Events
Don't Miss 'Connect '08: The Palm Springs Photo Festival'
By DE Staff
Jan 1, 2008

All images are by master photographers who are leading workshops at PSPF.

Jack © Frank Ockenfels III

In just a few short years, the Palm Springs Photo Festival has grown by leaps and bounds, yet still retains its intimate appeal. “It’s gotten a bit broader and deeper, and we’re going to have more events this year,” explains Jeff Dunas, Director of the festival and a highly successful photographer in his own right. “We’ve spread out into more venues within walking distance of Korakia, the magical, Morrocan-inpired headquarters." This year’s photo festival will be held from March 30 through April 4, 2008. Partners include Canon, Microsoft, Epson, American PHOTO, PDN, Photoworkshop.com, Palm Springs Art Museum, Blurb.com, Adobe, Brooks Institute, and many others.

“Despite its growth, the festival has retained its intimate character. There’s always time for photographers to hang out with each other, which is what makes it unique,” he remarks. “There was nothing like this before, and it has a certain personality of its own. I think it’s the only event founded, produced and operated by a working photographer with feet in both camps—commerce and fine art.” PSPF reflects Dunas’ desires to learn and broaden his career, “and on the belief that I have a lot in common with my peers.” There will be a great congregation of photographic luminaries in attendance, and who provide insight and some wonderful learning opportunities for attendees.

Romanian Schoolgirl © Sylvia Plachy

Workshops
This year, the festival offers 11 workshops, nearly double the amount last year. “The veteran Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson will be our special guest this year. He will do a three-day, in-depth look at his career with his students; discussing his life, images, assignments, books and personal work.” Dunas declares, “That’s the point of our festival—we try to give people an experience that they’re not going to get anywhere else. It’s not so much about shooting as it is about understanding a new approach.”

Documentary great Sylvia Plachy will present a workshop called “Photographing and Sequencing the Photo Essay.” It concentrates on telling a story with pictures, her specialty. Keith Carter presents a workshop called “Finding Your Voice,” a hands-on workshop where attendees will go on location with Carter, learning about his visual vocabulary and how he conceptualizes his work. Frank Ockenfels III will present “Commercial and Editorial Portraiture," and Bruce Barnbaum will teach “The Desert Landscape.” Andres Bitesnich, who specializes in shooting classic nudes with a very contemporary “vibe,” will teach “The Fine Art Nude.”

Juergan Nogai will lead a workshop in “Architectural Photography,” and the class will shoot in some of the modernist masterpiece homes in the Palm Springs area. Stephen Wilkes, a great advertising and documentary photographer, will hold a workshop on location with a 4x5 and high-end digital cameras, provided by Sinar with film offered by Fuji. And for the first time, the festival will offer a workshop on aerial photography taught by Barrie Rokeach, author of an important aerial photography manual published by Eastman Kodak.

Under Saturns © Keith Carter

Additional Events
The workshops are filling up fast, according to Dunas. In addition to the four-day workshops, they’re offering a one-day portrait/lighting workshop with Michael Grecco, and a two-day workshop called “Beyond the Softbox: The Secrets of Movie Lighting for Still Photography,” which will be led by well-known cinematographers who work on major feature films. There will be 10 seminars, including intermediate and advanced Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop classes, a Canon digital workshop, “Digital Workflow for Fine-art Photography” with Mac Holbert, co-founder of Nash Editions, and “The Secrets of Stock” with Tom Grill, perhaps the world's most successful stock photographer and founder of Comstock.

On April 2nd, festival attendees can attend a daylong event on “Publishing and the Photographic Book,” which includes pointers on sequencing, designing and marketing work, as well as how to get your photography book published. On April 3rd, commercial and fine-art consultant Mary Virginia Swanson will present “Finding Your Audience,” and noted photojournalist Colin Finlay will lead a seminar called “Issues You Care About—Making a Difference Using Photography as a Tool for Social and Environmental Change." Finally, X-Rite will produce an afternoon seminar on “Calibrating and Profiling Made Easy and Understandable.”

“Every day, we present an important symposium at the Annenberg Theater of the Palm Springs Art Museum,” Dunas states. “We bring together  distinguished and dynamic panelists who discuss important issues for photographers.” The first of these is called, “The Business of Fine Art,” moderated by Holly Hughes, the Editor of Photo District News. Panelists include gallerists David Fahey and Stephen Cohen, Tim B. Wride, former Director of Photography at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Anthony Bannon, the Director of the George Eastman House, and Daile Kaplan, the Director of Swann Galleries in New York, among others. Photo District News will present the “PDN 30 Emerging Photographer’s Conference.” Wednesday's symposium will be “Advocacy in the Arts,” moderated by Aperture's Michelle Dunn Marsh, which focuses on the power of photography to affect social change. The final symposium is called “Successful Women in Art and Commerce,” sponsored by Microsoft, with panelists that include Joyce Tenneson, Lauren Greenfield, Bambi Cantrell and Pulitzer Prize recipient, Diane Fitzmaurice.

Ulrica, Mykonos © Andreas Bitesnich

Dunas says that PSPF has a unique method for doing portfolio reviews, one of the festival's most important functions, “which is purely democratic and lets everybody have an equal opportunity to see all the people they’d like.” Over 300 portfolio reviews are scheduled this year. There is a special four-day registration fee that includes five portfolio reviews, which saves attendees over 20%. “Our goal is to offer very rich content at a reasonable price. This is the most inexpensive festival that exists anywhere,” he points out, “because we’re fortunate enough to have the benefit of so many fantastic sponsors. We offer as many events as we possibly can for free.” Gratis events include the daily symposiums, as well as six of the 10 seminars. “Our registration fee is only $60 a day, which includes the nightly presentations of two incredible photographers,” he adds. They also offer several evening parties with an open bar and wine tastings from California vineyards. Although attendees will pay for the workshops, they’re very reasonable, says Dunas. “Workshops are limited to 15 people and the prices are kept affordable because we have sponsors that make it happen.”

Register Early
He urges people to schedule seminars and book hotel rooms as early as possible. “We’ve developed an interesting order module on our website, which is very easy to use and totally comprehensive,” says Dunas. Attendees can pay for everything in advance, including lunches, and badges will be waiting for them at the door. He estimates that 75–90% of the people will be registered online before coming to the festival, although those who want to come and register on site can certainly be accommodated.

Dunas estimates an increase of last year’s attendance by about 35%. “We’re not interested in having the festival become too big,” he says. “Thousands of people attending is not our objective.” He would rather maintain PSPF as a unique, high-quality event. PSPF is holding approximately 240 rooms in the Palm Springs area, and Dunas encourages people to register now for the best lodging choices. He’d like to keep attendees within walking distance of the festival’s venues. “We’re looking forward to a really nice event this year,” he says. “This event is about pure passion for photography. Come and enjoy!”



To learn more about the Palm Springs Photo Festival and to register online, visit www.palmspringsphotofestival.com.  

Photoworkshop.com members are entitled to a special 10% discount on all PSPF seminars, workshops and portfolio reviews. To get this discount, CLICK HERE and enter the code PWS.


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