photokina - all information about opening times, events and shows, floor plan, facts and figures

The IVRPA, shows at its booth two exhibition highlights: Omer Calev from Tel Aviv has in his hometown portrayed the operators of different small businesses in their personal environment and with his sensitive recordings grants a touching insight into a time-and space-less cosmos that has more or less similar parallels everywhere in the world. The second highlight are the images of the teal at Airpano from Moscow. For this non-commercial project a small group of enthusiastic aerial photographers has gathered around Oleg Gaponyuk. They have devoted themselves to capture the most interesting parts of the world in breathtaking aerial panoramas. Place and time are meticulously planned for each subject, and anybody who has seen their work can no longer resist it's fascination.

Sensations experienced on Mount Etna, the highest volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. Mount Etna is the scene of myths and legends from the past, of ever-changing landscapes, of contrasting phenomena alternating in bizarre ways. Water, fire, wind and earth are constantly alternating, and remind us of the delicate balance among all forms of life in creation. Snow and fire make nature always alive. While lava destroys and creates new landscapes, frightens and attracts, snow fascinates with its magical beauty and immaculate candour. To know Mount Etna you should try to conquer her, but nearly always it is she that conquers you by making you experience magical emotions.

Dario Lo Scavo Photographer

The boulevard of competitions presents image installations from leading international competitions for professional photographers at the World of Imaging. This year marks the first time that companies staging international competitions for professional photographers will be given the opportunity to present their best images to photokina visitors from all over the world on the Boulevard of Competitions. At the premiere of this new exhibition opportunity the best images of the following competitions will be on show in the northern section of the Boulevard:

For six years now, the internationally renowned Canon Promotional Award for Professionals (CPFP) has been offering young photographers the opportunity to receive support for the realization of their visions. The Hasselblad Masters Award is one of the most renowned prizes in the photography sector. The competition is open to established photographers as well as talented up-and-coming young people. The Sony World Photography Awards honour the very best works produced by photographers all over the world. Every year, it is awarded for works by established master photographers as well as members of the next photographer generation. Since 2010 Panasonic awards the best multimedia contribution with the LUMIX Multimedia Award at the LUMIX Festival for young photojournalism.

"The best pictures of the fotocommunity in the fields of people, nature, DigiArt and photographic art" , the largest community for photography in Europe displays, as part of their photokina exhibition "Best of fotocommunity" the most impressive photgraphs of its members from the genres of nature, people, DigiArt and photographic art. The photos on display were established in advance in cooperation with the photokina by a large photo competition on www.fotocommunity.de. fotocommunity.de is the photographic home for ambitious hobby photographers and artists. The exhibition "Best of"is to visit at the fotocommunity stand in Hall 5.1, this gives an insight into the complex creative work of the photographers community.

... is a must-see for anyone seeking creativity at photokina. The event showcases the most unconventional photo techniques being practised today and brings together some of Europe’s most dedicated, passionate photographers.

As an cooperation between ILFORD Imaging Switzerland and IMAGO1:1 „Imaging without Boundaries” has begun to invite renowned artists to present their most impressive works at the event, made with different photographic techniques and with unusual materials. Each of the artists involved will be present during the show to discuss the unusual techniques and processes involved in their creations. “Imaging Without Boundaries” aims to show photokina visitors that innovation is about more than just new technology, and that photography today is thriving as an art form. Come along and be inspired!

Most of the interest in the German newspaper photography competition Blende is generated at photokina. The annual event, which is jointly organized by several daily newspapers and Prophoto GmbH, is Europe’s largest photography competition. Blende boasts a number of superlatives, and the pictures it presents demonstrate the great passion and dedication of the participating amateur photographers. The competition has been held for almost 40 years now, and the photographs will once again greatly enrich photokina in 2012. All of these pictures inspire admiration. In other words, photokina visitors can look forward to photographs that are definitely worth seeing when the results of two years of the Blende competition are displayed in the Mittelboulevard. The exhibition is a visual voyage of discovery that you can’t afford to miss. More than 70,000 pictures are entered into the competition each year. Blende’s steadily growing popularity is proof of its great significance. The pictures entered by the photographers are invaluable records of the period in which they were taken. What’s more, they help motivate others to use their cameras to capture special moments before they pass.

The German Young Photographer Prize will show the best pictures of the year at photokina. A zest for life and a passion for photography, a fanciful way of looking at things and unusual images of everyday life: The German Young Photographer Prize presents this year’s winners at photokina. Pictures from participants between the ages of four and 25 years old will be on display. A new trend is the artistically created photobook. Around 6,000 young photography enthusiasts participated in this year’s German Young Photographer Prize competition, entering some 30,000 pictures. The contest covers three categories: the special theme “On the move”, the imaging section “Next level – digital photographic art“ and the area “Choose your own theme”. Around 50 winners will share prizes worth a combined value of €14,000. The awards will be presented on 23rd Sept.between 12 noon and 2 p.m. Alongside the current works, highlights from the 50-year history of the competition will also be on display.

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The German Photography Association is presenting for the first time a top-class selection of the photographs submitted by successful DVF photographers in competitions for the FIAP awards from 2010 to 2012 (AFIAP, EFIAP, EFIAP levels). The exhibited works demonstrate the high standards of the DVF, which is a partner of the global association Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique (FIAP). The exhibition, which focuses on the theme "Space and Time", will document the highlights among the works submitted by German DVF photographers in various competitions. The official opening of the exhibition, to which all photography fans are invited, will take place at 2 p.m. on September 22nd at the DVF trade fair stand (Stand A15 in Hall 5.1, directly adjacent to the FIAP stand). The FIAP exhibition is at Stand F40 in Hall 5.1. Three impressive works will be chosen from the approximately 30 photographs in the exhibition to receive prizes provided by the Photoindustrie-Verband (Photographic Industry Association) of Frankfurt, which is a partner of the DVF and of this exhibition.

Eilat Red Sea and World ShootOut are international annual underwater photo competitions which award the winning photographers with extraordinary valuable prizes, including large cash prizes, luxurious diving trips, expensive underwater photo equipment, quality diving gear and more. By now, these competitions have awarded photographers from all over the world with prizes worth more than $600,000! Eilat Red Sea is a competition held in Eilat, Israel, for the 8th year in a row, and by now it’s known worldwide as the Underwater Photo Olympics. The week of the shoot-out takes place on November 4-10 and concludes with a festive award winning ceremony. World ShootOut is a competition held worldwide during the month of August. Photographers participate by diving and photographing in any natural water resource found around the world. Both amateur and professional photographers are invited to take part in these competitions, which feature many creative categories.

Every year, the Society of German Nature Photographers (Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen — GDT) organizes the “European Wildlife Photographer of the Year” contest, which is open to both amateurs and professionals. The goal of the contest is twofold: to display the high quality and characteristic style of European wildlife photographers by presenting outstanding pictures from Europe and around the world, and to promote nature conservation awareness through the medium of photography. Treating nature with sensitivity and care is of paramount importance here, as is image authenticity. Works can be submitted in eight broad categories. These range from portraits, behavioural studies and action scenes to critical portrayals of the way we treat the environment and experimental photography. The jury, whose composition changes every year, is made up of eight members from the photography scene, editorial offices and picture agencies worldwide.

The international nature photography contest Glanzlichter, the biggest German nature photography contest, has been held every year since 1999. Cash and non-cash prizes valued at over €26,000 are awarded for eight different categories. A total of 16,334 pictures were submitted to “Glanzlichter 2012” by 1,099 photographers from 32 countries. The Deutsche Verband für Fotografie (German Association for Photography) has again served as patron of this year’s “Glanzlichter”. As in past years, the organizers of the competition, Mara Fuhrmann and Udo Höcke will be available to answer visitor’s questions throughout opening hours. While guiding visitors through the exhibition, they will explain how the competition is structured and give visitors a better understanding of the story of individual pictures.

The Japanese Professional Photographer´s Society (JPS) will present a post-tsunami photo exhibition from the 18th until the 23rd of September 2012 at the photokina 2012 in Cologne. The theme of the exhibition is "IKIRU" (“We survive!”). The exhibition includes touching photos taken during the first year after the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan on March 11, 2011. The exhibition, consisting of more than 100 works from different photographers will be shown at the photokina. It is the first time that this exhibition will be shown outside of Japan. 1200 experts from 24 countries from around the world came to Japan to help with rescue measures.126 countries sent help in the form of relief supplies and donations. With this exhibition at the photokina 2012, JPS would like to express their gratitude to the people from these countries and to inform of the recovery efforts. Tamron Co. Ltd. is pleased to sponsor this exhibition at the photokina.

The German Motorcycle Industry Association (IVM) and fotocommunity are jointly organizing a photography competition devoted to motorcycles and their environments. We are looking for photos that depict different motorcycle environments and evoke the feel of riding motorcycles and scooters. Motorcycle riding is an ambitious sport discipline for some people and primarily an enjoyable hobby for others. Some people prefer to take their holidays on “two wheels”, while others basically use motorcycles as a means of transport. At photokina the best pictures will be shown in the exhibition.

From 18 to 23 September, will be presenting works by internationally acclaimed photographers in Hall 1 – and making art photography an unforgettable experience for visitors to the photokina event. The exhibitions will include the portfolios ‘Portraits of Power’ by Platon, ‘Arab Spring’ by Magnum photographers Dominik Nahr, Thomas Dworzak and Moises Saman, images from the prestigious ‘Facing Change: Documenting America’ by Anthony Suau, the exhibition ‘Personal Best for Leica’ by Magnum photographer Elliot Erwitt and images by internationally renowned photographers like Araki, Rankin, Andreas Gursky and Hubertus von Hohenlohe. Visitors can enjoy live talks by the photographers on the Leica stage daily at 11 a.m.

by Francesco Ghisi and Maria Fabia Crosta

Limbo and Celestial Body show their affinity both by the formal and communicative points of view: in fact the two deeds explore the human nature factors seeing them in their littleness and in their greatness. Limbo approaches every human being considering his body as a microcosm in spite the fact that in such a little and fragile thing has started the great history of each one of us; it properly describes the human being condition during the first months of its secret formation. Celestial body takes its own inspiration from astronomic images to tell us about the human body belonging to the firmament as a wonderful fragment, being now a macrocosm, but still very little compared with the universe.

Since the very beginning of their existence, art photographer Raymond Clement has been exploring Luxembourg's Nature Parks of Upper Sûre and Our with heavy cameras and tripods, roaming through valleys and over hilltops, in search of their numerous faces and facets.In the meantime, Raymond Clement, through his nature pictures, always caught in his very own manner on plates, on rollfilm and now also in digital format, has become a recognized documentation of the Luxembourg landscape, using all light effects of nature to his purpose. In doing so, he always patiently waits for the right moment to occur, when form and colour, aesthetics and emotion, light and shade congregate at a very precise moment to constitute the perfect picture. Thereby, Raymond Clement creates forms which often are either graphic or abstract. He literally sculpts landscapes, modelling them with his camera, polishing them with his lens, using lines and structures like raw materials in order to create a coherent whole. The Photokina show of Nature's Luxembourg consists of 40 large size images in Digigraphie.

During the last two years, Guillaume d'Hubert gathered the elements to produce stunning large format lenticular pictures; the new frontier for photography. "Next dimension" illustrates the new offered by this media in the digital era.It took 3 months to shoot 28 figures of the oldest popular carnival in the northern French city of Bailleul between Lille and Dunkerque. Those real people are impersonating surreal characters, the lenticular make them stand out just as if they were in front of you.

Photographer Ralf Baumgarten has produced a fascinating new photo project titled »Cyclists«. He photographed cyclists in Germany and China, and a selection of the pictures will be presented in an open-air installation at photokina.

The project premièred at the Environmental Photo Festival horizons that took place in the spa town of Zingst. From there, the large-format exhibits set out for Cologne. The mega-prints were produced by Epson in optimal, waterproof photographic quality, laminated with Neschen foil.

Terra³ is a triple exhibition produced in UltraSec technology, where three different positions on current landscape photography come together. There are three selected photographers – each of them having their own trademark style, and each of them well known for their uniquely impressive way of presenting their large format works:

• Frank Sirona shows images of an ancient, pristine nature, characterized by simple shapes, well-balanced compositions and unique light situations.
• Bernhard Edmaier, Hasselblad Master of 2001, analyzes natural patterns found in nature with a scientific perception, unveiling the earth as a piece of art.
• Stephan Zirwes, Hasselblad Master of 2009, documents the radical way in which man can transform the surface of his home planet.
  

The confrontation of these three points of view and the comparison of such different perspectives, which do however complement each other, force the viewer to not only reflect on his environment as being the origin and precondition of man’s existence, but also consider the consequences of contemporary lifestyle.

Japan was unprecedented damaged by 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. So far Japan was struck by nature violence in many times, it destroyed lots of homes and caused many of deaths. However, Japanese people had revived powerfully every time. 116 years ago, the 1896 Meiji-Sanriku tsunami was one of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. This album of these documentary photographs taken in a stricken district was discovered this year. The album was owned by Mr. Matsuchi Nakajima, the remarkable photographer in Meiji era, and these photographs were taken by Mr. Kōtaro Miyauchi, a pupil of Mr. Nakajima. I do hope this is a chance for many people to be conveyed the suffered situation of those days and to consider about a disaster. Besides these documentary photographs might be the first recording tsunami disaster all over the world. Sponsor is the Japan Camera Industry institute and the JCII Camera Museum Cooperator is Mr. Keishō Ishiguro.

With the exhibition “Children.The Presence of the Future” UNICEF Germany shows for the sixth time the best images and reportages from the UNICEF Photo of the Year competition at photokina 2012, Cologne, Germany. The exhibition features the winning pictures of 2010 and 2011 and is a selection of the best works of the contest. Since 2000, this Award has been held yearly. UNICEF Germany, GEO Germany and Leica Camera AG honor photographs of high artistic and photojournalistic quality that best depict the living conditions and personality of children in an outstanding manner. The prizes are awarded by a jury chaired by Prof. Klaus Honnef, Art Academic and Publicist. All members are experts from the fields of photo journalism, arts and cultural studies. Professional photographers worldwide are invited to take part in the competition - a recommendation from a renowned photography expert being a prerequisite.

Copyright: Ed Kashi, USA, Agentur VII

The International Photographic Council (IPC), a NGO of the United Nations, dedicated to “Peace through understanding, understanding through photography, the universal language” is proud to present the photo exhibition of the United Nations:Seven Decades of Photography at the 2012 photokina in Cologne, Germany.The photo exhibition depicts the works of the United Nations which reach every corner of the globe. Although best known are peace-keeping, peace-building, conflict prevention, humanitarian assistance, but there are many other ways the United Nations and its system (specialized agencies, funds, and programs) improve lives of many people and make the world a better place to live.The photo exhibit is made possible through the cooperation of photokina and Koelnmesse; in coordination with the Department of Public Information from the United Nations; and the exclusive corporate sponsorship of Lifetouch, Inc. Lifetouch is the world’s largest employee-owned company in school and family photography.

This year's photokina will display works from Uwe Ommer , a Cologne photographer latest project Teens & Families. The presentation is being sponsored by Dr. Kristina Schröder, Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Families from throughout Europe will be depicted on 57 large-format photographs. They represent a selection of the best images from around 300 pictures that have been taken so far for this comprehensive project. However, Ommer didn't just put the families and teenagers in front of the camera; he also interviewed them to enquire about current issues of relevance to them or problems they faced. The families from Europe talk, for example, about their families, sustainable development, environmental protection, Europe and its future. The result is a collection of interesting, creative, but also utopian ideas and activities that will provide visitors to this year's photokina with food for thought and inspire them to take action. The photos and articles aim to show the present-day face of Europe and should also help us to get to know and better understand our European neighbours.

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In the course of the photokina 2012 Manfred Baumann shows a special exhibition with the title VISION. On more than 130 meters he presents partly unpublished pictures like for example the new picture he made a short time ago in honor of Herb Ritts with the title Hommage. Also he shows pictures with impressive landscapes of very special places on earth like in New York, Australia or South France. Another important part of his exhibition is of course his Fine Nude photos. The realization of his nude pictures changed a lot in the last few years. Now it is more the story behind a picture which is interesting for him. Knowingly the viewer of the picture shall only see the first signs, “the rest of the story shall be told by their fantasy” tells Manfred Baumann. Part of the exhibition is also for the first time the 12 pictures which are published in the new Fine Nude Art calendar 2013. The calendar will also be presented at the photokina. So keep on looking forward to the exhibition, with a lot of pictures by Manfred Baumann and take your time to discover the art of Manfred Baumann!