The 26th International Month of Photography Festival begins.
For the twenty-sixth year, Bratislava comes to life with photography throughout the month of November. This year will focus on two opposing lines of contemporary photography in the last 30 years; the neo-conceptual and narrative movements in photography. A special group of expositions will be formed by those works that accompany the release of the latest volume of, the History of European Photography of the 20th Century. This book is the most comprehensive research, and publication, achievement by the festival organizers; it has been developed in cooperation with other photography professionals from 36 European countries. The launching ceremony for the third and the final volume will map the history of photography from 1970 – 2000. The focus will not only be on ”the great photographic powers of the West” but also on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, from Albania to Ukraine, making it the first publication of its kind. The launching ceremony for the third volume will be held in the Albertina in Vienna and in the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava with the participation of all European authors.
After a years break, three important exhibitions at Kunsthalle will be opened. The highlights of this years festival will undoubtedly include the contemporary Spanish photographer Chema Madoz who became world famous thanks mostly to his surreal black and white photographs of objects, created with a great deal of ingenuity.
Chema Manoz
From Serbia, we are going to introduce private photographs of the communist politician Josip Broz Tito. At the collective exhibition of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) archive you can see dozens of prominent photographers documenting rural and small town life America after the economic crisis from 1935 to 1942. The photographers captured portraits of people and their difficult living conditions, housing problems and labour migration. The most famous of the photographers include Carl Mydans, Walker Evans, Marion Post Wolcott and Dorothea Lange, whose image of a migrant mother from 1936 became the official symbol of the project.
Marion Post Wolcott
An exhibition of the French photographer Tatiana Lecomte, will open at the Central European House of Photography. Tatiana Lecomte won the European Month of Photography prize, which is presented every two years in Luxembourg. The work of Mexican photographer Flor Garduňo can be seen on the second floor.
Flor Garduňo
For photography from around the world, for the second time we will open an exhibition featuring the most comprehensive international photography competition the 2016 Sony World Photo Awards. This exhibition will be held in the Eurovea Expo Gallery. Every year, the Sony World Photo Awards presents the best international photographic talent and rewards professionals, amateurs, youths and students from around the world in a variety of photographic genres.
Since 2004, the Month of Photography in Bratislava has been a part of the European Month of Photography within the united association of festivals in Athens, Budapest, Paris, Luxembourg, Ljubljana and Vienna. Joint exhibitions will be held through the mutual collaboration of curators from these cities. This year, the partners have prepared the project, Looking into Clouds, which draws on exhibitions by more than 50 European photographers.
www.sedf.sk, www.mesiacfotografie.sk
