 |
|
|
 PhotoMedia To Produce World In Focus Event World-renowned nature photographer, Art Wolfe, is keynote speaker for June 2003 Seattle event with emphasis on the environment and endangered cultures. Photo contest, print exhibit and seminar series are highlights. Seattle, Oct. 15, 2002 -- PhotoMedia
magazine has announced it has taken over production of the Northwest
Exhibition of Environmental Photography (NWEEP), renamed the
event "World in Focus" and expanded on its concept.
The mission of the event is to raise environmental and cultural
awareness of our world through photography. That purpose is realized
via a photo contest which results in a six-week print exhibit
of the contest winners and opening reception at Seattle's Rainier
Square building, an awards ceremony and keynote seminar by photographer,
Art Wolfe at Seattle's Benaroya Hall on June 6, and an all-new
seminar series at the Seattle Center on June 6-8, 2003.
The awards ceremony will be held
on June 6 at Benaroya Hall, with renowned photographer Art Wolfe
scheduled as the keynote speaker. Wolfe will debut his latest
landscape work from a new self-published coffeetable book, "Edge
of the Earth, Corner of the Sky", to be released fall 2003. Also new for World in Focus 2003
will be a seminar series with an all-star speaker lineup featuring
some of the top names in nature, environmental and endangered
cultures photography including Robert Glenn Ketchum, Jack
Dykinga, Nevada Wier, Phil Borges, Natalie
Fobes and David Doubilet. The all-day seminars will
take place June 7-8 at the Seattle Center. Each program will
be two hours in length and noncompeting in schedule, so attendees
can attend all programs if they so desire. The speaker lineup
includes at least three (of six) previous PhotoMedia
Photography Person of the Year award honorees (Wolfe,
Borges and Ketchum). An adjacent hospitality and receptions room, featuring photography and other related organizations, associations, sponsors and vendors, will provide a space for information exchange and networking. Book and poster signings by the seminar presenters, portfolio reviews and presentations of the World in Focus Photo Contest winners and honorable mentions are just a few of the activities planned. Also, a special video memorial tribute to the late Galen and Barbara Rowell is planned with the cooperation of the Rowells' Mountain Light headquarters staff. Seattle's Rainier Square Building
will host and sponsor the event's print exhibit for the third
consecutive year, from June 5 through July 20. The opening reception
is scheduled for Friday, June 6, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. PhotoMedia
anticipates a significantly higher volume of contest entries
than in previous years, which should enhance the prestige of
the winning entries. Tens of thousands of spectators are expected
to view the exhibit throughout the course of its display. A juried photo contest and print
exhibit has been the basis for the event since its inception
in 1997 as the Art Wolfe Invitational Exhibit. It was originally
conceived to draw attention to the work of Northwest photographers
(limited to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and British Columbia)
whose work dealt with issues of nature, the environment and endangered
cultures. The exhibit later changed its name to the Earth Day
Invitational Exhibit before adopting the NWEEP name in 2001.
Over the years, the show has moved from a small Seattle gallery to a more impressive venue on Seattle's waterfront. Its current venue, the Rainier Square Building in the heart of downtown Seattle, will once again display 91 selected World in Focus prints for six weeks following the event. Sponsors for World in Focus 2003 include:
Photo contest rules, regulations
and an entry form are available in the current Fall 2002 and
upcoming Winter 2003 (due out Feb. 3) issues of PhotoMedia
and on the World in Focus web site (www.worldinfocus.us).
Entries may be submitted as duplicate slides or in digital format
on CD-ROM. The entry fee is US$35 for up to three images, and
US$15 for each additional image (no limit). The deadline for
entries is March 11th, 2003. A complete schedule of speakers
and programs for the weekend Seminar Series will be announced
in the Spring/Summer 2003 issue of PhotoMedia (due
out May 2) with details and registration information, and also
at other photo outlets as the event approaches. Advance Seminar
Series information and online registration procedures will also
be posted on the World in Focus web site in March and April,
2003. All other inquiries may be directed to 206-364-7068. This is the first event that PhotoMedia magazine will produce since its highly successful PhotoMedia Expo, which ran from 1993 to1996 at the Seattle Center (a fifth and final edition of the event was staged in 1997 under different ownership and management). The 1993-96 Expos perennially drew more than 3,000 attendees and included an approximately 100-exhibitor trade show, 28 high-quality workshops and seminars, and exhibits and demonstrations. World in Focus 2003 is expected to be the largest photography event in Seattle since PhotoMedia Expo '96. |
PhotoMedia
will enhance the World in Focus 2003 photo exhibit by opening
contest eligibility (beyond the northwest) to residents of the
U.S. and Canada, and adding two new categories (Urban Wildlife
and Creative/Computer Enhanced) to the previous nature, environment
and endangered cultures categories for submissions. Additionally,
World in Focus will begin accepting entries on digital media
for the first time and will publish select winners in a special
insert in the Fall 2003 issue of PhotoMedia.