Martin Parr is hands on for the press tour of the Brighton Photo Biennial 2010:New Documents

Ahead of the fourth Brighton Photo Biennial: New Documents, which opens tonight, here’s a sneak preview of four of the main shows visited on yesterday’s press tour. The festival is curated by renowned photographer, editor and curator Martin Parr.

“BPB 2010 explores the immediacy and vibrancy of contemporary photographic practice by a new generation of practitioners, the eclectic passions found in collections of historic and vernacular photography produced by commercial and amateur photographers, and presents new commissions by internationally celebrated photographers informed and inspired by the diverse communities and contexts of Brighton & Hove.” Press release.

Parr took around 10 of us on a tour of the key shows and proved to be an engaging guide – showing us around the work and talking about it, as well as lighting the work with available lamps and holding up prints for us to look at more closely. It made a change to see the shows coming together, especially in the Fabrica building where, in an ambitious project, the entire space is being transformed into the House of Vernacular made up of seven rooms.

For many of the photographers it was also the first time they had seen their work printed, and, as far as I could tell, they were pleased with the results. Apologies in advance, to any photographers whose work I have shot here if the colour seems a tad strange, we had a mixed bag of lighting. All photos © Miranda Gavin.

STRANGE AND FAMILIAR: THREE VIEWS OF BRIGHTON
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Stephen Gill: Outside In

Rinko Kauwachi: Murmaration

Alec and Carmen Soth: Brighton Picture Hunt

Photo News and competitions – Wednesday Round Up

For today’s mid-week round up of photo news, there’s an exhibition and a photo product award, plus final calls for applicants for the 2010 Hungry Bursary Awards Scheme and the Dutch Masters Series of photographer-led workshops taking place in Italy. Also, a quick heads up on the 12 April date when the annual Association of Photographers Open will be accepting entries.

© Hana Vojáčková, Red Balloon 86, photo courtesy of the artist and gallery

PHOTO SHOW
London-based Czech artist, Hana Vojáčková’s first solo show, Red Balloon 86, a series of large-format photographs and a five-screen video installation taken within the exclusion zone of Chernobyl is on show until Sunday in London. The work is a personal response to the 1986 radioactive explosion. The video is inspired by the boy in the 1956 French film, The Red Balloon, and also follows the journey of a young child. I haven’t seen the show but it looks interesting, especially as she is working with both still and moving imagery.

Hana Vojáčková gained access to the site in late 2009 “to capture the wasteland that is Chernobyl, where in the immediate aftermath of the nuclear disaster, its residents had 40 minutes to pack their worldly belongings and leave”.

ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOGRAPHERS (AOP) OPEN
The AOP Open is calling for entries from around the world for its annual photography competition. The aim of the competition is “to showcase outstanding individual images – there are no categories or themes so the choice of work submitted is entirely up to the photographer”. The AOP Open is now in its 11th year and annually attracts around 1500 international entries.

PRIZE
Awards will be presented to the ‘Best in Show’, the ‘Public Choice’ winner and also a ‘Judge’s Choice’ selected by each of the judges. The chosen images will be exhibited in August at the AOP Gallery and also showcased on the awards website. The gala evening will be held in August at the AOP Gallery in Shoreditch, East London.

DEADLINE
From 12 April until 16 May