September 2011 could be called “the month of photography” for Downtown.
A major exhibition of the technology-based visual art is scheduled at the Museum of Contemporary Art and there’s an event created so that amateur image-makers can exhibit their work.
“Shared Vision: the Sondra Gilman/Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography” opens Sept. 16 at MOCA. It’s considered one of the best privately held collections of photographs in the world.
Sept. 16 also marks the opening night of PHOTOJAX 2011, a series of events coordinated by volunteers to celebrate photography designed to bring the community together with the artists.
That night, “5x500,” a community response art project and partnership between PHOTOJAX 2011 and the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s “Art in Public Places” program, will debut.
It’s an opportunity for anyone with a cellphone camera to be part of the celebration of photography. Five hundred images, selected by an art advisory committee chaired by MOCA Curator Ben Thompson, will be projected for five seconds each on the façade at MOCA.
The assignment is to create an image “intended to capture the natural and man-made beauty that makes our local environment unique,” said Missy Hager, PHOTOJAX director.
Other scheduled events that evening include a tour of some of Downtown’s “Off the Grid” galleries that will be featuring exhibitions of photography and an after-party event in Hemming Plaza.
“PHOTOJAX 2011 provides a forum to experience, educate and enlighten our community through the art of photography. The community response project really is a wonderful opportunity for anyone to experience their five seconds of fame,” Hager said.
“Looking at something with the intention to photograph it makes you look at it differently. Some people might be apprehensive about submitting a photograph, but they don’t need to be.”
Deadline for submission for “5x500” is 5 p.m. Sept. 8. For details, visit www.photojax.org.
On Sept. 17, MOCA hosts portfolio reviews at which amateur and emerging professional photographers can have their work evaluated by professionals, including MOCA Director Marcelle Polednik and Paul Karabinis, assistant professor of photography at the University of North Florida.
For more information about the portfolio review and other events at the museum, visit www.mocajacksonville.org.
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