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World Photo

Palm Springs Photo Festival 2006 Inspired by The Rencontres D’Arles Master photographer Jeff Dunas and Hossein Farmani, the visionary behind the Lucie Awards, The International Photography Awards and Focus on AIDS, teamed up this past March with parties sponsored by Canon and contests sponsored by Epson to create the first annual Palm Springs Photo Festival, which was held at the Moroccan-style Korakia Pensione Hotel.  Read how the oldest photo festival in the world inspired their highly successful debut under the warm light of the Southern California desert sky. Article rating: 7.22

“I’ve had this idea for years,” said Jeff Dunas, an award winning editorial, advertising and fine art photographer based out of Paris and Los Angeles. “I wanted to bring the experience of The Rencontres D’Arles, Europe’s oldest and largest photo festival, to the United States. But it wasn’t until I saw the Korakia Hotel that I realized this was the place. Palm Springs has all the elements: small enough to get around on foot, a warm place for folks to ‘get away.’ It’s a place with amazing architecture and beautiful landscapes…but it was a matter of waiting to hook up with the right partner, and that was Hossein Farmani. I invited him to join me at Le Rencontres D’Arles in Provence last summer and then he made it his business to travel to some of the other European festivals.”

Palm Springs © 2006 Jeff Dunas

© 2006 Jeff Dunas

“Both Jeff and I wanted this event to be a super-friendly experience for everyone involved,” said Hossein. “As it is, with our years in photography, we could invite so many photographer friends who also just happen to be some of the best photographers in the world.  And we decided to keep the registration to about 200 people so that we could maintain an organic, collegial feel.”

To further establish the intimate and relaxed ambience that both Jeff and Hossein desired, they organized the days in such a way that guests had lots of direct contact with the professional photographers, including daily breakfasts and evening cocktail parties sponsored by Canon, Corbis, Viceroy, and Crazy Bones. Each night there were presentations by master photographers such as William Claxton and Julius Schulman. There was even a Rock n' Roll night featuring photos from famed rock 'n roll photographers, Henry Diltz and Jim Marshall.

Portfolio Reviews…
Spending time with master photographers, curators, art directors and gallery owners wasn’t just left to social occasions, however. An integral element of the festival was that the professionals devoted a significant portion of portion of each day to meeting with attendees to review their portfolios.

Exhibitions…
In addition to the events at the hotel, master photographers like Robert Glenn Ketchum and Henry Diltz gave off-site exhibitions.

Contests…
But the pros weren’t the only ones who showcased their work. Each night there was a screening of slideshow contest entries for a grand prize of an Epson 2400 printer.

Workshops…
Each day, there were hands-on, small-group workshops on subjects such as Architecture with Julius Schulman & Juergen Nogai, Landscape with Robert Glenn Ketchum, Portrait with Frank Ockenfels, Fine Art Nude Photography with Jeff Dunas, The Art and Science of Digital Printing with Giorgio Trucco, and A Day with Veronica Vial.

Symposiums…    
In addition to the workshops, there were also ten multifaceted roundtable discussions of interest to photographers of every level, including, Silver vs. Digital, The Business of Fine Art Photography, Shooting Stock, Getting your Book Published, and Photography and the Internet.

Poolside parties…
At the end of each evening’s presentation, the festival attendees and photographers joined each other at the Korakia pool for drinks and fun. 

Next year…
Hossein and Jeff will hold the second Palm Springs Photo Festival at the Korakia Pensione Hotel next spring from March 20-25, 2007.  To submit your photos or register for the CONNECT 2007 Palm Springs Photo Festival, go to www.palmspringsphotofestival.com or send an email to: info@palmspringsphotofestival.com.

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