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Festival X Ottawa Photography Festival

September 2010

In 2010, I was invited to participate as the first festival curator, contributing an overview essay on the theme of inclusion/exclusion and organizing a lively panel about the choices of photographers, collectors, curators, and viewers in determining the meaning of photographs.

Since its inception in 2007, Festival X has been committed to advancing photographic knowledge, creativity and innovation in Ottawa. Through its programming, X intends to increase exposure to, and recognition for regional, Canadian and international photo-based artists. Included in the festival programming are a number of exhibitions of photographic art on view in both public and private galleries throughout the area, films focused on the celebration of photography, public lectures on artistic processes & technology, artists' talks, portfolio review opportunities and community-based events.

For its 2010 edition, Festival X Ottawa Photography Festival has invited local art exhibitors/curators to consider the theme of inclusion/exclusion and the role it plays in the practice of contemporary photography. The dynamics of inclusion/exclusion are at the core of artistic practice: at the point of production, of display and of reception. How do photographers negotiate social relationships and identities in their work? Festival X participants explore ideas of connectedness, alienation, social norms and diversity, as well our constant involvement in making, staging and viewing photographs defining our reality.

Read my essay In/Out: Contemporary Photography and the Politics of Difference

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