Photoville, New York City’s massive celebration of photography and art, is coming back to Brooklyn Bridge Park for a two-week run starting on June 1.
The sprawling public exhibition includes shows all over the five boroughs – but the heart of the festival is Photoville Village in Dumbo, where hundreds of photographs will be on display inside the festival’s iconic shipping containers.
Photoville was founded in 2011 in an effort to bring diverse perspectives and art to New York City. This year’s festival features both local and international photographers, with projects centered on everything from Broadway history to one artist’s childhood in Poland.
“This festival isn’t just a showcase of images … it’s a meeting ground for connectivity, bridging communities and cultures through this platform of photography,” said Photoville cofounder Laura Roumanos, in a statement. “With every photo, there’s a story and every story opens doors of connection, empathy and understanding.”
Brooklynites are sure to see some familiar sights among the 65 exhibitions at Brooklyn Bridge Park. “Portraits of Resilience in Red Hook,” a series of insightful snaps of Red Hook residents, was created by local young artists and seniors at the Red Hook Senior Center.
Some collections, meanwhile, focus on New York City’s rich cultural history —“Sara Krulwich: Creating a Pictorial Encyclopedia of New York City Theater” includes dozens of Broadway-related snaps by New York Times photographer Sara Krulwich, while “100 Years of WNYC” follows the city’s iconic radio station from its inception through to the modern day — including the 50-year period when the station was broadcast from WNYC Transmitter Park in Greenpoint.
The festival will also bring the unfamiliar and the international to Kings County — “Stories of Belonging: Central American TPS Workers & the Defiant Struggle to Stay Home in the U.S.” tells the story of Temporary Protected Workers in the U.S. and their struggle for rights and to stay in their homes, and “The Cooling Solution” investigates cutting-edge cooling technologies in use across the world as heat and humidity rise.
At the Alice Austen House in Staten Island, meanwhile, two Brooklyn photographers will take their work further afield: Sophie Fenwick’s “New York Waterfront Diary,” a collection of images of Brooklyn’s waterfront, will be on display there, as will “Far Apart – Revelation and Refuge in an Urban Green Space,” James Prochnik’s love letter to Shore Road Park.
The wide-ranging festival debuts with a free Community Weekend on June 1 and 2 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. On June 1, visual stories will be projected on the big screen under the Broklyn Bridge – featuring photos by Ismail Ferdous, videos by Doctors Without Borders, and curated presentations by Cafecito, African Women in Photography, and more.
Community Weekend will also feature free public programming, food and beverage vendors from Smorgasurg, and both in-person and online professional development events.
The festivities will continue at South Street Seaport in Manhattan on June 8 and 9 before closing out at The New School on June 15.
For the entire stretch of the festival, photographs will be on display in Brooklyn Bridge Park and on Washington Street as well as at multiple locations across Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. A full list of exhibitions and locations is available on Photoville’s website.
“Whether it’s a talented high schooler’s first exhibit, or a retrospective from an established icon, Photoville uplifts every voice and provides an equal platform to artists of all varieties,” said festival co-founder Suchan Vodoor. “Like the streets and public spaces of New York that we love so much, the Photoville Festival is a window into diverse experiences and a chance to encounter the full and beautiful breadth of humanity.”
