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| © Mario De Biasi |
| Click photo to see more images from PHotoEspaña. |
Madrid's PHotoEspaña turns ten this year, and the lineup proves that Spain knows how to throw a birthday party. The photography festival's 2007 schedule, which starts May 30, is studded with exhibitions promising "largest ever" and "never-before seen" and "for the first time since."
Headliners Bruce Davidson, Lynn Davis, and Sylvia Plachy will be exhibiting in Spain for the first time. Plachy's Out of the Corner of Her Eye show will include more than 100 photographs from her books Unguided Tour, Red Light, and Self Portrait with Cows Going Home. Davis's series Icebergs, which marked the beginning of her celebrated landscape work, and Persia Antigua, will be on view, as well as Bruce Davidson's mystical study of Manhattan's plush green heart, Central Park.
In an exhibit produced especially for PHE07, master photographer Sebastião Salgado will portray Africa through 50 large-scale photographs in an exhibit titled Work, Migration and Nature. Another big-name PHE07 co-production, Andres Serrano's Salt on the Wound, will survey the photographer's career and some of his most controversial series -- Nomads, Ku Klux Klan, Budapest, and The Morgue --including images on display for the first time.
Other "firsts" include the largest Spanish exhibition of frequently censored Chinese multimedia artist Zhang Huan, chosen from his last seven years of work and accompanied by a previously unseen documentary, as well as an impressively comprehensive Man Ray exhibition with more than 300 works and pieces on display for the first time since the surrealist photographer's death in 1976.
The tenth anniversary of Spain's forefront photo festival is a perfect chance to showcase some of the country's native photographic talent -- with exhibits such as Ricky Dávila's survey of Iberian culture, VideoSpain: 10 Years of Videoart in Spain, and NOPHOTO's in situ interpretation of the refashioning of Madrid's Matadero warehouse-cum-cultural landmark.
But this year's PHotoEspaña lineup also recognizes the international community it draws from, especially in its group shows. Five European Gazes: Spanish and Latin American Photography, recognizes the worldwide reach of Hispanic photographers, while Neorealism: The New Image in Italy, 1932-1960, examines that country's history through the lenses of more than 75 photographers.
One show, Local: The End of Globalization, will even deal overtly with the trend toward a global community, drawing together work by 12 photographers to defend the autonomous local community. Likewise, the Encuentros PHE seminar will bring in more than 50 photographers, collectors, and intellectuals to trace the path photography has taken since PHE began in 1998, and to discuss its future route.
And, of course, it wouldn't be a festival without the awards. PHE's top honor is the 12,000-euro PhotoEspaña Award for an outstanding professional career, awarded in past years to Hiroshi Sugimoto, William Klein, William Eggleston, and Nan Golden. Most exciting for the less established photographers is the PHE Discoveries Award, given for the best portfolio from the festival's review. The Bartolomé Ros Award is presented to a Spanish photographer for an outstanding career, and prizes also go to the best photography book of the year, the best off-festival show, and the public's favorite.
The festival's biggest party, though, is sure to happen on June 8 during "The Night of the Photograph." The city's vibrant Barrio de las Letras will be filled that night (and well into the morning) with slide projections, dance, and live music, sure to draw not only the world-renowned photographers, but also Madrid's legendary local partiers. Just don't forget to wish PHotoEspaña "feliz cumpleaños."
For more information on the festival and its exhibitions, visit www.phedigital.com.
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