Foto Inter/Cambio conference, Mexico City, October 25-27, 2023

[TheFlyingCamera]

Hi all!

I wanted to let you know that after much activity and organization, our conference registration and information website is now live. I will be making updates as we do things like finalize our daily schedules and nail down some special guest speakers.

The conference will be from October 25-27, 2023 in Mexico City - three days of learning, sharing, and building community and connections amongst the large format photographers of the Americas and globally. Opening night will be especially interesting - we will be having a career retrospective chat with Julio Galindo, one of Mexico's best platinum/palladium printers, at the Museo Archivo de la Fotografia. That same night is Museum Night in Mexico City, and the Archivo will be debuting a show of previously un-exhibited works by Graciela Iturbide. Closing night will be a talk on Spirit Photography in the 19th century by Mark Osterman of Eastman House Museum fame. There will be guided photo walks both day and night, lectures/discussions with eminent photographers and historians, and social opportunities to share personal work and build fellowship. I look forward to seeing you all there! There will also be two (possibly more- still negotiating these) hands-on workshops for copperplate gravure and becquerel-developed daguerreotypes. These workshops will be an additional fee.

The URL for the site is:

https://fotointercambio.com

PS: if you are considering attending, as the weekend of the 28-29th will be the big Day of the Dead celebrations (and I highly recommend you stay around for the weekend to see them!) AND the Mexican Formula 1 race will be held that weekend as well, I highly recommend you book hotel reservations immediately.

 

[Daniela]

Wow, sounds like a great event.
I'm especially jealous of the opportunity to see Graciela's new-to-the-world work I heard her say recently that maybe only 5% of her work has been shown publicly.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Wow, sounds like a great event.
I'm especially jealous of the opportunity to see Graciela's new-to-the-world work I heard her say recently that maybe only 5% of her work has been shown publicly.

You should come to the conference! It's going to be a great opportunity and it's a great city to explore.

 

[Daniela]

You should come to the conference! It's going to be a great opportunity and it's a great city to explore.

Trust me, I'd go if I could. Mexico has been on my "to visit" list for a long time thanks to Graciela, Alvarez Bravo, Frida and well...all the Mexican soap operas I watched as a child

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

As an added bonus, we are arranging with the George Eastman School (a photography school in Mexico City, also in the historic center and not far from the conference site) for folks attending to be able to use their darkroom to develop film before flying home. Details of the arrangement are forthcoming.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

An update:

We have now added a presentation about publishing photo books by Craig Alan Huber, of Veritas Editions, to the lineup. This is shaping up to be a not-to-be-missed event.

 

[MattKing]

Craig is a great source of information, and his books - both of his own work and of others published by Veritas - are things of wonder and beauty!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Craig is a great source of information, and his books - both of his own work and of others published by Veritas - are things of wonder and beauty!

In additional news, Craig is offering a copy of one of his books for the goody bag at the conference to each attendee!

We have the daily schedule posted on the website now:

Foto Inter/Cambio Schedule

 

[popdoc]

Signing up with some buddies- Going to go!
As to Dia del Muerte... as a yankee first timer in Mexico D.F., could you help us "do the right thing, be the right place" for the weekend festivities? A group? I hate FOMO!!!!
TYVM

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Signing up with some buddies- Going to go!
As to Dia del Muerte... as a yankee first timer in Mexico D.F., could you help us "do the right thing, be the right place" for the weekend festivities? A group? I hate FOMO!!!!
TYVM

Absolutely! Saturday the 28th will be the Desfile de las Catrinas (Parade of the Catrinas) on Avenida Reforma. It is a target-rich environment for street photography. The desfile begins at the Angel of Independence monument and continues up Avenida Reforma for maybe 1/2 mile. There will be booths set up on both sides of Reforma for face painting, so you can watch people getting prepped. Sunday is the big parade, which also runs up Reforma from the Angel of Independence, past the Alameda park, it winds around and then finishes on the Zocalo. I'm sure there will be plenty of folks sticking around for the Day of the Dead celebrations so we'll provide an opportunity for folks who want to group up to find each other.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Just wanted to post an update - I will be offering an Environmental Portraiture in Large Format demo/workshop on the afternoon of the 26th as part of the conference. We'll get to shoot with local models in the alleyway behind the Colegio de las Vizcainas, which has tons of texture (see image below). Bring your own camera if you want to shoot after the demo.

To view the full conference schedule, or to register, visit https://fotointercambio.com

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

We just had our first press conference today with the Museo Archivo de la Fotografia of Mexico City, which will be partnering with us to host Foto Inter/Cambio. The museum will host our opening night and closing night keynote talks, as well as a pop-up exhibition of works by Julio Galindo, Arturo Talavera, Paty Banda, Mark and France Scully Osterman, and Scott Davis (yours truly).

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Also, we have made a batch of Early Bird discount tickets available- the discount is a $100 off the full conference price. This discount will be available through July 4, after which the price goes back up to a full $550 US dollars. Sign up now to get a significant savings!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Folks- the conference is drawing near, and we have some great new additions to the lineup of events. We have several new partners: Glen Echo Photoworks and Bostick & Sullivan.

• We will be organizing an exhibit of work from the participants in the conference at Glen Echo Photoworks in the spring of next year.
• Bostick & Sullivan will be supporting Foto Inter/Cambio by supplying the materials for our demonstrations and workshops.

We also have a new presenter added to the schedule - Mary Quinn. Mary uses photosensitive materials in a lensless manner to create intuitive images with emotional resonance. She will be demonstrating her technique and discussing her work on Thursday afternoon.

Scott Davis will be offering an environmental portraiture with large format workshop, with models painted and dressed for Day of the Dead.

Sign up soon - time is running out to get in on this world-class conference in a truly magical city.

https://www.fotointercambio.com for more information and to register.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Complete updates:

We are now partnered with Bostick & Sullivan, who will be supplying all the materials used in the various demos and workshops.

We are also partnered with Glen Echo Photoworks, who will be our sister host next year, with an exhibition opportunity in the spring for participants - this is your chance to show your work at the nation's Arts Park in the Washington DC suburbs!

We have an additional presenter, Mary W. Quin, who will be demonstrating and discussing her alternative process lensless work.

The current lineup of events and speakers stands as follows:

Matthew Magruder and Craig Alan Huber will be discussing different aspects of book arts - Matthew will be approaching it from the perspective of the handmade craft book; taking your work from flat pieces of paper that sit in a drawer or hang on a wall and envisioning them as a three-dimensional interactive art object. Craig will be discussing photography books from the perspective of publishing the fine art book - from conceptualizing to determining the format to finding a publisher and getting distribution.

Takashi Arai and Patricia Banda will be giving a talk on working with daguerreotypes in the modern world. Both are internationally recognized daguerreotypists - Takashi began his daguerrian journey doing a series about nuclear energy and the effects of nuclear weapons in Japan. He also did a portrait series in his home town using daguerreotypes as there are really no historical daguerreotypes in Japan - Japan did not open itself to European commerce and technology until the very end of the Daguerrian era. Patricia documents her home of modern-day Mexico City and the changing urban landscape.

Carlos Vertanessian will be discussing the arrival of photography in Latin America. He is a recognized historian and published author of several volumes on the history of early photography in Argentina.

Julio Galindo will be giving the opening night keynote as part of a career retrospective and lifetime achievement honor at the Museo Archivo de la Fotografia. Julio has been working in alternative processes since the 1970s, and lived in San Francisco in the late 70s/early 80s, getting to know the f/64 school artists like Ansel Adams and the Westons.

Mark and France Osterman will be presenting the closing night keynote, also at the Museo Archivo de la Fotografia, talking about spirit photography in the 19th century. France will discuss the reasons for the practice and Mark will discuss the how-to aspect.

We will also have multiple shooting opportunities. There will be guided photo walks through the Centro Historico: early morning, mid-afternoon, and a special night-time photo walk. In keeping with the events of the weekend immediately following (the 28th-29th are the Day of the Dead weekend), there will also be a Day of the Dead themed environmental portrait photo shoot. We have a fantastic location selected for the shoot, and if the weather is not cooperative, we will be able to pivot to shoot indoors in the conference anchor space.

There will also be a docent-led group tour of the current exhibits at Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City's premier public photography exhibition space.

For more information or to register, please go to our website, https://fotointercambio.com

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

For those interested but may be still on the fence about attending:

We have implemented a discount code for Photrio members!

When checking out, use the discount code PHOTRIO15 to get 15% off the ticket price. This deal is for Photrio members only, so act fast!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Conference update: We are on the ground here in Mexico City, about to open the conference. Today was a whirlwind of dealing with prints and framing, testing out technology and making sure our Zoom calls would work, and handling lots of mini crises (presenters getting delayed flights, artwork being sent to the wrong airport, etc). It is going to all be worth it though. The enthusiasm of those working to put this on is positively palpable and energizing. To give you a teaser and a taste, here are some images I made today (forgive the digital origins - many were shot for social media):

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The conference has been put to bed and I'm back home now. Wow what a whirlwind - three days of non-stop photography, exploring, and meeting new friends. Our opening and closing night keynotes were standing room only. The Museo Archivo de la Fotografia was a wonderful host - I will be working with them again in the coming year to put on a platinum/palladium printing workshop and a solo show.

We had ten workshops/breakout sessions, including artists talks and technical demos, a large format environmental portraiture shoot with a Day of the Dead theme, a docent-led museum visit to the Centro de la Imagen's Biennial show, and opening and closing keynotes. At least one APUG alum was a featured presenter (Matthew Magruder) who did a talk on handmade artists books. We will be back in the spring of 2025 with a new theme (this year's was a dual theme show- Daguerreotypes and books).