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The Inaugural New York Photo Festival: May 14-18, 2008

The New York Photo Festival begins May 14, 2008 in DUMBO (Brooklyn), New York and it looks to be a fantastic event. The festival was founded by Frank Evers of the VII Photo Agency, and Daniel Power of powerHouse Books.

Some of the festival’s highlights include:

– Main Pavilion Shows curated by Martin Parr, Kathy Ryan, Lesley A. Martin, and Tim Barber and held in multiple DUMBO locations. View the exhibition map here.

“The NYPH08 curators were selected for their decisive and innovative approaches to curating, editing, sequencing, and showcasing the varied work of the medium in ways that continually surprise and inspire those of us in the photography industry and the creative cultural public at large,” say New York Photo Festival Founders and Co-chairmen, Frank Evers and Daniel Power.

– Satellite Shows, each featuring new and never before exhibited work in one of the festival’s DUMBO spaces.

– Book Soup: A Photography Panel Discussion and Book Signing Event (Thursday, May 15, 8-10pm) After the panel discussion, a “book signing extravaganza” at The powerHouse Arena will start at 9pm with more than 40 authors. For more info, and to see the full list of authors, visit this page.

– VII Seminar Dumbo – May 16th – 18th from 8am to 1pm each day. Some of the most recognizable names in editorial and fine art photography will be giving talks and Aperture Foundation is a featured programming partner. For more info, visit this page.

– NY Photo Awards and Photo Awards Evening Ceremony, May 16, 2008. From the show site:

The NY Photo Awards is a new international, annual competition, launched to honor photographers breaking new ground with intellectually and aesthetically provocative work..Located in the St. Ann’s Theater space in DUMBO and designed to accommodate 500 persons, this hosted event will feature guest speakers, a/v projections of winning works, presentation of awards and subsequent acceptance speeches. Sixteen category Winners and thirty-two Honorable Mentions, selected by the Jury of the NYPHA, will have their works projected and be publicly recognized before an audience of peers and industry luminaries.

The NY Photo Awards is sponsored by Microsoft. For more information about the NY Photo Awards, visit this page.

Festival Exhibition hours are 10am to 7pm, Thursday May 15th through Sunday May 18th, 2008.

A great overview promo video with some of the exhibition venues can be seen below:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRPAq_-AN1M[/youtube]

I look forward to attending and sharing my experiences and images from the event.

For more info, including how to purchase tickets online, visit the main show site at www.nyphotofestival.com/

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Imaging Site Spotlight 001: DemystifyingDigital.com

Today I’m launching a new section of The Imaging Buffet entitled Imaging Site Spotlight. At least once a week I’ll highlight a different site which I believe offers good content for photographers and other artists of any level. These will be brief reviews with three sections: Overview, Why I Recommend It, and Suggested Site Links to Get You Started. These sites will also be listed on our Resources and Imaging Links page.

So without further ado, the first Imaging Site Spotlight is DemystifyingDigital.com.

Overview: DemystifyingDigital.com is a very well-designed site with information and reviews that cover the following subjects: digital cameras, HDTVs, camcorders, laptops, cell phones and much more. The content is a mix of original reviews, tips, and primers, comprehensive FAQ’s, as well as links to information on other sites, such as How to Upgrade the Hard Drive on Your MacBook.

Why I Recommend It: The site is written and edited by people who understand technology and digital photography, and I like the fact that they segment the content for different levels of users. For example, on the homepage, they allow you to choose a “tech level,” with terms like “Tech Confused Dad,” “Digital Grandparent,” and “Born Digital.” After choosing one, you’ll be greeted by a photo and bio of someone who fits that moniker, along with links to some stories selected for that user level.

Suggested Site Links to Get You Started: The site has an excellent Digital Glossary with definitions of many “tech terms” that are constantly being added to the world’s lexicon. Illustrative images appear when you hover over the camera icons–a very cool feature.

–FAQ’s (and answers!) on topics from Camcorders to Wireless Routers
–Hands on Review of the Eye-Fi Wireless SD card
-BlingIt software overview for quickly and easily making masks and interesting backgrounds for your digital photos (designed primarily for auction sites like eBay).
–Finding Album Artwork for Your iTunes Music
-Printing Wirelessly Using an Apple Airport Express

Additonal Comments: A few months back, I contributed an article for DemystifyingDigital.com about compact photo printers. It is partially excerpted from my book, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques. You can read the article here.

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Call to Action to Oppose “Orphan Works” Copyright Bill in the US Congress

I normally don’t write posts about politics, but in this case, I hope to help people understand the current Orphan works bills that are being voted on in Congress, and recommend that those who want to oppose this legislation take a minute or two to fill out one of the suggested forms linked to in this post by Wed. 5/7/2008 at 2PM EST.

I am member of the Advertising Photographers of America and they,
along with a number of other organizations, are working to help avoid
the Orphan works bills from passing in the US Congress.

This is an overview of the House bill:
https://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/bills/?billid=11320236

This is a sample letter for non-US artists, who will also be affected by this legislation:
https://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00267

Below is a section of the letter that describes the effect that this bill will have on all artists:

These bills would amend Chapter 5 of Title 17, United States Code, (Copyright law) by adding “§ 514. Limitation on remedies in cases involving orphan works.” This new limitation on remedies will be imposed on any copyrighted work wherever the infringer can successfully claim an orphan works defense, whether legitimate or adjudicated by courts to be conclusive.

The Orphan Works Act defines an “orphan work” as any copyrighted work whose author any infringer says he is unable to locate by means of a “reasonably diligent search.” The infringer himself will be allowed to determine when he has met this imprecise test. The infringer would be free to ignore the rights of the author and use the work for any purpose, including commercial usage. This is a radical departure from existing international copyright law and conventions, as well as normal business practices.

You can defend your copyright and your future, in less than a minute:

Please click here:
https://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

On this page, there are a number of suggested form letters (and customizable letters) to make your voice heard. I chose one and filled out my info. It was then sent to my state representatives and senators.

You can read more about the bills on the US Copyright Office website.

Thank you,
Andrew Darlow