PhotoSF

The 6th International Photographic Art Exposition (aka, PhotoSF) will be July 21-23 at the Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason, CA. This is basically an excuse for some of the biggest photo gallerists to set up booths and show and sell their collections. I have attended each of the past three years and, although it's not dedicated to night photography, I have really enjoyed the show.

In fact, I've had more fun at PhotoSF than any photography museum show I can think of. PhotoSF is not one of those Art & Wine Festivals where any photographer with a few hundred bucks can sell prints of Big Sur, Yosemite and the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead, it's both mid-end and high-end galleries with boxes of prints of all of the "Masters", as well as up-and-coming photographers. Also, many well-known photographers are also in attendance promoting their latest books. In past years, I've met Michael Kenna, Todd Hido, Kim Weston, Bill Schwab, Brian Kelly, and a few others (whose names I can't remember).

Remember: it's better than any Art & Wine Festival, and there are more photographers represented than in any museum.

(I can't remember the photographer's name)

At PhotoSF 2003, Mike Quinn (second from the left) and your humble host (far right) stopped by the booth of the Photography Room and met with well-known night photographers Brian Kelly (far left) and Bill Schwab (second from the right). Mike is holding Brian's book, and I'm holding Bill's book. It's confusing, I know, but we were all hamming it up. Brian is the author/photographer of "Grand Rapids: Night After Night", and Bill is the author/photographer of "Gathering Calm".

Mike Quinn, by the way, is wonderful night photographer. But he doesn't have a website, so I can't give you a link to his great work.

Last year, I got so jazzed up after attending PhotoSF, that I went down the road and had one of the most productive shooting nights of the year. The following photograph was taken that night near Crissy Field, in San Francisco:

(photo: Andy Frazer)

I plan to be at PhotoSF next Saturday, July 22. If you're planning on attending on the 22nd, let me know and we can meet up (andyfrazer [at] gorillasites [dot] com).