Jan Saudek is part of the Month of Photography. (source: TASR)
THE 21ST EDITION of Bratislava’s Month of Photography brings together different genres, photographers and countries in a total of 26 exhibitions. The exhibitions opened at the beginning of November and are spread throughout the city at big galleries like the Slovak National Gallery (SNG), the Bratislava City Gallery (GMB), the Central European House of Photography (SEDF) – the organiser of this month’s events – and the House of Art (Dom umenia) on SNP Square, as well as at several smaller venues.
Visitors can choose to view the winners of World Press Photo 2011 – a competition that has been held since 1955 and sets the standard for journalistic photography – at the House of Art. Aimed at promoting the work of professional photo-journalists worldwide, the competition’s 19-member international jury chose the works of 54 photographers from 23 countries from among the 108,059 pictures submitted by 5,691 photographers from 125 countries. Four other photo exhibitions opened as well at the House of Art on November 1.
One of this year’s main themes involves exchanges between photography students from five countries. In addition to the Bratislava Academy of Fine Arts, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, photography academies from Prague, Budapest, Lodz and Helsinki have sent some of their students for mutual exchange of experience and a joint international conference. The Medium Gallery is also offering works from 15 other photographic schools in Europe.
Galéria Zoya offers works by Portuguese photographers until November 23, while the David LaChapelle exhibition at the GMB has been extended until November 15. Works by distinctive Czech photo-artist Jan Saudek are on show in the Michalský dvor gallery until December 2, while pictures by Czech documentary photographer Viktor Kolář are available at the GMB until January 15 and renowned Slovak photographer Karol Kállay offers his ‘Bratislava of Mine’ collection at the House of Art until November 30.
In addition to these galleries, the Austrian, Polish, Hungarian and Bulgarian cultural centres are hosting photo exhibitions as well.
The full programme for the Month of Photography is available at http://sedf.sk/sk/mesiac-fotografie-2011.html.
