Foto Industria Bologna: the world's first forum exploring the relationship between photography and companies PRESS RELEASE

Foto Industria Bologna; Catalogue cover

I am honored to have been chosen by François Hébel to take part in Foto Industria Bologna. Equally honored to be exhibiting my project Savoy | The Restoration along side  works of Brian Griffin, Jacqueline Hassink, Harry Gruyaert, Gabriele Basilico, David Goldblatt, Massimo Siragusa, Mark Power, and Henri Cartier Bresson

For the first Foto Industria Bologna, an international event featuring around 15

exhibitions accompanied by a catalogue and lecture. 

Bologna's outstanding historic heritage hosts the shows, which include prints, books

and projections. The chance to explore its magnificent art and architecture is alone

worth the trip. The most important private and public institutions, including the

university—the world's oldest—are associated with the project.

My work will be exhibited in the form of a projection and will take place at the Bastardini, which is an ancient orphanage. I have been working on a new piece of music to accompany the projection which sees the project evolve yet again...
This new event is dedicated to corporate and industrial photography. There are 17 admission-free exhibitions in 11 historical venues of the Bolognese city from October 3rd to 20th, 2013 - Bologna, Italy. 

If you are planning or in need of a break away this autumn; here is a fantastic cultural and historical location.

www.siobhandoran.com

Further reading below;

Press Release - The Event

Ever since photography was invented in the 19th century, companies have used it for

the purposes of production, transmission, identification and memory. Many

photographers have been commissioned to take pictures for brochures, exhibitions or

Internet sites with the aim of promoting a brand image, instilling employees with pride

or making the portrait of a chairman. Photography has also spurred changes in

production methods by showing the inhumanity of certain tasks.

Manufacturing, often already a visual spectacle, is especially photogenic, with its fire,

transformative processes, astonishing scales and, more recently, security and high

technology.

Services pose a greater challenge to photographers, the only things to see being

offices, phones, computers and extras in suits or uniforms, which is the same thing.

Many in-house or freelance photographers have had to surpass themselves in a

world of limitations in order to tell stories, stir emotions and show how methods or

mentalities have changed.

Industrial photography relies more on the photographer's eye, creativity and

perception of places and people than does advertising, where images are

conceptualised in advance. That is why great photographers have worked on specific

projects, prestigious brochures, the illustration of annual financial reports and all sorts

of in-house and external communication. They have often depended on these kinds

of commissions for additional income but seldom boast about it, afraid it would harm

the perception people might have of their personal work. And yet they summon up

and apply the same sensibility.

The Isabella Seràgnoli Foundation created the Foto Industria Bologna to stimulate

thought about the aesthetic and strategic uses companies make of photography and

collect quality images in connection with the photo gallery that Urs Stahel is setting

up at MAST, its "Arts, Experimentation and Technology" exhibition space.

Northern Italy is one of Europe's most heavily industrialised areas. The pride of Italy's

mechanical engineering industry is located around Bologna, making this project even

more relevant.

The number of photography events is steadily rising, yet this huge sector, funded by

real production budgets, has never been the focus of an event showing the most

noteworthy work.

For the first Foto Industria Bologna, an international event featuring around 15

exhibitions accompanied by a catalogue and lectures, we have selected

photographers who have done brilliant work for companies, making it a significant

part of their output; remarkable collections of photographs and publications; and two

photography outsiders with different areas of concentration: miners and places of

power.

Bologna's outstanding historic heritage hosts the shows, which include prints, books

and projections. The chance to explore its magnificent art and architecture is alone

worth the trip. The most important private and public institutions, including the

university—the world's oldest—are associated with the project.

Les Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles is delighted to contribute its festival

design and organisational know-how on a city-wide scale for the first Foto Industria

Bologna, an event that is bound to grow.

François Hébel

Artistic Director, Foto Industria Bologna

Director, Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles

Exhibition venues:Free admission to all exhibitions.
Exhibition venues:
MAST GALLERY (starting on October 7th)
EX-OSPEDALE DEGLI INNOCENTI
FONDAZIONE DEL MONTE
MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO
MAMBO
PALAZZO PEPOLI
PINACOTECA
SANTA MARIA DELLA VITA
SEDE UNICREDIT
SPAZIO CARBONESI
UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA