The exhibition of 30 years of The New York Times Magazine photography, outstanding personalities among the Grand Prix Fotofestiwal 2013 finalists, the main exhibition prepared by Joan Fontcuberta as well as the new festival centre… And this is just the start!
NEW: TIME, PLACE, LOGO
This year’s edition of Fotofestiwal (International Festival of Photography in Lodz), the twelfth one, will be launched on 6 June and it will run until 16 June (for 11 days, over two weekends). By rescheduling from June to May we hope to be able to enjoy some summer weather. The majority of events and exhibitions will be held at the new festival centre OFF Piotrkowska, in the very heart of industrial Lodz. OFF Piotrkowska is a unique venue located on the premises of a former factory and a continuously developing centre for alternative culture which hosts creative businesses and arts including the trendiest bars, restaurants and design studios . This is Łódź in a nutshell, comprising the best the city has to offer, all in one place. During the festival, OFF Piotrkowska will serve as the place to talk, meet up with others, relax or have discussions on various topics; this is where you will have the opportunity to see all festival exhibitions. What’s more, we have a new logotype! It has been designed by Martyna Łysy who is responsible for the visual identity of Fotofestiwal this year.
EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST
One of the programme highlights is a series of exhibitions and presentations focused on amateur and anonymous photography held under the common title of I ARTIST. Everyone is an artist. Joan Fontcuberta, one of the most significant contemporary visual artists and a curator, this year’s winner of the Hasselblad Award granted to the most influential creators, was invited to co-work on this part of the festival programme. Joan Fontcuberta is well known mainly for his good sense of humour and not taking the world too seriously. For more than 30 years he has been questioning established facts and norms and challenging the limits of photography, whilst making other people laugh and ask questions. Joan Fontcuberta is curating an exhibition for Fotofestiwal, thus forcing us to ask ourselves: what does it mean to be an artist in today’s world?
NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
The festival programme also features the The New York Times Magazine Photographs Tearsheets exhibition. This extraordinary collection of selected photographs taken over a period of 30 years for The New York Times Magazine constitutes a review of the most important events in world history and includes a catalogue of pictures of famous and influential personalities and the portfolios of the greatest photographers. The exhibition format is out of the ordinary, comprising of modules used to display photos and articles in a way that reflects the original newspaper layout. Ancillary visual materials used in editing such as contact sheets, printing proofs, centrefolds, and framed prints will also be exhibited to show how a newspaper is produced until the final stage is reached, and how selected photographs originally looked like in print surrounded by other images or text. The works by dozens of photographers will be exhibited, including established contemporary names such as Sebastiăo Salgado, Sarah Moon, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Simon Norfolk, Roger Ballen, Andres Serrano or Erwin Olaf. The exhibition is curated jointly by Kathy Ryan, long-time photo editor of New York Times, and Lesley A. Martin, with support from Aperture Foundation.
GRAND PRIX FOTOFESTIWAL 2013
The names of outstanding British photographer Nadav Kander and young Polish photo artist Ilona Szwarc, also recognised by the World Press Photo jury in 2012, are among this year’s Grand Prix Fotofestiwal 2013 competition finalists. Last year, the Fotofestiwal jury led by the same intuition and expertise recognised Tomasz Lazar, a multiple photo contest winner in 2012. This year’s competition attracted more than 500 entries. The quality level of all entries was higher than ever before and the jury discussions were most vigorous. At the end of the day, 8 finalists were selected, out of whom only one can win the prize of PLN 10,000. We had a heated debate, says jury member Adam Mazur, it took many hours of discussion, while emotions were running high both in the debate and during voting rounds. The counting of the votes and the debate over the Grand Prix winner were the climax. I have not seen such a close-fought and fierce competition in a long time. The winner will be announced on 6 June during the festival opening, accompanied by a special slide show, and the festival exhibition will feature the works by all finalists.
Prepare for dozens of exhibitions, more than ten workshops, night slide shows, events and meetings with very special guests… So, just before the summer starts, before everyone heads to Gdansk, Katowice or Wroclaw, before all festival lovers hit the road – do come and visit Lodz!
