Festival’s debut run in 2008 answered critics’ lament that the world’s capital of photography could never compile a festival of its own. It also affirmatively resolved the quandary of whether contemporary photography could ever stand on its own, apart and distinct from its historical antecedents of greatest hits and exotic depiction."

The buzz last year was due to this being--incredibly--the first international-level festival of photography to be based in the U.S. There was a lot of energy and excitement around the entire scene, and it felt as if it was a grand experiment, one that thankfully had a successful outcome, allowing it to be even bigger and better this go-around. The main pavilions for 2009 will house exhibitions put together by four main curators: William A. Ewing, Chris Boot, Jody Quon and Jon Levy; see more details here.

There will also be satellite shows, special selections, workshops, and, new this time, a portfolio review. But perhaps most interestingly for us photo bloggers is a panel talk happening at St. Ann's Warehouse entitled “Blogging and The Photographic Community” which will take place on Friday May 15 at 11:00am. Well-known bloggers Joerg Colberg, Andrew Hetherington, Cara Phillips, Laurel Ptak, and Brian Ulrich will be speaking, which should make it a great event.

There's plenty to see and take in so be sure to browse the NYPH website for more on the multitude of events and activities.