Today Ireland’s first International Photography Festival opens in Dublin. Over the next 11 days the festival aims to showcase the work of many photographers, through hosting a number of exhibitions, as well as a number of talks and workshops taking place in over 30 venues.

Unfortunately, there is no single event in Ireland that unifies, strengthens or celebrates their efforts in the cultivation of a photographic literacy. Although there is a strong support for other artistic practices, there has never been an International Photographic Festival held in Ireland.

PhotoIreland wants to fill up this enormous gap in Irish culture and, in doing so, join many European capitals like London, Paris and Madrid, who enjoy the celebration of Photographic Festivals that encourage their citizens to participate in a number of events, even outside the exhibition agenda, like through educational programs, workshops, portfolio reviews, guided tours, etc.

The full programme of events can be viewed here.

A few of my own picks include:

Exhitions
Official Opening of PhotoIreland 2010
Open to everyone
Meeting House Square
1st July, 8:00 pm

The Gift
Giorgia Fiorio
Gallery of Photography
1st July, 6pm – 23rd August 6pm

America
Deirdre Brennan
Sycamore Club Gallery
1st July, 6:00 pm – 11th July, 6:00 pm

Inspiration
Perry Ogden, David Bailey, August Sander, Roger Mayne, Gilles Peress, Donovan Wylie, Alan MacWeeney
Sebastian Guinness Gallery
1st July, 6:00 pm – 31st July, 6:00 pm

I Like Boring Things
Dorje de Burgh, Tansy Cowley, David Morrissey, Samuel Cunnane, Kate Nevin, Anna J. McCormack, Edmund Doherty
The Centre for Creative Practices
1st July, 7:00 pm – 6th July, 6:00 pm

Art on the Luas
Selected Artists
Selected Luas stops
1st July, 10:30 pm – 11th July, 10:00 pm

The Scarred Landscape
Debbie Castro
Mill Street Studios
2nd July, 7:00 pm – 11th July, 6:00 pm

Fine Art Black and White Landscapes from Ireland
Neil McShane
Dublin Camera Club
3rd July, 6:30 pm – 31st July, 4:00 pm

OpenCall 2010
Selected Artists
The Complex
5th July, 6:00 pm – 18th July, 6:00 pm

SHOOT: Photography of the moment
Stephen Shore, Nan Goldin, Walter Pfeiffer, Boris Mikhailov, Wolfgang Tillmans, Juergen Teller, Mark Borthwick, Ari Marcopoulos
Indigo and Cloth
9th July, 7:00 pm

Talks
Scarred Landscape. Scarred Mindscape?
Debbie Castro
Mill Street Studios
3rd July, 12:30 pm

Fragments From a Broken World
Sean Hillen, kennardphillipps
Meeting House Square
3rd July, 7:30 pm

Giorgia Fiorio
Gallery of Photography
2nd July, 1:15 pm

Photo Blogging
The Back Loft, La Catedral
10th July, 12:00 pm

Tagged: photo ireland festival | 1 comment »