Internationally renowned Bangladeshi photographer, writer, curator and teacher Dr. Shahidul Alam, will lead a free public talk at the National Geographic Store in London next week. Taking place on 4th October from 6pm, the 40-minute talk will focus on his 30 year career in documentary photography, as well as his role as one of the most respected photography educators in the world. The National Geographic Store is located at 83-97 Regent Street, London.

iStockphoto today announced the first Italian iStockalypse, a five-day photography event. Held from 28 September - 2 October in Milan and surrounding villages, iStockalypse Milan is organised in partnership with Canon. Artists and photographers from the international iStock contributor community will come together to collaborate, share knowledge, and exchange tricks of the stock photography trade. Each day iStock sets the stage for participants to launch into high-end photo-shoots — carefully planning and selecting locations, models, wardrobe and fashion designers, hair and make-up professionals, props, professional equipment and mentorship. Click through / read on for details including a brief shooting schedule.

World Photography Organisation (WPO), an acclaimed London-based initiative that provides a global platform for photography, is coming to New York to engage the city’s vibrant photography community with exhibitions, workshops, and talks led by world renowned practitioners in the photographic field. WPO has partnered with the Chelsea Art Museum who will serve as the host venue for all activities from October 13 through November 12, 2011. The New York events will kick off with an opening night on Thursday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. featuring the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards Winners’ Exhibition curated by Elisabeth Biondi, former Visuals Editor of the New Yorker and a chair of the Honorary Judging committee of the 2011 awards. Click through / read on for further information on the programme.

The IRIS Nights lecture series, offered by The Annenberg Space for Photography, is now marking its 100th evening on September 29 with curator/gallery owner David Fahey and Mark McKenna of the Herb Ritts Foundation. Over the past two years, the series has served over 16,000 photography enthusiasts. Among the presenters have been celebrity portraitist Douglas Kirkland, who gave the very first lecture; fine art photographer Catherine Opie; photojournalist Steve McCurry, known for his photo of an Afghan refugee girl with strikingly vibrant eyes; Los Angeles’ own Gil Garcetti; environmental photographer Clyde Butcher; celebrity and beauty photographer Matthew Rolston; Director of Photography of National Geographic Magazine David Griffin; blind, underwater photographer Bruce Hall; photographer and rock musician Nikki Sixx; legendary sports photographers Neil Leifer and Walter Iooss, as well as Arctic photographer Paul Nicklen. The Annenberg Space for Photography is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, California, and is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

This October, prestigious East London gallery theprintspace is celebrating the winning entries from the Black+White Photographer of the Year 2011 competition. This year’s contest attracted thousands of images from around the world. The title “Black+White Photographer of the Year 2011” has been awarded to Binh Trinh for his set of three nudes. The winning images will be exhibited from 7th to 26th October at theprintspace gallery, 74 Kingsland Road, London. Admission is free.

Nikon are running an online teaser campaign dubbed “I Am Coming” with a countdown of less than 34 hours. Recent Nikon rumours include the launch of new professional DSLRs and the company’s venture into compact system cameras. It seems that only time will tell (33 hours, 11 minutes and 8 seconds, to be exact)...

Website: I Am Coming

The inaugural London Photo Festival will be held from 27-29 October 2011 in The Crypt, Borough High St, London SE1 1JA. Providing amateur, enthusiast and semiprofessional photographers with the opportunity to exhibit and sell their work while also gaining valuable professional feedback, the London Photo Festival is co-organised by the founders of Abitoffthemapp Photography and HCK Photography. The exhibition will be open to the public during Friday and Saturday and will host a networking evening for the photographic community on Friday evening. The Crypt is opposite Borough station, a five-minute walk from London Bridge station and the world famous Borough Market.

CENTER, a Santa Fe-based non-profit organisation that honours, supports and provides opportunity for gifted, committed photographers, has announced two public seminars featuring nationally recognised marketing and photographic professionals. Held on 24 September 2011 at the IHM Retreat Center, 50 Mt Carmel Rd, Santa Fe, the seminars are part of a special retreat-style photographic conference called Portfolio Bootcamp. The first seminar, entitled “Making a Name for Yourself: 8 Steps to Igniting a Personal Brand”, features Robin Fisher-Roffer, CEO of Big Fish Marketing and starts at 1pm, with tickets available for $15. The second event, “Effective Methods for Presenting your Work & Getting it Out There” is a round table discussion with Maggie Blanchard, Twin Palms Publishers; David Bram, Fraction Magazine; Rob Haggart, aphotoeditor.com; Joanna Hurley, HurleyMedia; Melanie McWhorter, PhotoEye; Michele Penhall, UNM Art Museum; Amber Terranova, PDN; and Katherine Ware, NM Museum of Art. This seminar is free and starts at 5:30pm.

SF Photo School, onOne Software and Sim2000 have announced a new 2-day portrait photography workshop with photographers Kevin Wilson, Martin Grahame-Dunn & Uzair Kharawala and social media expert Maz Syed. This workshop, which is aimed at those who wish to take their portrait photography business to the next level, comprises ten intensive 90-minute sessions. The number of participants is limited to 8-10 people per group. Held on 29-30 October 2011 at the NEC in Birmingham, the workshop is priced at £225 per person for those that register before 25 September. For more information, visit the website below.

Bonusprint is to advertise on TV for the first time 25 years. The advert, which features a real mum and daughter, can be seen on ITV2 and E4 in the UK. To celebrate the launch of the TV ad, you can order one Bonusprint Large or Extra Large photo book and get an identical one free.

Jessops are offering 1/3 off all Jessops printed photo products to celebrate the opening of their new store at Westfield Stratford City in London. Constructed near the Olympic site, Westfield is Europe’s largest urban shopping centre. The new Jessops store boasts a new customer-friendly layout enabling you to test and trial live interactive cameras.

Scenes from the Art World is a major exhibition of photographs by Dafydd Jones, hosted by the Idea Generation Gallery in London. “A leading pioneer in society photography, Dafydd Jones has been photographing key art world names for the past three decades,” the organisers say. “His social reportage is a visual record of the art world’s transformation from small and unknown gallery launches of the nineteen eighties to the large scale celebrity haunts of the contemporary art market.” On show from 6-16 October, the exhibition features photos of Lucian Freud, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Jay Jopling, David Hockney, Nicholas Serota and Gavin Tuck as seen through the lens of Dafydd Jones. The Idea Generation Gallery is located at 11 Chance Street, London E2 7JB.

PhotoVoice, an international charity and one of the leading organisations in the field of participatory photography, is organising an auction event and exhibition called the PhotoVoice Auction of Exceptional Photographs. The Auction is now in its ninth year, but the preview exhibition - taking place from 14-18 November at La Galleria, London - is new. The Auction itself will start at 6.30pm on 22 November, at Thomson Reuters, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf.

Ilford has announced an exclusive offer for photographers attending the upcoming PhotoPlus Expo (PPE) and WPPI NYC event on 27-29 October. The company will offer a free 16x20-inch print on Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk paper to the first 100 professional photographers that submit their favourite image to the company’s secure FTP site, and follow that submission with a confirmation e-mail by 24 September. The image should be transferred as the highest possible quality JPEG, rendered in Adobe RGB or sRGB at a minimum of 300dpi, and not exceed 20 inches in the longer dimension. Instructions for logging on to the Ilford FTP site can be found in the press release below.

Phase One today announced open enrollment for its New Zealand Phase One Digital Artist Series (PODAS) workshop. At this event, each participant will receive a Phase One 645DF camera body, a 60-megapixel IQ160 back and an assortment of lenses, plus a free copy of both Capture One Pro and Media Pro software. Held from 30th November to 7th December, the workshop will feature top pro photography instructors and plenty of opportunity to shoot dramatic vistas of lakes, glaciers and ice cliffs. Shooting excursions will be complemented by classroom instruction on topics ranging from visualisation to composition, capture, workflow and presentation. Priced at USD 6900 per person, the New Zealand PODAS workshop is limited to 20 participants. To register, visit the website below.

The Made in Polaroid exhibition features more than 60 pieces of art created by a mix of artists, designers, photographers, actors and musicians. Hosted by Phillips de Pury & Company, NYC, the exhibition runs until 14th September. Participating artists include fashion photographers Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Klein, designers Cynthia Rowley and Phillip Lim and actors James Franco and Viggo Mortensen, among many others. All pieces will be auctioned with proceeds benefitting Free Arts NYC, a non-profit that provides arts and mentoring programmes to under-served children.

X-Rite has announced a new, free webinar focusing on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and the basics of colour management. This is a three-part online seminar, with the first session taking place on 16th September, at 4pm CET. The second part is scheduled for 14th October, while the third session will be held on 18th November, both starting at 4pm CET. Taking part in the webinar is free, but advance registration is required.

CineStories’ upcoming Get In Motion Tour teaches photographers how to leverage digital SLR technology for filmmaking. Participants will learn to make Web commercials, wedding videos, birth-announcement films, family movies, and more. The Tour, which has 37 stops in cities across the US and Canada, will also teach you how to record your audio properly and how to mix it in post productions. Tickets start at $49 with a $10 discount if using the coupon code BLOGVID. For more information including exact dates and locations, and to register, visit the Get in Motion Tour website.

Hasselblad will present a series of Master Studiodays celebrating this year’s finalists in major cities around the world with the Masters Finalists 2012 Tour beginning in London this September and continuing on to Los Angeles, New York City and Berlin. Each event and session is open and free to anyone. The Masters Studioday will kick off at 11am with a variety of activities. Attendees will have a chance to experience the H4D camera system and accessories in a hands-on fashion shoot alongside former Masters winners and to explore the latest products and technology from Hasselblad Masters Partners including Broncolor, Epson, and SanDisk. To register for one of the Master Studioday events, visit the website below.

On 24-25th September, Sony UK will be hosting a unique event called “Sony Alpha Live” at its headquarters in Weybridge. This will be the first opportunity for UK photographers to try out the new Alpha range of digital SLT cameras and NEX compact system cameras in person. Paul Genge Technical Field Sales Manager for Sony UK commented on the experience: “We wanted to open up a unique experience to the fans of our product. We feel that we have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with Compact System Cameras and SLT models with the new Alpha range and we cannot wait to see the public’s reaction.” The cost of attendance is £150, including transfer from the local train station, participation in up to three training workshop sessions, a chance to explore the entire Alpha range, a Sony Live goodie bag, a choice of lunch and refreshments throughout the day and sensor cleaning for your camera. For more information and to book your place visit the website below.