FotoDC Preview: Our Top 10 Exhibits, Screenings and More
Now in its seventh year, the FotoDC festival brings exhibitions, film screenings and artist talks by internationally acclaimed photographers to...
The renowned portrait photographer who’s shot numerous covers for TIME, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair, speaks about the evolution of portrait photography over the last few decades and the concurrent development of his own career, having sat with everyone from Kurt Cobain to Malala Yousafzai and Barack Obama.
Nov. 10, 2014 from 7 – 9pm at the Smithsonian American Art Museum © Mark Seliger
This annual juried exhibition features the work of 14 photojournalists, including the ‘Best in Show’ honoree Ami Vitale (above) and Gabriella Demczuk, who recently took over the @AmericanPhotoMag Instagram in the week leading up to this year’s midterm elections. The show is curated by Elizabeth Krist, senior photo editor at the National Geographic, and sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association.
Nov. 7 – Nov. 16, 2014 at Former Spanish Ambassador’s Residence © Ami Vitale
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
To raise awareness about the ongoing, often overlooked crisis of religious violence in Central African Republic, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will project on its exterior walls building-size images by Michael Christopher Brown taken during the height of the conflict. The award-winning Magnum photographer is recognized as one of the early adopters of mobile phone photography for documenting crises such Hurricane Sandy and the 2011 Libyan Revolution. On the opening night, the Holocaust museum will also host an expert panel on CAR that’s free and open to the public.
Nov. 10 – Nov. 13, 2014 from 5:30 – 9:30pm at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum © Michael Christopher Brown—Magnum
Director Alastair Siddons’ film tours the globe alongside French street artist JR as he initiates ‘Group Actions’ for the world’s largest participatory art project, INSIDE OUT. To date, over 200,000 people from more than 112 countries and territories have participated wheatpasting giant black-and-white portraits on exterior walls in public—from New York City and Paris to Caracas and Gaza—raising awareness on a variety of community-based issues. The screening with be followed by a panel discussion on photography and activism and the power of the image. Related: “The Photo as Mural: A Brief History”
Nov. 13, 2014 from 7 – 10pm at Goethe-Institut Washington – GoetheForum © Inside Out
Ashuba’s family
The acclaimed international touring exhibition for Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen’s multifaceted “Sochi Project,” which was also published as a book by Aperture last year, arrives in the nation’s capital. Since 2007, when the site for the 2014 Sochi Olympics was announced, the photographer and writer duo, practitioners of “slow journalism,” had been working for five years to tell the story of the contested, conflict-ridden region of the Russian Caucasus.
Nov. 8 – Nov. 16, 2014 at the Former Spanish Ambassador’s Residence
Beach in Adler
Last pic of the day
Since whitnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, 25 years ago this month, the German photographer has traveled the world making panoramic photos of mankind’s most brutal barriers, from Israel to Northern Ireland and the American South. The largely croudfunded project has been exhibited on the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall, and comes to adorn the façade of the Goethe-Institut during this festival and related exhibition, “The Wall in Our Heads: American Artists and the Berlin Wall.”
Nov. 8 – Nov. 16, 2014 at the Goethe-Institut Washington © Kai Wiedenhöfer
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz
The juried exhibition featuring winning images from the annual “Eyes of History” multimedia competition comes home to Washington after touring across the U.S. The 93-year-old non-profit is dedicated to supporting the work of Washington’s professional journalists who claim a “front seat to history.” This includes helping negotiate access for its members at a time when it’s most difficult to attain, something for which the current presidential administration garnered much criticism. Related: “Five Masters of Presidential Photography“
Nov. 8 – Nov. 16, 2014 at the Former Spanish Ambassador’s Residence
Vice President Joe Biden: Just Call Me Joe…
The DC-based photographer’s campy series of images explore our nation’s cultural and political landscape in all its awkwardness and glory. The project brings a refreshing sense of whimsy and humor to the sometimes super serious world documentary photography. Yospyn will give a related artist talk about the work the afternoon of the exhibition opening.
_Nov. 8 – Nov. 15, 2014 at Artisphere _ © Joshua Yospyn
Feeding into the curiosity of the creative worker, Robinson documents the varied workspaces of some of the most influential artist, curators, collectors, and dealers on the East Coast. The work, culled from over 3000 images, was published by Daylight Books alongside an essay by Andy Grundberg who describes it as “…simultaneously conventional and individuated, documentary and expressive, public and introverted.”
Nov. 8 – Nov. 15, 2014 at Addison/Ripley Fine Art © E. Brady Robinson
In the early years of rock and roll, Jini Dellaccio established herself as the genre’s first female photographer, capturing performances by The Sonics, The Rolling Stones, and countless others in innovative compositions. DC-based director Karen Whitehead explores her life and work in this award-winning film, executive produced by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.
Nov. 9, 2014 at Goethe-Institut Washington – GoetheForum © Her Aim is True
Now in its seventh year, the FotoDC festival brings exhibitions, film screenings and artist talks by internationally acclaimed photographers to our nation’s capital each November as well as a spotlight on exceptional work by local artists. This year’s festival, likely to attract upwards of 40,000 visitors, kicks off tomorrow night, November 7 and runs through Nov. 16, 2014. Here are the top 10 diverse offerings that caught our attention.