The National Campaign for the Arts asserts the fundamental importance of the arts to economic recovery and calls for:

• Retention of Culture Ireland, the agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide.
• Retention of The Irish Film Board, development agency of the Irish film industry.
• Maintenance of existing levels of funding to the Arts Council.
• Retention of the artists’ income tax exemption scheme.
• Commitment to retain the arts portfolio at cabinet as part of a senior ministerial portfolio.

Why the arts are central to economic and social recovery.

• The arts and our reputational capital
• The arts and the smart economy
• The arts and cultural tourism
• The arts and employment
• The arts and the national psyche

How can you help?

- Read more about it at The National Campaign for the Arts web site
- Become a Member: Register your membership of the Campaign
- Sign the online petition.
- Follow them on Facebook and Twitter
- Donate: help funding for the Campaign

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From their site: “Even people who deal with photography on a daily basis find it difficult to choose what is important and worth attention from the profusion of “photographic works” of the last years. It is not easy to follow every novelty, change, interesting names and ideas. Slideshows and curator presentations are an attempt to update the recent changes and trends in the European photography.

We invited curators from six countries to help us create this programme. Each of them was asked to make a subjective choice of artists and photo projects that best reflect the character and condition of current photography of a given country.

The presentations is comprised of two parts. The first part consists of lectures during which the curators will present their latest photo discoveries and will try to explain their choice of projects. The second part consists of night slideshows with music prepared especially for the Fotofestiwal.”

CURATORS:

Austria - Martin Breindl
France - Jim Casper
Greece – Nina Kassianou
Ireland – Peggy Sue Amison
Italy – Alessandra  Capodacqua
Poland – Tomasz Ferenc

* * *

AUSTRIA

Curator: Martin Breindl
FLUSS – Society for the Promotion of Photo and Media Art, Wolkersdorf, Austria

Martin Breindl, born 1963 in Vienna, Austria, is a media artist, theoretician and curator. He is the founder of alien productions (in collaboration with Andrea Sodomka, Norbert Math and August Black), an artists’ network dealing with new technology and media. He works in the fields of media performance, installation, net art, radio art, sound art, video art and visual arts. Since 2001, he has been one of the curators of FLUSS – society for the promotion of photo and media art, based in Wolkersdorf, Austria; since 2005, he has also been a co-curator of the International Photographic Triennial Backlight.

SLIDESHOWS:
8th of May – Friday (08:30 pm – EC1, 1/3 Targowa St., Lodz )

Artists and Projects:
Sabine Bitter & Helmut Weber – Plugged In, Fenced Out
Eva Brunner-Szabo – Bandages I, III, VII
Robert F. Hammerstiel – Private Stories II & Alles in bester Ordnung IV
Sabine Maier – Commo-nice!
Herwig Turk – Agents

* * *

FRANCE

Curator: Jim Casper
Lens Culture – photography and shared territories (online magazine)

Jim Casper is the editor and publisher of Lens Culture – an international online magazine celebrating contemporary photography, art, media, and world cultures. Each day, the site attracts between 5,000 and 6,000 unique visitors from more than 50 countries.

Jim also curates arts exhibitions, writes about photography and culture for magazines and books, lectures, reviews portfolios, coordinates events and workshops, collaborates in formal partnerships to promote and publicize important international photography events and conferences, and serves as an international artists’ agent.

SLIDESHOWS:
8th of May – Friday
08:30 pm – EC1, 1/3 Targowa St., Lodz

Artists and Projects:
Denis Darzacq – Hyper
JR – Women are Heroes
Eric Tabuchi – 26 Abandoned Gasoline Stations
Alexei Vassiliev – Troubled Moments
Guilaume Zuili – Fragments

* * *

GREECE

Curator: Nina Kassianou
Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece

Phd in History of Photography. She is collaborating as an exhibition curator and photography book editor with the Museum of Photography in Thessaloniki. Permanently working as a curator for Gallery M55 in Athens which promotes work of Greek and European young photographers.

She has organized many individual and group exhibitions in Greece and in Europe. As a reviewer she has participated in many festivals in Europe. She is one of the contributors to the the 1st Cyclopedia of European Photography presenting the Greek part.

SLIDESHOWS:
8th of May – Friday
10:30 pm – Jazzga Club, 17 Piotrkowska St., Lodz (open air event)

Artists and Projects:

Athina Chroni – People – 3D photographs
Haris Kakarouhas – Square Icons
Evangelia Kranioti - Au moment X
Costas Ordolis – Bodies, Masks & Cities
Ioanna Ralli – Archetypes of the Feminine

* * *

IRELAND

Peggy Sue Amison
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland

In her position as Artistic Director at Sirius Arts Centre in Ireland for over 8 years, Peggy Sue Amison has curated numerous photographic and other visual arts exhibitions with artists from around the world. She also facilitates the development of new works through the international artist-in-residency programme at Sirius, often partnering artists and organisations together on projects.

A photographic artist herself, Peggy has also written critical essays and reviews for numerous photographic publications internationally and serves as a reviewer at meeting places for photographers at different photographic festivals. An important part of her work at Sirius is focused on raising the level of discourse about photography in Ireland through all of the above.

POKAZY SLAJDÓW:
9th of May – Saturday
09:00 pm – Jazzga Club, 17 Piotrkowska St., Lodz (open air event)

Artists and Projects:
Mark Curran – The Breathing Factory
David Farrell – Nè vicino Nè lontano. A Lugo // Neither Close, nor Far. Lugo
Seán Hillen – The Troubles
Jackie Nickerson – Faith
Eoin O’ Conaill – Common Place

* * *

ITALY

Curator: Alessandra Capodacqua
Fondazione Studio Marangoni – Center of Contemporary Photography in Florence

Alessandra Capodacqua has curated exhibitions in Italy and abroad, among others the Backlight Triennial Festival of Photography in Tampere, Finland. She has also been invited at portfolio reviews such as Photolucida – Critical Mass (USA); Mission Jeunes Artistes, Toulouse (France); Photo Triennale Hamburg (Germany).

She teaches photography at New York University in Florence, and creative photography – including pinhole and toy cameras, alternative printing techniques. Currently lives and works in Florence.

SLIDESHOWS:
8th of May – Friday
10:30 pm – Jazzga Club, 17 Piotrkowska St., Lodz (open air event)

Artists and Projects:

Fabio Barile – Among
Alessandro Destro – Suspect Behaviour
Simone Donati – Crimean Tatars, Return to the Motherland
Silvia Noferi – Hôtel Rêverie
Elisabetta Senesi – Handle With Care

* * *

POLAND

Curator: Tomasz Ferenc
Department of Sociology of Culture, University of Lodz, Poland

Tomasz Ferenc (1973), member of Fundation of Visual Education in Lodz. Works as a academic teacher and researcher at the University of Lodz (Department of Sociology, Chair Sociology of Art). His PhD thesis ware devoted to social aspect of using and understanding photography. His main subject is sociology of photography and visual anthropology. He is interested in possibilities of using photography during research process.

He has edited and co-edited five books focused on different aspects of this medium (two of them will be printed this year). He cooperates with some photo magazines in Poland and publishes scientific and popular articles. Now he is more involved in practice of photography than in theory, as it has been for many years. With some others photographers he works on project devoted to oppressive aspects of architecture.

SLIDESHOWS:
9th of May – Saturday
09:00 pm – Jazzga Club, 17 Piotrkowska St., Lodz (open air event)

Artists:
Anita Andrzejewska – Nur-e jan
Konrad Grajner – 44 War-schau
Magdalena Kmiecik – Space Between
Michal Przezdzik – Still Life
Dominika Truszczynska – Glimpses of Infinity

* * *

via Fotofestiwal

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This film illustrates an early example of technologically-mediated visual surveillance: the use of cine cameras by the British police in 1935 in the English town of Chesterfield in an operation to crack down on illegal street betting. The film accompanies an article by Chris Williams in Surveillance & Society 6(1) which explains what was going on and why… You can read the abstract or the full article Police filming English streets in 1935: the limits of mediated identification(Chris A Williams, James Patterson, James Taylor).

Chris A Williams, James Patterson, James Taylor

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Apart from other things like having designed a very useful Web Design Sketch book, a pretty clever album sleeve for Antony and the Johnsons imaginary new album, and a very interesting project called Livezine, where the images are alive (go and see if you dont believe me), Paranaiv offers what it would look like an infinite blog about Fashion Photography. It is an excellence resource if you are looking for inspiration.

See more at Paranaiv

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Hahnemühle, fine art paper makers since 1584, are organising their 425th Anniversary Photo Award. 425th aniversary?! Now, that is commitment! Add your photo to the frame, and earn fame and a load of Hahnemühle paper. You have until the end of June. Here it is:

“To celebrate the 425th anniversary of our company we are inviting both amateur and professional photographers from all over the world to take part in the international Hahnemühle Anniversary Photo Award.
The theme of the competition is “For Originals”. We are interested in the photographer’s unique angle of capturing people, objects and moments from an original perspective.
Please submit up to 4 pictures printed on Hahnemühle paper in A4 format.
The lucky winners can look forward to receiving a total of €36.000 in non-cash prizes. The 40 best images will be selected for the “Hahnemühle Anniversary Collection” which will be exhibited in the European, American and Asian photo capitals of the world.”

Entry requiremets and entry form.

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Demotix is a citizen-journalism website and photo agency.
Imagine a community driven news agency that allows you to share your story, in photos or videos, and market it to the mainstream media. That is Demotix.

“Demotix was founded with two principles at its heart – the freedom of speech and the freedom to know. Its objective is nothing if not ambitious – to rescue journalism and promote free expression by connecting independent journalists with the traditional media.”

Basic, non-exclusive rights to your photos will sell for anything between $150 and $3,000 USD. Non-exclusive rights to your video: $500-1,000/minute. Exclusive rights: whatever we can get. And some photos and videos can go for $100,000s. In all cases, you get exactly 50% and you retain the copyright.

STOP SELLING STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY AND START SELLING YOUR TRUTH

Have a look at their showcase:

via Demotix

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It was a great night and one that change how news are experienced. I had on my Mac ABC news live, UStream, Twitter-election US, and Twitterrific. On my telly, I was swapping channels from CNN, RTE, Sky News, to FOX. But it was an amazing experience just being able to heard the voices of loads of people through Twitter, that had previously reported live the results from their own neighborhoods, cities and states. I think Twitter changed for ever how we experience ‘the event’, on real time and hyper-commented. 

Check this sites tonight

UPDATED:

Is Obama President?
Is Obama President Yet?

So now I wonder, how will I experience the Inauguration Speech? on Twitter and Current

Follow the Inauguration Speech, and make it yours

Head to Current and learn more: “Current & Twitter have teamed up again. We’re adding your real-time Twitter messages (“tweets”) over our live broadcast of Barack Obama’s Inauguration.”

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This is a rather interesting ongoing collection of photographs of London’s shop fronts. Well, perhaps not your high street average shop front, but that makes it even more interesting. Would love to see that done in many other european cities that still enjoy some really old ones. Its all Eugène Atget allover again. Great!

via Emily Webber

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THE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARTIST’S AWARD, now in its 7th year, offers exciting opportunities for an artist of any age who has a significant lens-based project or body of work underway. The winner receives:

• A solo exhibition in the Gallery of Photography in 2010 or later.

• €5,000 towards the exhibition and/or publication.

• Access to the Gallery of Photography’s Artist’s Digital Studio – high-spec Mac, scanner, exhibition quality printer; and to the Gallery of Photography’s Darkrooms.

• Technical assistance with all aspects of exhibition production.

• Ongoing mentoring, curatorial feedback and publishing expertise.

• A full colour editorial feature in The Irish Arts Review, media partner for the Award.

Entry Conditions & Requirements:

1. Entry is open to artists of any age.

2. Artists must be either resident in Ireland (32 counties); or Irish citizens; or show evidence of a longstanding involvement or connection with Irish culture, including the diaspora.

Entries should consist of:

1. A maximum of 8 work prints no larger than A4 from the work-in-progress, or, if the project is still in inception, 8 prints representative of a previous project which was in the opinion of the artist, similar in scope and ambition. Please note: work is only accepted on CD/DVD if the proposed project takes a non print-based form, eg projected DVD, web project etc.

2. A paragraph outlining the project’s subject/theme/treatment.

3. A paragraph outlining the planned schedule for completion of the project.

4. An up to date CV, including email address.

5. A stamped, self-addressed envelope for return of prints/materials if required.

6. An entry fee of €10 (cheque, postal order payable “Gallery of Photography” or by paypal).

DEADLINE: 5pm MONDAY MARCH 9th 2009

via The Gallery of Photography Dublin

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By Magnum Photographers, produced by Magnum in Motion

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