Vendredi

by Emma Boyce

Take out your wide lens because PhotoNola’s 7th annual photography festival begins November 29th, and there is a lot to see.  Beginning in 2006 in the wake of one of the biggest hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast, PhotoNola came together out of a group of motivated, talented photographers, who sought to carry on the New Orleans’ bustling art scene despite devastation.    

“It was Don Marshall of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, who was encouraging artists to band together to facilitate culture, rebuilding and to help each other,” says PhotoNOLA Coordinator Jennifer Shaw. 

Marshall’s call for cultural rebuilding galvanized the local art community into action and, as a result, a group of photographers formed the New Orleans Photo Alliance.  The Alliance strives to encourage current and up-and-coming photographers in their craft, as well as reach out to others with their art.     

According to Shaw, creating a festival was among their first initiatives as a new group.  With precedents of photography festivals already established around the world, PhotoNOLA modeled their festival after Foto Fest in Houston, the oldest photography festival in the United States.      

“We thought New Orleans was right for something like that,” says Shaw.  “We started knocking on doors and asking galleries, students and photographers” to participate. 

In a city that holds a festival for just about everything, PhotoNOLA fits right in.  Perhaps only rivaled by some of the greatest cities in the Old World, it would be difficult to find a city in the United States that is as rich in music, arts, and culture as New Orleans. 

The festival consists of portfolio reviews, exhibitions at different venues, lectures, panel discussions, demonstrations and workshops, including Aline Smithson: Creating the Fine Art Portfolio, Grants Workshop with Lori Waselchuk, and Traditional and New Markets for Your Photographs.  

“We are very democratic about the exhibits.  Anybody who posts something we will list,” says Shaw.

In order to obtain photographers and venues PhotoNOLA puts out calls for listings and exhibit proposals.  Calls target three different groups: one for artists without a venue, one for venues without artists, and one for photography who have already secured a place for their shows.  Usually Shaw sets the submission deadline around or on August 1 st.  

“We do matchmaking where and when we can if there is a venue that doesn’t have an exhibit… This year [we did] the Shelby Lee Adams show at the Ogden,” says Shaw. 

Within a few years the festival has grown tremendously, welcoming hundreds of people from within Louisiana and beyond.   

“People are now calling in from international [areas] wanting to come, but there are not enough venues.  We are going to have to tweak that model,” says Shaw.

According to Shaw, “the heart of the fest is the portfolio reviews,” where photographers meet with other influential photographers.  As interest grows, however, more people come for other events like lectures, workshops and exhibits.       

This year PhotoNOLA partners with the Ogden Museum.  The Indie Photobook Library and the Contemporary Arts Center are also sharing their spaces to host exhibitions.  If a lack of venue space for photographers and festival-goers is a problem, that’s not a bad problem to have.    

Come and enjoy.  Lectures are free and open to the public.