The Other Biennial On View Now: FotoFest

Here’s a biennial that, unlike the Whitney and others, doesn’t get much attention: Fotofest.

Maybe that’s because it takes place in Houston, and is spread out in more than 80 museums, galleries, corporate spaces, and other venues around town, not in one place — which may be confusing. There are, though, five “official” exhibitions organized by curators appointed by Fotofest.

Or maybe it’s because it celebrates only photography, in all of its manifestations.

In any case, Fotofest starts tomorrow and runs through April 25. As co-founder Wendy Watriss, whom I interviewed for the March issue of Town & Country (on newsstands now, but not on the web), told me, since its founding in 1983, Fotofest “has gotten more idea-focused, and that allowed the curating to be more sophisticated.”

The event includes a “portfolio review process” for photographers, which Watriss said was ”just as important” as the exhibitions. This year, more than 500 photographers have registered: they’ll get four to five personal reviews a day from important people in the field. “It’s opinion they can’t get elsewhere,” Watriss said.

She is partial, of course, but Watriss claims that photographers including David Maisel, Elinor Carucci (above), Luis Gonzalez Palma, Atta Kim, Yao Lu, Debbie Fleming Caffery and Keith Carter have launched their careers at Fotofest. 

When we talked, Watriss agreed that Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth etc. from overseas are hotter than many American photographers right now. But who among Americans is most influential? 

Depends, she says: in the marketplace, Cindy Sherman (above). In influence, Alfredo Jarr. There’s more in T&C.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of the artists