Still in Motion is a company that aims to promote contemporary photography both in Paris and London by way of organising a photography festival that will “build a bridge over the Channel”. The opening of the Still in Motion London Photography Festival will take place in Paris, at La Cartonnerie, on the 29th and 30th of May 2010 and one week later, at the Horse Hospital in London. The festival programme includes an exhibition of pinhole photographs, a pinhole photo contest on the theme of the changing city, free pinhole portraits in a Victorian lay-out, an exhibition of young photographers, and more. Throughout the weekend, a discovery workshop will be delivered for the public that will play upon the pinhole camera’s origins and the experience of taking a picture in a 19th century studio. “One of the targets of this event is to recreate the social link within the city through photography, and to bring urban people to rediscover their city,” the organisers say.

Website: Still in Motion

Press Release

The new LONDON PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

Opening in Paris at…
LA CARTONNERIE
Sat. 29th| Sun. 30th May 2010

Launch in London at…
THE HORSE HOSPITAL
Sat. 5th | Sun. 6th June 2010

The opening of the Still in Motion London Photography Festival will take place in Paris, at La Cartonnerie, on the 29th and 30th of May 2010 and one week later, at the Horse Hospital in London, on the 5th and 6th of June 2010. Still in Motion organizes with Stenoflex a Pinhole Camera Event on the theme of „the changing city?. In both cities, the event will be delivered as two days of photo-taking, open to the public and an exhibition of international photographers. At the event, we will announce the 2nd edition of the festival taking place one year later in several venues of the King?s Cross-St Pancras area, in London.

WHAT?S ON?
AN EXHIBITION OF PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHS (the list of photographers will be online one week before the event)
And also a PINHOLE PHOTO CONTEST on the theme of the changing city, a 19th CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO open to the public, a LAUNCH PARTY in both Paris & London with a DJ set in Paris and a concert in London, free pinhole portraits in a Victorian Lay-Out, an exhibition of young photographers, projections and artists’ talks, bookshops, a tea party.

1st EDITION 2010: THE PINHOLE CAMERA EVENT
The event will take place over a weekend in June 2010 and will comprise an exhibition of images made by invited artists using pinhole cameras provided by Stenoflex, a public pinhole photography contest and a discovery workshop for those interested.

The theme of the event will be “The Changing City”. Increasingly, questions about the function of urban spaces have become central to cultural and political discourses in London, ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. These include the issues surrounding accessibility, transport, integration, green spaces, economic development and cultural vibrancy within the context of environmental sustainability and ever-expanding urbanization.

THE PINHOLE PHOTO CONTEST: SHOOTING PICTURES OF THE CHANGING CITY
Still in Motion encourages creative attempts and aims to reveal the diversity of contemporary photography. As a result, we are creating an event in partnership with Stenoflex® that exploits the fact that pinhole technology does not require a great understanding of photographic processes. We intend to create a straightforward participatory experience that is barrier-free, in which the results will be varied and unique. The pinhole camera is ideal for this purpose. Due to its long exposure time, both the photographer and sitter have equal opportunity to influence the shot, providing a degree of interactivity that has been limited by techniques that are more sophisticated.

Participants are invited to submit a pinhole photograph related to the contest?s theme of The Changing City. A selection of the best photographers will receive prizes from our partners and images submitted will have their picture scanned and developed in a mini photo lab set up in situ.

MEETING WITH THE PUBLIC : A 19th CENTURY STUDIO
Throughout the weekend, a discovery workshop will be delivered for the public that will play upon the pinhole cameras origins and the experience of taking a picture in a 19th century studio. An atmosphere of Victorian flat will diffuse in the Paris and London decor. The portraits of Londoners and Parisians submitted in both cities will be projected onto walls during the launch party, to allow the public in London and Paris to meet around a common event.

FROM THE PINHOLE CAMERA TO CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
The Pinhole camera was one of the first photographic technologies to catch on in artistic circles. It is an old technique that photographers and other artists have never really stopped using thanks to its beautiful and crafty effects. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp understood its value; emerging contemporary photographers such as Mieko Tadokoro and more established ones like Joan Fontcuberta continue to be drawn to this ancient technique.

In this time of digital technologies, the use of pinhole may seem surprising. We chose this technique for three reasons. First, the pinhole is easily accessible and can involve the public in a creative process. The Still in Motion team will provide the participants with their creation tools and accompany them in their artistic approach. Moreover, the practice of the pinhole camera promotes interactivity and enables the public to meet up, highlighting the social dimension of the Still in Motion project. Finally, it is a reminder that, whatever the technique used (pinhole camera, silver, Polaroid, digital camera), it is over all the subject mastery and the photographer that prevail and give the picture its modernity. The festival will aim to expose all types of photography, regardless of the technique.  The crossing of an old technology, a modern subject and a contemporary is expected to be extremely prolific.

CREATE THE SOCIAL LINK IN THE CITY THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
STILL IN MOTION begins its journey into the photographic world by engaging with the notion of what it means and has meant to take a photograph. Due to the movement away from film based photography, the relationship between the photograph, the camera and the photographer is evolving, much as it did when film and camera production was first industrialized. Through public engagement with the original photographic process, we hope to call into question the process of image making and documentation while facilitating a social and interactive creative process.

One of the targets of this event is to recreate the social link within the city through photography, and to bring urban people to rediscover their city.

A GUIDING THREAD AND A COMMITMENT: THE CHANGING CITY
Still in Motion?s commitment consists in facing new challenges of urban development. It is now more than necessary to control its consumption and develop sustainable, clean and efficient energy sources. Today, cities concentrate most of the problems related to CO2 emissions and poorly controlled energy consumption. With the approach of the London Olympic Games 2012, the Still in Motion festival will invite, through the prism of the photograph, to ask questions about the city of the 21st century, the successes and failures of different patterns of urban development in the world. It aims to raise public awareness of ecological issues: biodiversity within the city, noise reducing; necessity of energy conservation and development of alternative means of transport. The photographers will work on this kind of issues and invite through their works to think about the needs of an individual commitment and collective responsibility. By choosing the theme of the changing city for the Pinhole Contest and for the festival, Still in Motion witnesses its commitment in the environmental field.

STILL IN MOTION | CORE OBJECTIVES
STILL IN MOTION Ltd. is a young and dynamic private limited company, created in august 2009 by Flavia Bertram and Céline Heydel. It was founded with the intention of filling a void in the London photography world through the creation of a month long photography festival. Through the exhibition of a diverse selection of high-caliber photography in publicly accessible urban spaces (e.g. waiting rooms, transit spaces such as yards, airports, train stations, building sites, warehouse, parks, fences, and churches), we hope to turn London into an international contemporary photography hub with Still in Motion London Photography Festival at its core. The festival aims to be international in scope, exploiting London?s position as a global cultural hub. It will showcase a wide range of high quality photography in line with artistic and technical innovations used by emerging and established talent operating within the medium. However, since the festival is taking place in London, the festival intends to thoroughly support the photography community within the United Kingdom and is dedicated to supporting British talent within an international context. Furthermore, the festival intends to foster relationships between photographers at various stages in their careers as well as increasing their exposure within the London community.

We hope to bring artistic photography into publicly accessible urban spaces and further integrate art into daily life. Photography as a mode of representation is ever-present in our lives and is used in ways which blur the line between art and life. Still in Motion would like to further integrate the art of photography into public life through exhibitions in public places. As a result, traditional white-cube gallery spaces will not be party to the festival, instead exhibits will be held in locations such as waiting rooms, transit spaces such as yards, airports, train stations, building sites, warehouses, parks, fences, and churches . Furthermore, the festival hopes to act, in part, as an antidote to the commercial images that are prevalent throughout the city and diversify the types of photographic images to which Londoners are exposed on a daily basis.

We hope to provide learning opportunities for novices, amateurs and professionals of the industry and to create links between new and old members of the photography community.

Your Comments