Review participants heading to the reviews

This past March, I had the wonderful opportunity to review portfolios at the PhotoAlliance Reviews in San Francisco, held at the SF Art Institute. The event flies a little under the radar nationally and I wanted to bring attention not only to some terrific photographers and portfolios I came across (later this week), but to the organization as a whole. Thom Sempre spearheaded the review event and he shares information on the organization below.  San Francisco is a city that celebrates and supports photography in a significant way–the Holy Grail of all exhibition spaces, Pier 24, hosted the reviewer’s dinner and it was  spectacular to walk the galleries with a glass of wine and enjoy their newest exhibition, The Grain of the Present, as it was being installed. RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco Camerawork, PhotoAlliance, the numerous excellent galleries and museums make up a wonderful collection of photo destinations.

The 11th annual Our World National Portfolio Review brought together top photography editors, publishers, curators, gallerists, and educators representing small, mid-sized, and major venues from around the U.S. to meet with engaged photographers to review their portfolios and encourage their careers. Overall, the reviewers and photographers meet face-to-face in over 700 individual, 20-minute review sessions. Every year there are exhibition, publishing, teaching and lecturing opportunities obtained by the participants as the outcome of these reviews.

The event kicked off with a chili dinner, followed by excellent artist lectures by speakers Ed Grazda and Wesaam Al-Badry. Saturday and Sunday were all about the reviews, ending with a portfolio walk on Sunday evening.

Janet Delany , Educator and Photographer, UC Berkeley and San Francisco Art Institute, SF, CA, reviewing

PhotoAlliance is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to supporting the understanding, appreciation and creation of contemporary photography, as well as to strengthening the base of regional and national photographic artists and arts organizations collectively through community-centered programming and proactive advocacy and outreach.

Since its founding in 2002, PhotoAlliance has produced events in support of contemporary photography. These events; a monthly public lecture series, an annual national portfolio review, ongoing field and educational workshops, and exhibition partnerships, reached an overall estimated audience of more than 30,000 individuals over 15 seasons. To date, our programs have seen nearly 300 artists in lecture, aligned programming with over 100 local and national organizations and institutions, and provided exhibition exposure, workshops and professional development opportunities for hundreds of practicing photographers.

PhotoAlliance also presents workshops, seminars and exhibitions on topics relevant to the student as well as general community populations.

Taj Forer, Cofounder, Daylight Books, Hillsborough, NC , reviewing

Lonnie Graham, Artist & Educator, Penn State School of Visual Arts, PA, reviewing

Linda Connor,Photographer & Educator, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, reviewing a photographer

Thom Sempre chatting with a photographer

Crista Dix, Founder and Director, Wall Space Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA , reviewing

Ann Jastrab, Gallery Director RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, reviewing

Sunday night Portfolio Walk

Sunday night Portfolio Walk

Sunday night Portfolio Walk

The reviewers at lunch

Cocktails at Pier 24