Independent Photography Festival 2013

With a refreshingly simple goal of “MORE PHOTO!”, the second annual Independent Photography Festival runs in Melbourne from Saturday 2nd until Sunday 10th of November.

A celebration of photography, its application and practice, the 11 event program features solo and group exhibitions by Australian and international photographers including Sean Fennessy, Lauren Bamford, Ed Templeton (US), Devin Briggs (US), Sam Davison and Ben Clement.

The festival opens with the IPF Photo Prize, an international print based photo prize and exhibition which has attracted over 200 submissions from photographers in 15 countries. Work will be on exhibition for the duration of the festival at festival hub Magic Johnson.

Also at Magic Johnson, the IPF Photo Book & Zine Fair runs on November 9 and Deja-View Cinema will present the Australian premier screening of Cheryl Dunn’s New York street photography documentary Everybody Street on November 9 and 10. 

Along with Magic Johnson, IPF exhibitions and events will take place in galleries including Rae & Bennett, Colour Factory, Strange Neighbour, The Hungry Workshop and Conduit Arts.

Produced by local collective the Hard Workers Club working alongside Smalltime Projects and The Thousands Melbourne, Festival Director Joe Miranda says the IPF exists to give a platform to independent photographers and hopefully create “a welcoming forum for conversation, collaboration, and exploration”.

On the topic of “independence”, Miranda asserts “Just because you get paid to shoot, or paid from having shot, doesn’t devalue the credibility of your work… It’s about moving the culture and the community forward, with good intent and great content”.

As the program introduction states, the festival sets out to reclaim photography for the “hard-working, autonomous, passionate, and progressive” photographers that create for the love of shooting and shoot for the love of creating.

Here here to more photo, especially in print. A good photo deserves more than to be only viewed on a 2.5” screen…

Independent Photography Festival

Saturday 2 November – Sunday 10 November, 2013
www.independentphotographyfestival.com