Street Photography captures history at the very moment it happens. Candid, poignant and real. No heroic epic will ever feature a plumber, a newspaper boy or the homeless; pictures of Street Photographers often do. When the damp exhalation of a laundromat casts daily life with a soft-focus, the Street Photographer will see a plenitude of motives, that many others hastily pass by. To recognize these moments and to see what others cannot, that is the skill and the art of a Street Photographer.
Street Photography Events and Festivals exist to cherish this very special form of art. They provide the Artists with an environment to come together, work together, compete and hone their craft. Here are the hand-picked most important Street Photography events in 2017.
February: Gulf Photo Plus Week
From February 10-17 the Gulf Photo Plus Week invites amateurs and professionals to Al Quoz in Dubai. With a huge list of workshops and high quality sponsors ranging from Canon, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, Nikon, Sigma to Sony, this is a first class event to attend.
“Seeing Beyond the Grey” and “Design Reflections” are two photo walk events that pull you in right away. Accompanied by Abbi Kemp and a colleague, the participants experience the event city Al Quoz through the eyes of accomplished Street Photographers. Bring a fully charged camera, good walking shoes and some spare batteries so you won’t miss any of those special moments.
With “The ShootOut” on February 17, the event will go out with a bang: 20 year photography veteran David Hobby, post processing guru RC Concepcion and the master of conceptual photography Ben Von Wong are racing against time and each other. With only 20 minutes to capture the right moment in front of a live audience, they will have to give their very best.
Learn more about “The ShootOut” and the rest of the scheduled program for the Gulf Photo Plus Week here.
May: London Photo Festival
The next event is the London Photo Festival on May 18-20. Already in its tenth year, 2017 will be commemorated with a Street Photography Competition that you may join for free. The jury is going to pick their 20 favorite photographs that exhibit on the main event in May. The final winner will be chosen by public vote.
To join the competition, pick your favorite Street Photography scene that didn’t get the recognition it deserves yet. Send a recent or any old favorite picture from your collection in. Mark the deadline March 1 in you calendar, as this is the date after which the winners for the May competition will be chosen.
The main exhibition of the London Photo Festival in May is beloved by patrons and enthusiasts alike. Visitors may buy framed or printed copies of their favorite pieces.
Follow this link to compete in the Street Photography Competition for free.
June: Streetfoto Festival San Francisco
In June, when the summer is starting to bloom, the first anniversary of last years inaugural Streetfoto Festival San Francisco is coming up. With New Yorks Richard Bram, Pulitzer Prize-winning Scott Strazzante and Fuji “X” Photographer Vineet Vohra amongst many other as prestigious speakers, the festival was well received.
Outside of lectures, a plethora of photo walks, workshops, portfolio reviews, awards, pub-crawls and parties filled the whole week with intriguing events. All were centered around the Art of Street Photography. It is well worth looking forward to this years’ festival. Keep an eye on the Streetfoto website for announcements of this years’ lineup. Expect contests, book-signings and plenty of national and international Street Photography Artists.
Find out more about last years events and sign up to learn about the 2017 meeting as soon as it gets available.
August: EyeEm Photography Festival and Competition
With the year moving forward, the next big event is the EyeEm Photography Competition that has a special Street Photography category. Having attracted more than 38,000 photographers that submitted 270,000 photos across various categories, this is a competition that is well worth to be taken serious. Winners get an invitation to the accompanying EyeEm Photography Festival that is hosted in Berlin and New York respectively.
Interactive sessions will be held by highly ranked members from EyeEm, Getty Images and Google.
With photography workshops and portfolio reviews the festival may become a great starting point for budding Street Photographers and hone their career path in the right direction.
The dates and deadlines for 2017 will be published on the festival website.
December: Miami Street Photography Festival
When the year is drawing to its close, the Miami Street Photography Festival comes to live. In 2016 Street Photography icons Jill Freedman and Richard Kalvar hosted talks and walks at the event. Established in 2012, it showcases the best of contemporary Street Photography through the eyes of emerging artists. The streets of Miami will become the scenery for free workshops, street walks, photo critiques and get-togethers with like minded professionals and enthusiasts.
The Street Photography Festival is accompanied by a photo competition that is open to participants from all over the world. The winning pictures will exhibit for two months at HistoryMiami, including during Art Basel Week. Additionally, all Finalists are eligible to win the Grand prize, a brand new Leica camera.
Watch out for updates about the 2017 schedule here.
All year – World Street Photography Book
So far, all events have been at specific cities all around the world. An event that you may join wherever you are and whenever it is convenient for you is the World Street Photography Book.
In each competition, participants may upload one or more of their photos to win. They earn recognition and have a chance to have their name and photo featured in the next printed World Photography Book. The most fascinating pictures from that event, winners or not, will be showcased on the website and other on-line media outlets to be seen by many. This is a great way to get your name out there.
Find the current and all upcoming World Street Photography competitions here.
Upcoming:
Streetphotography.com
Aside from the events you can already partake in, here is a special mention for a feature that hasn’t started yet. A trailer heralds inspiration, presentation and education as the main features of the event. These features are at the very core of Street Photography. This is your chance to join at the very beginning of what has all ingredients to become a big event in the field of Street Photography. Definitely keep your eyes on this one.
Since this will be the inaugural event, subscribing to the newsletter may be key to receive information early enough to participate.
Go here for all news and updates.
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