FlashForward Festival in Boston

I’ve been to photo festivals all over the place in the past few years, and they all have different value.  Some are mostly portfolio reviews, some add exhibits and talks to their roster, and some, like the one in New York seem to have no value at all.   So what makes a successful festival, and more importantly, should you go?

Having just returned from Boston and the FlashForward festival, I think I can answer that.  Just four hours away by train, the FlashForward festival offers great value to photographers.  Not only is there interesting work exhibited (juried selections geared towards emerging photographers in the US, Canada and the UK), but a fantastic line-up of speakers and panels.

I should say here that I was invited to be an emcee for the festival, and was taken wonderful care of by both the Magenta Foundation who produces the festival, and the fantastic hotel that hosts the festival (the Fairmont Battery Wharf).

I may have been the emcee for various speakers, but I was also excited to hear from John Knight of the iPad photojournalism magazine, ONCE, Tina Ahrens, the founder of crowdfunding site Emphas.is, Alan Taylor who produces The Atlantic photography blog, In Focus, Alan Murabayashi of PhotoShelter, and Maurus Fraser of Winkreative, just to name a few. 

These festivals are a chance to see and be seen.  FlashForward offers a stunning line-up where you not only learn about possible venues for your work, but you get to ask questions, meet and begin relationships with important photo world people. And that’s what it’s about—cultivating relationships to get information and a chance to make a personal connection with someone who might further your career.

So the question remains: Why weren’t there more photographers from New York at this festival?  If you weren’t going to LOOK3, why didn’t you go to Boston?  If your own city doesn’t have anything worthwhile to attend, why not hop the train and hear some fantastic speakers, see interesting work, and hang out with other photographers?

It’s important to put a lot of effort into growing and sustaining a career, and smart photographers will take any opportunity they can to learn, to pick up tips, to meet others and to ask questions of those in the know.  FlashForward was a great opportunity to do all those things.  For those of us who love photography it was a wonderful four days.

I will be blogging more about the talks and panels I attended at FlashForward, and since they were streamed, as soon as I know they’ve been archived on the Magenta Foundation site, I’ll post about that.

Build A Better Online Portfolio

If you weren't able to attend, or want to listen again, here's the webinar I did with PhotoShelter.

It was tons of fun. Let me know what you think.

Webinar Success And More

My first webinar, "Building a Better Online Portfolio" ended on a really high note today---at least 700 people tuned in, and I expect many more will listen to the posted version when it goes up on PhotoShelter. Let me thank everyone who tuned in, and especially Allen Murabayashi, Chris Owyoung, Michelle Seekamp and Andrew Fingerman of PhotoShelter for the opportunity and the wonderful support. I hope we do more of these in the future.

I'd love to hear from some of you and find out what other topics you might want to learn about. Drop me a line and let me know.

It's a great thing to try (and of course succeed) at something new. I really had no idea what a 'webinar' was, but I was eager to find out by doing one. It's true: trying new things is a great way to grow.

Another wonderful thing this week is that the virtual gallery show I curated for the Griffin Museum of Photography went live. It features Sophia Wallace's "Modern Dandies" work, and I couldn't be happier to see it online. It's a beautiful, thought-provoking body of work that should not be missed. See it here and in the image above.

Back from the Sunshine

So I'm back from sunny, warm Florida, and I have to say it's a little jolting. I was getting into the t-shirt weather and the great folks I went down with. I want to thank Julie Grahame of aCurator, photographer extraordinaire Jason Florio, Daylight Magazines's Michael Itkoff, Alison Zavos, Feature Shoot's publisher and the exceptional photo producer and blogger Helen Jones-Florio for being on my panel and delivering such terrific information. I hope we can take this on the road sometime soon. You were all really wonderful.

There are a lot of things brewing for me now that I'm back, and I'm getting excited about breaking new ground for myself in this photo world we live in. Next Thursday, January 27th from 4pm - 5pm I will be conducting a webinar, "Build A Better Online Portfolio" at the invitation of Photoshelter. There will be some Q&A, and I'll be offering suggestions to photographers who have submitted their portfolios for review. Don't miss this! You can sign up here

And on February 1, the online gallery I curated for the Griffin Museum of Photography, featuring the work of Sophia Wallace will go live. Her "Modern Dandies" project is really worth a look, so stay tuned for that. You'll be able to see it here.

I'm hoping to create more panels this year, and curate more shows both in New York and around the country. If you have any ideas, please send them to me. I will also expand my consulting, so those of you who have been procrastinating about refreshing and refocusing your business drop me a line. I can offer you straight-forward suggestions and ideas to make your portfolio, website and marketing clearer and more targeted towards success.

We're just starting 2011, and there are some wonderful new things to come. I'll keep you all posted.