This weekend I was invited to the Fotofestival in Dortmund for a presentation and talk on the podium together with @akusepp and @sollenaphotography about the sense and nonsense of Instagram. My first visit to Dortmund was shaped by the festival, because I wanted to see as many venues as possible. I looked up some of the photographers on Instagram to share this experience with you. The festival is running until 16th of July, so take a chance and see it by yourself!

It was all about borders in these exhibitions. The main presentation in Depot, an old tram workshop, evolved around the borders of growth. The photographers are exploring the living conditions in a globalized world and the effect of climatic change. Exhibited photographers were for instance:

@stephanie.buret

@barbaradombrowski

@simonnorfolkstudio

Photograph by @simonnorfolkstudio Pleased to see my work on the melting away of the Lewis Glacier on Mount Kenya featured at the f2 Fotofestival ( @f2_fotofestival ) in Dortmund which opens today, (22 June). Here, from that series, a visualisation of glacial retreat using long exposures made in the middle of the night. The resultant images stem from the simple act of walking with a flaming torch along the glacier’s previous boundaries to illustrate a ‘layered’ history of glacial recession on the mountain. Visit @f2_fotofestival (22 June to 16 July) Follow @simonnorfolkstudio for updates, outtakes, unpublished and archive material. @instituteartist @michaelhoppengallery @benrubi_gallery @galleryluisotti @natgeo @projectpressure @simonnorfolkstudio #photojournalism #documentaryphotography #simonnorfolk #mountkenya #kenya #lewisglacier #climatechange #change #glaciers #lensculture #globalwarming #pyrographs #greenpeace #savetheplanet #fireandice @everydayclimatechange #lightpainting #pyrograph #light #longexposure #lightjunkies #slowshutter

Ein Beitrag geteilt von SIMON NORFOLK (@simonnorfolkstudio) am

In “Everyday Sunday” the focus was on everyday tristesse and gender roles. Participating:

@kienhoangle

@birtekaufmann

In @44309gallery Felix Kleymann tells his photo story how he followed the refugee route from Iraq to Germany and crossed over from Turkey to the island Lesbos. Dangerous, moving and eyes-opening!

I liked especially the students of Dortmund and Essen being involved in their own shows “X-Dualismen” and “Die Grenzen der Fotografie”.

And finally “Poppy – Trails of Afghan Heroin” – a multimedia installation of @robertknoth and Antoinette de Jong is following the old silk road that in fact declined to a drug road.

BOTTOM LINE:
With a lot of dedication the first issue of Fotofestival f² in Dortmund networks with the vibrant local cultural scene to create a small festival at 8 venues and an exciting framing programme – a great thing to do, and it hopefully will succeed to a next round.