The line for the Fotoweek Opening Party wraps around the Corcoran. Photograph by Jeff Martin
Slideshow: FotoWeek DC Launch Party
If the crowd at the FotoWeek DC launch party Friday night was a sign of things to come, make your plans now—these events are going to sell out quickly.
Organizers say more than 1,000 photo fanatics attended the festival’s kickoff, which started with a sneak peek of the exhibitions at FotoWeek Central and ended with a swanky shindig at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. At both venues, it was clear that these starving artists were ready to party: Bartenders were slammed, food tables were ransacked, and the dance floor was packed.
At FotoWeek Central, the attendees—many sporting cameras around their necks—mingled in the two-floor gallery space. “I’m really sick of seeing my own work,” said Star-Ledger photographer Aristide Economopoulos, one of the finalists in this year’s FotoWeekDC International Awards Competition. “It’s great to see other people’s, especially other photojournalists’.”
After taking in FotoWeek Central’s 15 exhibitions (which will be on display through the end of the festival), the crowd moved on to the Corcoran. A few guests checked out the Gallery’s “30 Americans” exhibition upstairs, but the majority of the action took place in the atrium. Huge screens projected photos taken by Corcoran students, and the Fatback DJs (who closed down the festival last year) kept stilettoed feet moving. Pop-up photo exhibitions, a digital photo booth, and after-hours access to “Hank Willis Thomas: Strange Fruit” and “Gordon Parks: Photographs from the Collection” got eventgoers in the mood for what’s sure to be a successful (and crowded!) fourth installment of FotoWeekDC.
