Three friends who met through photography are launching a new festival for the city that celebrates their passion. Beth Astington, Fraser McGee and Martin O’Callaghan have run the photography community IGers Birmingham (short for Instagramers of Birmingham) for 5 years and have decided to bring their experience and expertise in this area to organising a festival. The trio have championed amateur and professional photographers through sharing images online and organising real-life events and workshops for photographers where people can come together. The result is an open community of like-minded individuals with a passion for photography.
The first Birmingham Photography Festival will take the form of a one-day event on Saturday 20thOctober 2018. The aim of the event is to bring people together in an environment that is both inspirational and educational.
They have attracted four guest speakers from the world of photography: Walter Rothwell, Emma Case, Andrew Jackson and Clare Armitage (information below). The event will also feature a panel discussion with four well-known Birmingham-based photographers: Ross Jukes, Tim Cornbill, Kris Askey and Verity Milligan.
Beth Astington said: “The idea for a one-day event like this has been in the back of my mind for a while and one day I was telling the other two about it, and we just thought, yes, we could do this, let’s go for it. Creating an event like this feels like a natural step as we’ve been bringing photographers of all levels together to take photos – why not something like this?”
Fraser McGee said: “As well as the inspirational guest speakers that we have lined up, making sure that the community as a whole is involved has always been important. That’s why one session at the festival will take the form of a Pecha Kucha. Anyone can pitch to take part and talk about their love for photography or their photography journey and so it’s sure to be really varied and interesting”.
Martin O Callaghan said: “The real key to IGers Birmingham and now the Birmingham Photography festival is that it’s open to anyone regardless of the equipment they use or their skill level – a passion and interest in taking photos is the most important thing.”
Tickets will go on sale on the 20th October via www.birminghamphotographyfestival.co.uk