PhotoVille is in its third year, and each edition has been more inspiring than the last. What began as a modest event in a few containers, whose inside walls were covered with photos attached with magnets and Velcro, has since proven itself to be one of the most important events of the season. What’s remarkable isn’t the exhibition space—that style has been popping up the past few years—but its curatorial engagement. Since its first year, the United Photo Industries team, Sam Barzilay, Laura Roumanos and Dave Shelley, have invited photo world opinion leaders like the Magnum Foundation.
This year’s festival is a flood of creativity, with 50 exhibitions and as many conversations, workshops and evening screenings. Time is holding a rare retrospective of the work of James Nachtwey, with whom the magazine has collaborated for the past 30 years. The charity organization Smile Train has covered its walls with plasma screens, creating a virtual choir singing Louis Armstrong’s “When You’re Smiling” in the round. Instagram, demonstrating the role of its platform in the engagement of a wider audience, is holding a giant exhibition covering two floors. With many artists using the outside of the containers to display their work, the festival can also be enjoyed from the East River ferry.
Photoville
Broken Screen, de Gaia Squarci
Until September 28, 2014
Pier 5 – Brooklyn Bridge Park
New York
