Welcome to Festival Zone for February 2014. We are delighted to announce a exclusive NZ premiere for Auckland Festival of Photography in 2014!
Dina Bova - Elegy of Autumn - Nikon Photo Contest 2012-2013 Grand Prize
Nikon Photo Contest exhibition comes to Auckland
With more than 1 million photographs shared via the Internet every day, the world of photography is undergoing tremendous change. And so, for it's 34th anniversary, the worldwide Nikon Photo Contest exhibition is coming to Auckland in June 2014. This is a meaningful and celebratory achievement for us as hosts at the Auckland Festival of Photography of this Nikon Photo Contest award-winners exhibition.
The Nikon Photo Contest goal is to foster a growing, global community of photographers creating images that stand apart through their creativity, their ability to move people and their capacity for communication. The Nikon Photo Contest is a forum that brings together people with a passion for photography and an active commitment to bettering their art. Here, photographers of all sorts can acknowledge each other, be stimulated by diverse points of view and thrive through competition.
Since the first Contest was held in 1969, thousands of photographers from around the world have participated and shown their support for the contest. To date, more than 370,000 photographers have submitted over 1,460,000 photographic works in the contest, making it a truly international event.
A total of 22,752 photographers from 153 countries and regions submitted 99,339 works in the 2012-2013 contest. This year marked a new record for the largest number of entries in the history of the Contest.
Auckland Festival of Photography and Nikon believe in the power of the image to tell stories that can't be told any other way. The Nikon Photo Contest is a celebration of that belief and we are delighted to be providing this prestigious international exhibition to the people of Auckland, and wider region.
Annual Commission by Sacred Hill
2014 is the fourth year of the Auckland Festival of Photography Annual Fine Arts Commission, in which one of three shortlisted photographers will be commissioned to produce a new body of work especially for the Festival in June. We are pleased to announce the 3 shortlisted photographers for this year, currently under peer review are Raymond Sagapolutele, Qiane Matata-Sipu and Tanu Gago.
Tanu Gago is a photographer also working in film. His images engage directly with the urban social issues related to the modern re-presentation of Pacific representation. He is interested in exploring Pacific identities, experience and space and what these elements may look like and potentially mean to NZ and the rest of the world.
Inspired by Ans Westra, Qiane Matata-Sipu is a journalist and photographer whose first solo photographic show Ihumatao – taku tangata, taku whenua in 2013 documented life at the Ihumatao Pa in Mangere, Auckland. Represented in black and white documentary images, Ihumatoa Pa is one of the longest continual settlements of Maori in Aotearoa and is where Qiane grew up, surrounded by whanau in the three streets around the Marae.
Raymond Sagapolutele, works in colour and black and white across a wide array of subject matter. As the eldest son of immigrants, much of his work relates to the theme of identity – his own, that of his neighbourhood and the people he comes into contact with.
Sacred Hill Vineyards will present this year's Annual Fine Arts Commission for the Auckland Festival of Photography. Sacred Hill Managing Director David Mason says the company is delighted to sponsor the Annual Fine Arts Commission and help the festival support and promote emerging photographic talent.
"It takes a combination of talent, belief and hard work to follow artistic passion. That resonates with us as it reflects the way we approach winemaking," Mr Mason says. "We relish the opportunity to support this type of endeavour and to help artists bring their work to a broader audience."
Other News
Auckland Festival of Photography Director, Julia Durkin, has been invited to be on the international jury for this annual China International Press Photo contest. As part of the growing support of excellence in photography in China, this contest has been going for 10 years. It aims to present awards from CHIPP to the wide base of photojournalists working internationally. Julia says "I am looking forward to viewing lots of international photojournalists work, with the images that make the news and working with my fellow judges to be involved in the CHIPP selection process. It's also a wonderful opportunity to represent Auckland, New Zealand for the first time at CHIPP". CTV interview with Julia here.
10th China International Press Photo - CHIPP is calling for entries from around the world. Photographers can send photos for Press work published in the last year. Entries close on 15 February 2014. The competition is organised by the Photojournalists Society of China. Last competition saw 30,000 entries from worldwide media professionals in 2013.
You can either go to the http://www.chipp.cn/ to find more details enter the contest (preferred) or send your entries to the following email address: upload@chipp.cn if you encounter any problem in getting through the process via the website. Lets show New Zealand photographers at their best!
Auckland Photo Blog
January's Photo of The Month is by Ryan Thorpe, congratulations to Ryan with his skating image, Don't Mind Me. This photo is a contemporary portrait of Auckland youth enjoying a local community space and challenging gravity. Good composition and use of lines, colours whilst catching the moment!
February 2014 is an Animals theme. Any farm, domestic or zoo animal. The Photo of the Month for the Animals theme will be given a copy of the 2014 Grammy Nominees CD. Send in up to 9 entries per photographer this month.
Donations towards the Auckland Festival of Photography 2014
We are a registered charitable trust that develops and grows with the support of grants, sponsors and donations. We want to keep the Festival free to the public and open to participation by everyone, so we are seeking donations to support the 2014 Festival - all donations are tax deductable, donate now here - any amount from each of you will help us heaps!
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Auckland Festival of Photography is supported by;
MAJOR FUNDERS
Public funding from Asia NZ Foundation, COGS Papakura/Franklin, Auckland, Manukau, Creative Communites Regional and The Trusts.
Sponsored by Nikon and HP and Sacred Hill.
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