The Calgary Banff Canmore Photography Festival is right around the corner and compared to last year, it is growing.
Exposure 2011 chair Craig Richards said more than 27,000 people toured the galleries and took in events in 2010 and he expects this year’s offering to exceed that number.
“It is going to surpass that this year. The galleries noticed numbers go up (last year) with people who are there specifically to see photography and talk about photography.”
The first Bow Valley opening – Silver Images: Film Photography in the Digital Age – is this Friday (Jan. 28) at the CAAG Gallery, with the main Exposure launch at the Whyte Museum in Banff on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. The launch coincides with eight other exhibition openings in Banff and Canmore at Harmon Gallery, The Mountain Art Gallery by Banff Photography, Willock & Sax Gallery, CAAG Gallery, Canmore Museum & Geoscience Centre, The Edge Gallery and Elevation Gallery.
And that doesn’t include a host of events in Banff and Canmore.
Through the Lens also opens at the Whyte Museum on the evening of Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
Now in its 14th year, Through the Lens is used to introduce students in Banff, Canmore, Morley and Calgary to photography and encourage them to explore their communities and visual communication.
Through the Lens: A Stoney Perspective, on Friday (Feb. 4), features work by students from Morley representing the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley bands at the Juniper Hotel in Banff. The evening features the festival photographers’ showcase from 7-9 p.m.
On Thursday, Feb. 17 at the Whyte Museum at 7 p.m., three past-participants of Through the Lens, Kevan Funk, Julie Hutchings and Martin Lenes, will present Beyond Through the Lens: From Stills to Movies.
All of these people have the potential to do whatever it is they wanted to do and they’re out there doing it,” Richards said.
Meanwhile, the featured speaker for the 2011 festival, Slyvia Plachy, will present Dancing with Ghosts: An Overview of 40 Years in the Canmore Collegiate High School Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 20 from 7-9 p.m.
Exposure organizers have plans to expand the festival in the coming years, but Richards said they plan to do that carefully.
“We want to grow it, but we want to grow it in quality.”
