I’m back from FotoFest, the Houston biennial celebrating all things photographic. Still working on a full review-look for that to appear later on in the week, but, for now, it’s safe to say it was a blast. I’m very tired as I had a full day of FotoFest-driving down early in the morning, stopping for a bit of shooting along the way, and then celebrating lots of exhibits and dashing between galleries and museums for the rest of the day. I left my home around 7:30 in the morning and did not return until about 10:30 in the evening so I can honestly say it was a day jam packed, full of FotoFest goodness that I’ve grown to expect, not to mention a few surprises thrown in to celebrate the latest that photography has to offer.
If I had to sum it up, I’d say that most of the work fell into one of several “camps” this year-there were a few recurring themes threading throughout the exhibitions. There was also a lot of work from “new faces” and voices in photography, which is fantastic to see-it’s one of the things I think the medium needs to do in order to survive-incorporate the many “voices” that are out there and not implode on its own closed-mindedness. Insular solitude will kill the appeal of fine art photography more than we know it, so it was great to see a lot of fresh, new, exciting work.
Houston itself was a fun as ever to visit. It’s a refreshing change from the allergy epicenter of the known universe, otherwise known as Austin, Texas, not to mention the size and complexity of the city. It’s always fun to visit a city that not only has a solid museum but an entire museum district, lots of fine dining establishments, an entire “gallery row,” or gallery district (not just a few scattered about the place, hoping to survive) and, oh yeah, a shopping zone and a bustling downtown to rival the best of them.
This year the work was really outstanding, ranging from pretty, to well-planned and nicely executed, to thought provoking and clever. There really was something for everybody and it was a fantastic day to just try to take in as much as I possibly could. My biggest gripe is really that I wish I had more time and could share in that energy and excitement more but I’ll have to close by saying it was fun to just take in as much as I could.
More thoughts on FotoFest to come, watch this space for a full review and I hope you too had a photographic one as much as I did though, I have to admit, I sure hope your feet don’t ache as much as mine after all the walking and gallery hopping I did yesterday. Ouch!
Until next time…
