Portfolio reviews 2016

Steven Evans

Director of FotoFest International, Houston.

Steven Evans studied photography at the Atlanta College of Art (B.F.A. 1987) and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (M.F.A. 1989). From 1990, he worked at Dia Art Foundation in New York, where he helped artists such as Douglas Gordon and Vera Lutter create large-scale exhibitions. In 2000, he began work on the Dia:Beacon museum in upstate New York, and he was the museum’s managing director until 2010. From 2010, Evans worked as director of the Linda Pace Foundation in San Antonio. In 2014, he was appointed FotoFest executive director and is responsible for its exhibitions, programs and organization. In 2015 he organized the FotoFest inter-biennial exhibitions I Am A Camera and Collector’s Eye: The Maloney Collection in Houston. With Wendy Watriss, he co-curated the FotoFest inter-biennial exhibition International Discoveries V, and with Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin, he curated and organized the FotoFest 2016 Biennial main exhibition CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES: Looking at the Future of the Planet. Recently, he has represented FotoFest at photography events and festivals in Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Korea, and Russia.

Steven is interested in seeing a broad range of work, from documentary and journalistic approaches to contemporary art and conceptual approaches. He ask that the works be cohesive and that the photographer is able to tell him what the work is about and why it is important to them to make this work. He is a curator of exhibitions for FotoFest and other organizations, as well as author and editor of publications for FotoFest. He also make recommendations to other curators, galleries, museums, and festivals.

Enrico Stefanelli

A photographer and journalist who also teaches photography workshops. He founded and was, for 7 years, the artistic director of the international festival of photography and video art ‘Lucca Photo Fest’, established in 2005. Moreover, he is the founder and artistic director of the Photolux Festival, the new biennial of photography in Lucca. He is also the mastermind behind the ‘Faces – Portraits in the 20th Century’ exhibition, and he has curated several exhibitions at the Lucca Photo Fest, e.g. 2008. In 2010, he curated Tim Hetherington, ‘Battle Company’, Gianni Berengo Gardin, ‘L’Aquila’, Nany Fina, ‘Glamour and Fashion’, Fabio Zonta, ‘Trasfigurazini’, Rino Barillari, ‘Divas’, Jan Saudek, ‘Il Teatro Della Vita’, Michel Comte, ‘Not only Women’, Horst P. Horst, and, in 2011, Kenro Izu ‘Passage through Asia’, VII Agency ‘VII looks East’, Li Wei ‘Li Wei: Photography’, Wang Qinsong ‘The glorious life. Wang Quinsong’s photography 1999-2010’, Jing Queck ‘Singapore Idols’, Samuel Bourne, Francis Frith’s & Co., Photo Service Delhi ‘India: gentry and ancient mansions’, Nobuyoshy Araki ‘Polaroid’. Since 2010, Stefanelli has been the Italian curator of epea, the European Photo Exhibition Award.

Claude-André Moser

The founder of la Nuit de la photo (Night of Photography) that he organises with 6 colleagues from 2012 in la Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. This city, elevated 1000 m., the birth place of Le Corbusier and cradle of watchmaking, today is a part of l’UNESCO world heritage.

The event of Nuit de la photo is made up of a number of projections that loop during one night in different venues of culture and museums. Every venue presents short cycles of 15 minutes, featuring work of 3 to 4 photographers enabling curiosity-driven mobility of event guests: What’s next?… The event also invites a famous photographer and a number or rising stars of photography from Switzerland and abroad. A catalog presenting all featured photographers is published.

Julia Durkin

A multi-talented cultural producer focusing on photography, in 2004 she initiated the 24 hour people’s competition Auckland Photo Day, + founded the annual Auckland Festival of Photography. Auckland Festival of Photography is New Zealand’s only photography festival at present. In 2010 instrumental was in Auckland being a founding member of Asia Pacific Photoforum. In 2013 invited judge on 34th Nikon Photo Contest in Tokyo, Japan & a Portfolio Reviewer for Kaunas Photo & Pingyao Photo Festival. In 2014 a invited judge in Beijing CHIPP, an international press competition & Portfolio Reviewer in Kaunas Photo, Lithuania, Pingyao International Photography Festival, China & Angkor Photo Festival. In 2015 Portfolio Reviewer at Kaunas Photo, Lithuania, nominator for the 6th Prix Pictet Award Disorder theme, nominator for the Lou Stoumen Prize 2016 at Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA. Invited to attend + portfolio review at Higashikawa International Photography Festival, Japan & Pingyao International Photography Festival, China & Guatephoto in 2015. Auckland Festival of Photography has presented international exhibitions 2014 Annual Commission, Tanu Gago at Head On Photo Festival in Sydney, Australia. 2015 Annual Commission, PJ Paterson exhibition in Pingyao, China in Sept 2015. Annual Commission photographers collection is in a Projection programme at Guatephoto & Angkor 2015.

Arnis Balcus

A practicing photographer. Since 2011 – editor in chief of FK Magazine. Co-founder, curator and programme director of the Riga Photomonth festival. From 2004 – 2009 was living and working in London, received a master’s degree in photography at the University of Westminster in 2005. Has exhibited in Riga, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, etc., as well as being published in magazines such as Achtung Mode (DE), Dazed & Confused (UK), Photo & Video (RU), Foto Kvartāls (LV), Black and White Magazine (USA), etc. Also working as a journalist since 1997, writing about photography and culture for Latvian publications. Has participated as an expert at portfolio reviews in Kaunas, Derby, Madrid and Landskrona photo festivals, as well as nominating and evaluating entries for photo contests such as Prix Pictet, First Photobook Prize and Google Photography Prize. Also teaches documentary photography at ISSP School and Riga Stradins University.

Gabriella Uhl, PhD

Art historian, curator, she is currently the docent of Art History and Theory department Kaposvár University. Graduated first history and literature (MA) at the Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest), writing her PhD thesis about the Central-European baroque literature. She studied economic at the Corvinus (Economical and Technical) University (Budapest) and graduated art history (MA) at Eötvös Lóránd University (Budapest). She worked as a researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Science afterwards as a chief curator of the Ernst Museum. She spent four years in Baltic States working as a correspondent of the leading Hungarian art magazines and research fellow of the Contemporary Art Center (Tallinn, Riga).  She was the curator  of the Hungarian Pavilion at Venice Biennale, 2013.  She is working as an art critic and free-lance curator as well. She is lecturing art history and cultural management  at Metropolitan University (Budapest) and at the University of Applied Sciencies (Moholy-Nagy University, Budapest).  She was the curator of Month of Photography (Budapest, Hungary) in 2012 and 2014, and the member of the curatorial board of European Month of Photography.  As a researcher she specialized on the marginal and gypsy art. She is the author of many publications on the contemporary Hungarian and Central-European art scene.

Maira Dudareva

The head of the Latvian Museum of Photography has a long running experience in photography. She worked as the manager of photo archive of the daily newspaper “Diena” (1999. – 2008.), the manager of photo department of the daily newspaper “Diena” (1998. – 1999.), the photo reporter of the newspapers “Zemgales zinas” and “Zemgales avize” (1992. – 1998.). She did her MA – research “Digital photography indexation” at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Latvia, where she is still enroled in doctoral program (from 2006).

The Latvian Museum of Photography has a permanent exhibition, depicting the history of photography in Latvia from 1839 to 1940, simultaneously allows to apprehend the materiality of the photographic medium, which in the present age of the digital is often forgotten. The first types of the photographic image – daguerreotypes and ambrotypes in the museum’s collection clearly exhibit the specific nature of the photographic art – that of the imprint of light. Among the historical cameras on display the most unique is the world-renowned Minox. The 7cm miniature camera was originally manufactured in Latvia in the 1930s, and rumour has it that it was particularly popular among spies.

The museum also shows exhibitions of notable Latvian and international  photographers and strongly develops focus on exhibiting and educating audience focusing on contemporary photography.

Marcus Hartmann

(b. 1962) in Berlin; lives and works in Stuttgart. He comes from a family of publishers and printers in Berlin. After training in publishing sales, studying at the Stuttgart Media University, and working in various positions in international publishing, he was in charge of the photography and contemporary art program at Hatje Cantz Publishers in Ostfildern from 1990 to 2013. He has been a freelance curator and author since 2014, and co-founded Hartmann Projects in 2015.

Tuula Alajoki

A Finnish curator and the director of the Backlight Photo Festival (Tampere, Finland). She has been involved in Photographic Centre Nykyaika´s actions since her graduation as a visual artist in 2001 and also worked as a teacher and lecturer of photography. For Backlight she has worked in various positions since 2008. Alajoki curates exhibitions both in Finland and abroad and she works intensively to develop international art and artist exchanges. She has done her masters degree in Art – Visual Culture in Taik/Aalto University and she´s currently completing her studies with art history and art theory and research in University of Helsinki.

Tuula Alajoki is especially interested in socially driven projects from documentary photo essays to art photography with passionate approaches and strong content. She prefers to review prints or book form from screens, unless showing video works or installations. Alajoki is not interested in picture manipulation, fashion or other commissioned commercial works.

François Huet

Collection Huet-Repolt, Brussels. Art Collector

Horst Kloever

A photographer, curator and writer. He has been working and works for major publications in Germany and abroad like Stern, Merian, Brand Eins and Time magazine. He is a member of laif agency for reportage photography and has a long-standing experience in commercial, press, travel, fashion, panoramic and art photography. In early 2006 he founded the gallery project photeur focusing on Eastern European Photography featuring young talents and established artists, showcasing their works on a web platform (photeur.net), a new blog (photeurblog.de) and in exhibitions, lately for the Association of Hungarian Photographers.

Since the end of 2008 he is running the consulting service Photeur CPS (Contemporary Photography Services) giving advice to galleries and art projects in Germany and Switzerland. Photeur CPS focuses on promoting young and established talents in photography, digital art and scientific photography.

Horst Klover is a frequent contributor the publications Photonews and fototv.de, among others.

Horst Klover thinks that photography is not necessarily art and is also interested in reviewing commercial, manipulative or decorative photography. Any exceptional and experimental view of our beautiful world or a world only visible to the photographer and/or artist who created it, is welcome for discussion.

Sandro Iovine

Journalist and photographic critic, he was born in 1961 in Rome where, after high school which specialized in classical studies, he studied Political Science with International orientation and also Japanese language and culture. From 1989 to 1998 he was editor of the Editrice Reflex, before moving to Milan where, from 1999 to 2014, he directed the magazine IL FOTOGRAFO.

He has taught History of Photography in Rome at the ISFCI and from 2003 to 2014 Photojournalism and Visual Communication in Milan.

He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Tor Vergata-MIFAV (of which he co-directed the press service F & D), the University of Bologna, In-subria, Palermo, Pavia, Perugia and Siena. He has collaborated with RAI-Radio 1, RAI-Radio 3, Radio 24 and Radio Svizzera Italiana, Paese Sera, Avvenimenti, Il Giornale di Napoli, Il Manifesto. He created and directed the space Photojournalism Centre in Rome.

He has curated numerous photographic books as referenced in the Publications section. In 2011 he was curator of the photography section of RomaProvinciaCreativa and is part of the evaluation committee within the Eyes in Progress Project. Since January 2015 he is CEO of the agency Echo Photojournalism and director of the photography school FPschool.

In 2014 he founded the FPmag culture image magazine (www.fpmagazine.eu), which he currently heads. The online magazine FPmag was created from a shared idea with Stefania Biamonti to answer the request of competence in dealing with issues related to communication with the images. The attention of FPmag is mainly aimed at photography, but not only.

Besides a rich section dedicated to information, consisting of the News column (in-depth information) and Post.it (very brief news to consult quickly), in FPmag you can find whole sections devoted entirely to images.

Among these is Portfolio (a showcase for both emerging authors and big names in photography), Post. Cast (a set of audio comments and sound track notes on various issues made by the professionals of the images) and Ongoing (section devoted to the medium-long term photo projects followed by FPmag during this time).

We could not of course leave out a space dedicated to video interviews, and that reserved only for the major events in the world of photography. Under FPtag is in fact grouped News, articles, Post.it, Post.Cast and the Portfolio relative to a certain event.

And finally the Thematic paths section provides a miscellany of articulated topics, connections and references, around a guiding theme. Insights, reflections and critical notes around a specific topic addressed in the perspective of a communicative intent pursued through images, without genre limits, capture technology and/or diffusion method.

FPmag is published in two languages (Italian and English) on a specially designed platform by Salvatore Picciuto (www.myphotoportal.com), which is based on the specific requests of the editorial office.

Yuting Duan

Lianzhou Foto festival, founder and director, China