June 9, 2011 / Joanna Rieke

Flash Forward Festival 2011 first time in Boston

"The Future of Photobooks, Boston, contemporary photogrphy celebration, Fairmont Battery Wharf hotel, FF 2010 Group Show, Flash Forward Festival 2011, Fresh Works: A Sampler of New England Photographers exhibition, June 2-5, New England, panel discussions

Alas, for the first time ever, Boston welcomed it’s very own art fair this past weekend. Flash Forward Festival 2011 debuted at the North-End’s Fairmont Battery Wharf, June 2-5 in a four-day international art event with a focus on contemporary photography. The exhibits were recently extended to Saturday, June 11, from 12-5 p.m., due to their success.

The festival represents a significant turning point for Boston since the city has never had a comprehensive art fair of this kind. The mix of exhibitions and panel discussions made for a powerful combination. Visitors had the opportunity to not only look at work on the wall, but to engage with leading emerging and established professionals from around the world in one space.

Top-notch discussions involved panelists: Susan Bright, Mary Beth Meehan, Polaroid specialist, Barbara Hitchcock, Gary Leopold of ISM, Christopher Churchill, PEM’s Phillip Prodger, Clark Gallery Co-Owner, Dana Salvo, Maria Luci and Sean Stone from Wonderful Machine, as well as influential bloggers, Kristina Feliciano, Stella Kramer and Alison Zavos of Feature Shoot. Greeted by a packed house, VII Photo’s Stephen Mayes sparked an insightful conversation on the state of the industry and Todd Hido returned to Boston for the first time since his career began.

Upstairs, the juried exhibit, FF 2010 Group Show showcased over 80 works by 31 photographers from Canada, USA and the UK representing a cross-section of photojournalism, documentary and fine art. Notable photographers in the survey were Phillip Cheung (above), Alinka Echeverria, Jonathan Gitelson and Katrina d’Autremont, among others.

Unique to Flash Forward Boston, the Fresh Works: A Sampler of New England Photographers exhibition curated by Paula Tognarelli from The Griffin Museum and George Slade at The PRC highlights 10 distinct perspectives from photographers based in the Northeast (Christopher Chadbourne and Meg Birnbaum, above). The Griffin posted a special page detailing the show.

Beyond the walls of Flash Forward, “The Future of Photobooks” panel hot-wired the topic of publishing to invite audience input worldwide. Moderated by Stephen Mayes, the electric debate could’ve gone on forever with Bruno Ceschel of Self Publish, Be Happy, Andy Adams of flakphoto.com, Daylight‘s Michael Itkoff, Miki Johnson, Shane Lavalette of Lay Flat and designer-publisher Alan Rapp in the room. The live discussion was viewed over 2,600 times in 55 countries.

Overlooking Boston Harbor, the view from the Fairmont’s two-story industrial warehouse space complemented the aesthetic of the exhibits. Large-scale prints were installed on windows, taxi stations and the Harbor Walk to transform the waterfront hotel into a photography mecca. Come down to the galleries at 2 Battery Wharf from 12-5 p.m. this week. The work will stay up until Saturday, June 11 so there’s still time to check it out.

From the stunning work to the beautiful weather, there was plenty to celebrate at the Sangria Party topping off Flash Forward on Saturday, June 4. Over the course of promoting the event, I was glad to see how the festival acted as a catalyst for bringing the photo community north of New York together and paved the way to draw the best resources from a local and international level to the region. Congratulations on year one! It couldn’t have been done without the hard work and pioneering vision of the Flash Forward team.

Here are some interesting external links:

The Boston Globe- A focused look at fresh viewpoints

StocklandMartel- What does it take to stage a great photo festival?

HERE- 5 Questions with MaryAnn Camilleri

The Griffin Museum- Flash Forward Festival, “Fresh Works”

The Milford Daily News- SLIDESHOW: City of Champions photo exhibit showcases Brockton

Time Out Boston- Flash Forward Festival Guide

La Lettre de la Photographie- Boston, Flash Forward Festival

Andy Adams- Live Stream: ”The Future of Photobooks”

Self Publish, Be Happy-Discuss: The Future of Photobooks

Daylight- Co-Founder, Michael Itkoff Speaking at The Flash Forward Festival

Hey Miki- Stephen Mayes Restructuring the Photographic Practice live blog notes