NightGallery DC at the National Museum of the American Indian
Photograph by Paul Fetters
Combining photography with architecture, NightGallery DC is one of the most unusual features of FotoWeek. Leading area museums are displaying monumental photographic projections on exterior walls or in courtyards. It's not too late to catch one of these epic slide shows. The American Art Museum will showcase contemporary landscape in its atrium Tuesday through Thursday, while Thursday, Friday, and Saturday the National Museum of American History will celebrate its reopening with patriotic images and pictures of artifacts.
The Newseum during NightGallery DC
Photograph by Elizabeth Krist
As I stood on the sidewalk across from the Newseum on Sunday watching Pulitzer Prize-winning images flash 70-feet high on the building's façade, I wondered how my daughter will get her news by the time she's my age. At some point will they just beam the headlines into a chip implanted in her brain?
Earlier in the day I had stopped by the opening of the Washington Post exhibit at VisArts in Rockville. A number of powerful Pulitzer winners made an appearance there, too (mixed in with a few too-cute vignettes of daily life, if you'll forgive my saying so). It was interesting to see which moments an editor or curator had selected from the stream of news that washes over us so relentlessly every day. Why is it that we remember so many of the pivotal events in our lives as still images even when video exists? Will it be different for my daughter? Will every memory for her be a YouTube clip?
But the more important question might be how those pictures or videos will be produced. Will this essential role fall more and more to citizen journalists? What is the future of newspapers? Rupert Murdoch casts his vote:
"Unlike the doom and gloomers, I believe that newspapers will reach new heights. In the 21st century, people are hungrier for information than ever before. And they have more sources of information than ever before. Amid these many diverse and competing voices, readers want what they've always wanted: a source they can trust......Our real business isn't printing on dead trees. It's giving our readers great journalism and great judgment...... In short, we are moving from news papers to news brands."
But in an age when even our flagship newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times are forced to close bureaus and lay off staff, can they continue to fund the creation of these powerful, memorable Pulitzer moments?
Kosovo's Sorrow: Fleeing Kosovo
Photograph by Carol Guzy, Washington Post
FotoWeek at a Glance for Tuesday & Wednesday, November 18 & 19:
Tuesday, November 18
PBS Film: "At Close Range with National Geographic"
DATE: 11/18/2008
TIME: 12:00PM
WHERE: National Geographic Society Headquarters
Grosvenor Auditorium
1600 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
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COST: Free
Free screenings at National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/nglive/washingtondc/tuesdays/index.html
-------------------------Meet the Artist: Josef Koudelka
DATE: 11/18/2008
TIME: 6:00PM - 9:00PM
WHERE: American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
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Tel: 202.885.1300
www.american.edu/academic.depts/cas/katzen
COST: Free and open to the public.
-------------------------Curator's talk: Andy Grundberg, Chairman, Department of Photography, The Corcoran College of Art and Design, will comment on the work of Brady Robinson and Jeanette May.
DATE: 11/18/2008
TIME: 7:00PM - 10:00PM
WHERE: Heineman Myers Contemporary Art
4728 Hampden Lane
Bethesda, MD 20814
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Tel: 301.951.7900
www.heinemanmyers.com
COST: Free
-------------------------------------------------Wednesday, November 19
Panel Discussion: "Digital Photojournalism Today," moderated by Frank Van Riper
DATE: 11/19/2008
WHEN: 11:20AM - 12:35PM
WHERE: School of Communication, Weschler Theater, Mary Graydon Center
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Room 315
Washington, DC 20016
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COST: Free
-------------------------Lecture presented by Magnum Photographer, Bruce Gilden
DATE: 11/19/2008
WHEN: 5:30PM
WHERE: School of Communication, Weschler Theater, Mary Graydon Center
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Room 315
Washington, DC 20016
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COST: Free
-------------------------Opening: "A Disenchanted Playroom". Photographs by Wolfram Hahn
DATE: 11/19/2008
WHEN: 5:30PM - 7:30PM
WHERE: Goethe-Institut Washington
812 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
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Tel: 202.289.1200
Email: info@washington.goethe.org
www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/enindex.htm
COST: Free
-------------------------Lecture presented by ASMP DC, the DC Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers with generous support from the ASMP Foundation: Photojournalists David Burnett and Eugene Richards
DATE: 11/19/2008
WHEN: 7:00PM
WHERE: US Navy Memorial
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Burke Theater
Washington, DC 20004
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COST: Free
-------------------------Opening reception for "Soul Cages" by Joshua Cogan
DATE: 11/19/2008
WHEN: 7:00PM - 10:00PM
WHERE: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Tel: 202.408.3100
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COST: Free
Please RSVP to jleventhal@sixthandi.org
