The International Photography Festival, Israel’s largest photography event, will be taking place this year for the eighth time. Following the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic, this year's edition of the International Photography Festival will feature a unique format. By taking all the necessary precautions and measures the festival organizers are creating a new model for the festival, in which the exhibitions will be held in the open air accompanied by a rich online program.
The International Photography Festival, Israel’s largest photography event, has long since become a well-established art institution that welcomes thousands of visitors every year. This year’s festival, whose theme is Transformation, will present dozens of exhibitions featuring leading photographers from Israel and abroad. The festival is the pinnacle of the year for PHOTO IS:RAEL, a non-profit, public benefit company established to fulfill its vision of social outreach, dialogue, research and the highlighting of artistic and social themes through the language of photography.
The 2020 International Photography Festival will take place outdoors, in Kikar Hamedina, November 9th-28th, 2020. Visitors are welcome to visit at any time, day or night, free of charge. Guided tours of the Festival exhibitions will take place in small groups and in accordance with the Ministry of Health guidelines. The organizers will also be offering a rich online program for free, including lectures, panels and master classes.
This year marks Romania’s 4th participation in the event, whose organizers chose Romanian photographer Petruț Călinescu with the project called The Black Sea, described by the artist as following: ”The Black Sea is a project I have started in 2010 when, together with journalist Ștefan Candea, we traveled around the entire Black Sea, passing through Bulgaria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Abkhazia, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. Eversince, year after year, I continue to add new chapters, observing the way people relate to the sea. The Black Sea is becoming a place of love, relaxation and freedom, but in the same time of military tensions.”
Petruţ Călinescu is an independent Romanian photographer, with a degree in Journalism and Communication Sciences, co-founder of The Romanian Center for Documentary Photography, which aims to produce, stimulate and group the best projects on Romanian documentary photography. He worked for the main Romanian daily journals as a photographer, and today he is represented internationally by the London-based agency Panos Pictures and by LAIF in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
His photos have been published in Sunday Times Magazine, Business Week, The New Statesman, 6 Mois, New York Times Lens, As Magazine, Esquire, Southern Weekly Metropolis etc.
His portfolio can be seen on https://www.petrut-calinescu.com
Admission to the Festival is free, exhibitions can be viewed 24/7. Guided tours are available with prior registration.
More information about the Festival: https://www.photoisrael.org/en/
Copyright photos: Petruț Călinescu
