United Photo Industries is proud to be working with CatchLight to produce and curate FOCAL POINTS, an exhibition of the inaugural CatchLight Fellowship and Everyday Bay Area photography project at the famed SF Camerawork space in San Francisco this Spring! CatchLight is a San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profit that annually recognizes three exceptional photographers who bring awareness to challenging social issues.
Featuring work from the 2017 CatchLight fellows, Tomas Van Houtryve, Sarah Blesener, and Brian L. Frank who were each paired with a media partner — The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Center for Investigative Reporting, and the Marshall Project, respectively, along with local artists from the Everyday Bay Area Collective, this traveling exhibition explores how visual storytelling has the power to drive social change.
This exhibition was unveiled at SF CameraWork on May 3, 2018, before traveling to Photoville in Brooklyn Bridge Park from September 13 – 23, 2018.
Tomas Van Houtryve is a conceptual artist, writer, and photographer based in Paris. His project Lines and Lineage imagines what the history of the Mexican-American border might have looked like at the time of the area’s Mexican Administration. It questions the role that photographs—both present and missing—have played in shaping the identity of the West.
Sarah Blesener is a documentary photographer based in New York City. Her latest work revolves around youth movements and culture in Russia, Eastern Europe, and the United States. Photographed across twelve states, Sarah’s photography project, Beckon Us From Home captures the emotion and vulnerability of youth in today’s political climate. Blesener’s ongoing work examines the interplay of religion, love of country, and military-style training in the teaching of “New Americanism” amongst youth.
Brian L. Frank, a San Francisco native, has worked on social documentary projects across the Americas that focus on cultural identity, social inequality, violence, workers’ rights, and the environment. Frank’s latest work takes a close, hard look at a slice in time at Pine Grove before it disappears. Who are the boys that make up the camp? What are their common stories and why do they deserve a chance to be heard? Many in the camp will disappear just as Pine Grove is disappearing. It is a photographic essay that explores the bonds of brotherhood they share, but also the loneliness they feel, knowing that the odds are stacked against them, waiting just on the other side of the trees which form their prison walls.
Everyday Bay Area Collective is a project of CatchLight and The Everyday Projects, in partnership with KQED Public Media and PhotoWings. Base on a curated Instagram feed, Everyday Bay Area encourages professionals and amateur photographers alike to shoot “photography that matters” and seek images that ignite curiosity and promote inclusion, tolerance, and respect. Through their feed, Everyday Bay Area aims to help San Francisco Bay Area residents see and understand each other across identities, ages, demographics, and geographies.
CatchLight is a San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profit dedicated to visual storytelling and the power of photography to drive social change. They serve as a transformational force, urgently bringing resources and organizations together to help photographers of all levels tell visual stories that have social impact. In 2017, CatchLight launched its inaugural fellowship program, honoring three storytellers who demonstrated excellence in the use of photography. Each fellow received an award of $30,000 and entered a partnership with an established media outlet focused on an in-depth, year-long visual storytelling project.
Founded in 1974, SF Camerawork‘s mission is to encourage and support emerging artists to explore new directions and ideas in the photographic arts. Through exhibitions, publications, and educational programs, SF Camerawork strives to create an engaging platform for artistic exploration as well as community involvement and inquiry.
