FOTOFEST ‘23 , This Year, Sharing Stories Of Humanity Through Photography

FOTOFEST, the annual photography event for Hastings and Hawke's Bay is back from September 15th - 25th in Hastings city. With more than 20 exhibition's throughout the CBD using retail windows and laneways as well as two pop up galleries, the 10 day event is for locals and visitors to the Bay to enjoy, "with or without a camera" This year two international exhibitors join the lineup alongside a range of local and national photographers, contributing to a focus on advocacy and humanity.

Maribel Pottstock, a Chilean photographer with her series of images from Easter Island and the moai ,monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500 and French Canadian photographer Arianne Clementwith her exhibition , How to live to 100, which captures beautiful images of the elderly living within “blue zone” countries, places renowned for the vitality and well-being of their elderly.

Alongside, Abhi Chinniah who grew up in East Coast Malaysia with her debut photographic series, ‘Light Skin Dark Skin,’ exploring the journeys people have to take because of the colour of their skin and Antonio Alba,a 21 year old Mexican photographer seeking the true beauty for this world we live in through her images.

Event Coordinator, Shayne Jeffares says of this year's event “ We so want to add to the creative vibe that Hastings is becoming known for - This is going to be a fantastic event with more creatives from across the country contributing and more people getting behind to support.
He adds that this year sees a focus on humanity and advocacy with many exhibitions sharing powerful and personal testimonies. We really wanted to ensure we had exhibitions that share stories of humanity and we have definitely achieved that in a way that only photography can”

“It is all about bringing people into the city to enjoy viewing great photography in fun and different ways. Plus there are events for the kids to enjoy from a street photography workshop through to a selfie background celebrating Hastings 150th. Napier also has a presence with a live gig exhibition, From the Pit and a series of exhibitions at CAN gallery.

Plus, if you are an avid amateur or hobbyist, collector or seasoned pro, we guarantee you will have an awesome time connecting with others and enjoying the whole event”
“Get yourself to Hastings and enjoy all this city has to offer” is Shaynes advice, we are really looking forward to this years festival”

NOTABLE EXHIBITIONS Tony Reddrop

Tony’s work focuses on things and people in “my own environment”, which for the past 14 years has been around Palmerston North, the lower North Island of New Zealand.
Documentary and portraiture are Tony’s preference for capturing, preferring to capture things that may not be as popular, or mainstream, and take more time to tell the story.

While exhibiting since 2000, Tony has focused on the many forms of visual media, to show his work, including online, public displays, projections, exhibitions, zines, and printed books.
He has been fortunate to have his work featured in printed media, radio, television, and be held in various collections, Australian National Library ACT, the National War Memorial ACT, Multicultural commission of Victoria, Massey University New Zealand, as well as private collections.

Local Paul Taylor with his moving series of black and white images shot in Wellington amongst the NZ Iranian community protesting against violence in Iran amid the death in 2022 of Mahsa Amini for not wearing a hijab in accordance with Government standards.

Local organisation DOVE Hawke’s Bay hosts a powerful exhibition Hopeful Horizons”
celebrating the courage, determination, and resilience of men from across Aotearoa– and the world – who have suffered sexual abuse. These men tell their individual stories openly and honestly. They are stories of suffering but also of triumph, healing and hope.

IHC NZ once again host the New Zealand Photography Competition for the second year .

The photographs will be for sale with 100% of the sale proceeds going to the photographer.

About Capture the Moment

Capture the moment is IHC’s photography competition for New Zealanders who have an intellectual disability or an intellectual disability and autism.
Building on the success of the IHC Art Awards, we wanted to showcase the talent of New Zealanders through a different medium.

The theme of this year’s competition is Your Aotearoa, New Zealand.

From the Pit NZ Music month exhibition showcasing leading images of live gigs. Founded in 2019, FromThePit is an annual curated exhibition of images of New Zealand musicians playing live in New Zealand. More than anything it is a celebration of the craft and art of live music photography.https://fromthepit.co.nz/2023-images/

Katie Hoy Showcasing 100 Rotorua women who represent the female population by age, ethnicity and country of birth.The purpose of this project was to represent the diverse local population and celebrate women in all capacities. Photographer, Katie Hoy, has always sought to see the connections between people, and between people and place in her art. As an immigrant to New Zealand, and after calling Rotorua home for 12 years, Katie wanted to meet women from the wider Rotorua community, to hear their stories and share them publicly in her first solo exhibition .https://creativerotorua.org.nz/100-women-rotorua/
 

Serena Stevenson - Pre Loved project at Cranford op Shop

Multimedia Auckland artist Serena Stevenson designs a story experience through photography and street art. Taking the audience into the never seen before intimate world of op-shopping https://www.prelovedproject.nz/

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