Major boost for photographers

THE Grahamstown National Arts Festival is to give aspiring photographers an opportunity to showcase their work in a new city-wide photographic competition.

Anyone can enter the Foto Fence competition, but the photographs have to be taken in Makana Municipality.

The work of the finalists will be displayed at the Foto Fence exhibition next year.

The festival organisers also announced plans to turn the fence around Fiddlers’ Green “precinct” in Grahamstown into a temporary outdoor art gallery when the Foto Fence exhibition is launched.

The exhibition will feature photographs of life in and around the city, including photographs taken by the finalists. The outdoor gallery is expected to open early in the new year.

The project is the brainchild of Rhodes University lecturer and photographer Brent Meistre, who hopes to identify up-and-coming photographers deserving of further training and mentoring.

Festival CEO Tony Lankester said they were championing the exhibition and other projects as part of their Creative City Project, which is funded in part by the European Union.

The Creative City Partnership comprises the festival management, Makana Municipality, the provincial department of sports, recreation, arts and culture, Rhodes University, the Fingo Festival and Makana Tourism.

He said they were joining forces to guide Grahamstown towards becoming a centre of creative excellence with a life beyond the annual festivals and institutions for which the city is already known.

Lankester said new talent would be drawn into the Makana Arts Academy training programme, which would kickstart their professional careers. Meistre said the judges were looking for work in the categories of city landscapes, afro-futurist, selfies and life up-close, and live action. Meistre is to head the judging panel. To enter go to www.creativecity.co.za . The competition closes on February 13. —