FESTIVAL NEWS UPDATE

PHOTOMONTH OPENING PARTY
Tuesday 2 October 2012 6pm-9pm
Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green, E2 6HG
Come and celebrate the opening of Photomonth and the ‘1Day6Cities’ exhibition. Pick up a free Photomonth brochure or go online at www.photomonth.org and discover the delights on offer this year with over 200 exhibitions and events to explore and enjoy throughout October and November.

RADICAL LONDON IN FOCUS
Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate EC2M 4QH
1 October-30 November exhibition and talks
London has a proud history of radicalism, of protesting against injustice, inequality and racism, of rising up in favour of a fairer society and seeking to improve the lives of ordinary people. The East End of London has also undergone radical changes within its landscape from the redevelopment following the Blitz of WW2 to the current regeneration created by the 2012 Olympics. Photographers David Hoffman, Ed Thompson and Jenny Matthews have documented different aspects of ‘Radical London’ from the Poll Tax riots, to ‘Reclaim the Night’ and the Occupy movement. They will give talks about their practice and show images of their work during October and November 2012 at the Bishopsgate Institute.
Saturday 6 October 2.30pm Talk
David Hoffman: Policing Protest
David Hoffman has specialised in social issues photography for more than 30 years. Resolutely independent, much of his work centres on the increasingly visible control the state exerts over our lives and choices. Racial and social conflict, policing, homelessness, drugs, poverty, social exclusion and environmental protection are documented, often through coverage of protest. A board member of the British Photographic Council, a founding member of Editorial Photographers UK, Photo-Forum London and the campaigning group ‘I’m A Photographer Not A Terrorist’ with a critical interest on issues around press freedom and policing as well as copyright and intellectual property.
www.hoffmanphotos.comTickets £6/£4 concs
Saturday 3 November 2.30pm Talk
Ed Thompson: Occupy London
On 15 October 2011 Ed Thompson went to photograph a group trying to occupy the London Stock Exchange in Central London. On that day something changed when the protestors were surrounded by the police in an attempt to contain them (kettling), they set up tents and built a city. Ed continued to photograph the Occupy London movement for another five months and created an independent self-published book containing photographs and essays from various occupiers to create an intimate and historic account of Occupy London from the inside.
www.edwardthompson.co.ukTickets £6/£4 concs
Saturday 10 November 2.30pm Talk
Jenny Matthews: From ‘Reclaim the Night’ to ‘Slutwalk’ – 30 years of Feminist Activism in London
Jenny Matthews became a photographer in the early 80s seeing this as a means of being an activist, of documenting social issues and becoming part of campaigns to change society for the better. She was part of Camerawork, a photographic collective based in the East End of London, which promoted documentary photography. Her own practice was propelled by becoming part of a women’s photo agency Format. As feminists they felt it important to document women’s lives and their struggles. In recent years this has led Jenny to photograph the effects of war on women in other parts of the globe.
www.jennymphoto.comTickets £6/£4 concs
 
Presented by Photomonth in partnership with The Bishopsgate Institute.
Tickets for each talk £6/£4 concs.
Booking 020 7392 9200 www.bishopsgate.org.uk

PHOTOMONTH PHOTOFAIR
Spitalfields Traders Market, Brushfield Street, E1 6AA
Saturday 6 October 10am-6pm Adm Free
100 stalls and stands with photographers, books, magazines, products and services. An ideal opportunity to see new work, buy prints, commission photographers and select images for exhibition. Look out for the Camera Obscura Campervan by Fotonow. This event takes place in the busy Spitalfields Traders Market surrounded by shops, restaurants, cafes and bars. To apply for a stall visit www.photomonth.org or email info@alternativearts.co.uk 020 7375 0441.

PHOTOMONTH PHOTOWALKS
Two amazing history walks for photographers have been specially devised with professional guides.
Saturday 13 October 11am – 1pm approx
REBELS, STRIKERS and ANTI-FASCISTS: the Radical East End. Led by author David Rosenberg
In the struggle for better lives in the East End, sweatshop workers downed tools, bakers formed workers’ co-operatives, councillors went to prison, people built barricades to stop fascists and police were pelted with kitchen implements. Join this walk and discover who was agitating and rioting and refusing to accept injustice and inequality, where they protested, and what they achieved.
David Rosenberg’s book Battle for the East End: Jewish Responses to Fascism in the 1930s is published by Five Leaves Publications.
Meet at the Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH (Liverpool St tube) Tickets: £6/£4 concs. Book on 020 7392 9200 at www.bishopsgate.org.uk
Saturday 20 October 11am-1.30pm approx
HISTORY IN THE HEART OF HACKNEY led by historian Emily Jost
St John at Hackney Churchyard sits in the heart of Hackney old and new. As the graveyard and public space around Hackney’s medieval village church, it has always been a green oasis. A park for the past 100 years, it remains the final resting place of many generations of Hackney residents from world explorers to royal courtiers, and from shoemakers to plague victims and servants. This tour provides an opportunity to find out more about the site’s history, the people buried here, the memorial masonary and to enjoy the 200 trees at their autumnal best. The tour will finish with a look inside St Augustine’s Tower – Hackney’s oldest building – and climb the 135 steps to the roof for the best views of Hackney and beyond. Photographer Heather McDonough will assist the tour. Meet outside St Augustine’s Tower, The Narrow Way, Mare Street E8 1HR. Tickets £8/£6 concs. Book on 020 7375 0441 email info@alternativearts.co.uk

PHOTOMONTH PORTFOLIO REVIEW
V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road E2 9PA
27 & 28 October 11am-4pm
An exciting opportunity for photographers to discuss their current and future projects and receive critical feedback from experienced professionals including picture editors, curators, gallery owners, publishers, creative directors, commissioning editors, agencies and established artists.
Reviewers include:
Sophie Batterbury Picture Editor, Independent on Sunday
Bridget Coaker Director, Troika Editions
Patrick DiNola Manager Reportage, Photo Assignments, Getty Images
Eva Eicker Assistant Curator, Photographers Gallery
Julio Etchart Photojournalist, Web Reporter
Miranda Gavin Hotshoe Blog
Shannon Ghannam Picture Projects, Reuters News Agency
Emily Graham Co-director, Contact Editions
Lauren Heinz Editor, Foto8 Magazine
Paula Jones Archive Manager, Panos Pictures
Jenny Matthews Photographer, Photomonth Patron
Rebecca McClelland Photography Editor, New Statesman
Robert Moye Deputy Director, V&A Museum of Childhood
Laura Noble Director, Diemar/Noble Gallery
Alex Ortiz Freelance Picture Editor, Guardian & Observer
Dagmar Seeland Picture Editor, Stern Magazine
Stuart Smith Director, Smith Design (photobooks)
Diane Smyth Deputy Editor British Journal of Photography
Anna Stevens Co-director, Contact Editions
Jacqui Wald Editorial Director, Camera Press
Each participant may sign up for two or more twenty minute slots, allocated on a first come first served basis. Cost £35/£30 concessions for two slots, £70/£60 concs for four slots, £105/£90 concs for six slots. More slots may be booked if available. Booking opens 1 October. Apply by email only to info@alternativearts.co.uk

PHOTOMONTH PHOTO-OPEN
Rich Mix, 34-47 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch E1 6LA
1 November – 1 December
PHOTO-OPEN EXHIBITION 10am-12midnight daily
Photography show open to all kinds of photographers, exhibiting a wide range of subjects and approaches. All images will be screened and a selection printed.
Entry forms available from info@alternativearts.co.uk or downloaded at www.photomonth.org
Curated by alternative arts. Sponsored by Metro
Sunday 4 November
FILMS BY PHOTOGRAPHERS 12noon-3pm Adm Free
A selection of short films, first screened at the East End Film Festival, by Joan Alexander, Suelan Alison, Pascal Bartholdi, Philippe Calia, Oliver David, Raphael Franco, Begona Garcia, Sonal Kantaria, Monika Kita & Nigel Jarvis, Victoria Kovalenko, Monika Marion, Wendy Pye, Hana Ros & Imogen Ogilivie & Peter Larkin, Marc Schlossman, Dougie Wallace, Max Colson, Amit Lennon, Elina Moriya, Rod Morris, Helen Spackman & Manuel Vason.
RADICAL LONDON PORTFOLIOS 4pm-6pm Adm Free
Portfolio screening of completed series of images looking at ‘Radical London’, exploring the history, politics and environment of our capital city, inspired by freedom of expression, change and transformation, by established and emerging photographers.
To submit a portfolio for selection apply to info@alternativearts.co.uk
YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS ALLIANCE 7pm-9pm Adm Free
Panel Debate: Film vs Digital – The changing face of photography and how digital imaging has impacted and continues to impact the medium. Leading picture editors and photographers will be sitting on the panel which will be moderated by renowned picture editor Colin Jacobsen. The YPA is a charity that helps young photographers, aged 18-24, get into the industry.
www.youngphotographersalliance.org.uk

PHOTOMONTH LECTURE Simon Norfolk
Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street E1 7QX
Wednesday 21 November 7pm
The eminent photographer talks on the land as battlefield and the inscription of memory and metaphor in the natural world.
Simon Norfolk is a landscape photographer whose work over the last ten years has been themed around a probing and stretching of the meaning of the word ‘battlefield’ in all its forms. As such he has photographed in some of the world’s worst war-zones and refugee crises, but is equally at home photographing supercomputers used to design military systems or test launches of nuclear missiles.
His work is widely acclaimed, he has received many prestigious prizes and produced three monographs. He has been described as ‘passionate, intelligent and political’.
Tickets £7/£5 concs
Booking  www.whitechapelgallery.org 020 7522 7888 tickets@whitechapelgallery.org