FotoFest 2010!

By Rebecca Rabb

Surely, if you are a photographer, you have heard of the “FotoFest 2010 Biennial”. If not, it is my supreme pleasure to introduce you to it! The FotoFest Biennial takes place every two years in Houston, Texas.  What exactly is it?  According totheir website, “FotoFest” is the “longest running and most acclaimed photography biennial in the United States.” “FotoFest” Creative Director Wendy Watriss says, “The 2010 Biennial is a platform to show the different perspectives of photographic art being created today and the perspectives of a new generation of curators.” It is known of, and spoken about all over the world; and is a must-see for any photographer, or photography enthusiast!
 

This year, “FotoFest” invited five curators to put together the fest’s four main exhibition programs. Each time “FotoFest” comes around, it bears a different theme. In 2008, the theme was,“China, and Transformations”. This year (FotoFest’s thirteenth exhibition), the theme is “Contemporary, U.S. Photography”.
 

The five curators decided upon these four main exhibitions:
-Road to Nowhere?
-Whatever was Splendid: New American Photographs,
-Assembly: Eight Emerging Photographs from Southern California, and
-Medianation: Performing for the Screen.

Along with these four main exhibitions put together by “FotoFest”, over 120 other sites all over Houston participate. All major galleries, museums, non-profit art spaces, corporate office spaces, and even many retail and restaurant spaces are participating in the FotoFest 2010 Biennial. Are you intrigued yet? Good! Because, hold onto your hat, there is even more! The 2010 Biennial will also feature the Meeting Place, Portfolio Review (open to anyone!), FotoFest Fine Print Auction, many “FotoFest” workshops, Curatorial Dialogues, Symposia, a fifth exhibition called; Discoveries of the Meeting Place (that’s right, you can even be discovered at the Meeting Place!), and film and video programs happening all over Houston for over a month and a half.

Alright, if you didn’t just freak out over all the great opportunities that the FotoFest 2010 Biennial has to offer, then you must not be as diehard about photography as you think! Where ever you are, in the United States, or abroad, “FotoFest” is the place to be from March 12 – April 25, 2010 for any photographer or photo-enthusiast. With all the great information, exhibitions, and opportunities that the fest has to offer, what’s not to love? For more information about the fest, its travels, and activities, please visit their website at www.FotoFest.org.