PHOTOGRAPHY AS PUBLIC ART: THE FENCE, THE FESTIVAL, THE COMMUNITY 

A panel discussion celebrating the launch of Exposure 2018 

Sunday, February 4, 2 PM
Location: Glenbow Museum Theatre

Panelists:

Sam Barzilay, Creative Director & Co-Founder, United Photo Industries

Dave Shelley, Creative Producer & Co-Founder, United Photo Industries

Andrea Kunard, Associate Curator of Photographs, National Gallery of Canada

Dona Schwartz, President and Board Chair, Exposure Photography Festival and Associate Professor, Department of Art, University of Calgary 

The panel discussion examines a series of interrelated questions. In what ways might we consider photography “public art”? Photography is arguably the most democratic and popular of all art media. With the advent of cell phone cameras many people carry a camera with them at all times and use it to photograph both mundane and spectacular events. Many of us are makers and viewers: photography occupies a central place in our daily lives. As a medium through which we share so much of our experience, does photography occupy a unique position among artmaking media?

Proceeding from these questions we consider The Fence and the festival. The Fence exhibition features some of the best contemporary photography and presents it to a broad public in an extraordinarily accessible way. What motivated United Photo Industries to exhibit the work using this particular format? What opportunities does it create? Are there downsides?

Photography festivals have been established in numerous places around the world. To what might we attribute the proliferation of photography festivals? What role(s) do festivals play in their communities? In the broader art world? If photography is accessible is it still art? These and other questions will be raised for discussion with the panelists and the audience —the community that comes together each February for the Exposure Photography Festival. 

Glenbow Museum
130 9th Ave S.E.
Calgary, AB
T2G 0P3