exposure 2023 ANNOUNCEMENT

Exposure’s curated exhibitions, the International Open Call and Emerging Photographers Showcase, will be hosted at Contemporary Calgary, a significant visual arts destination dedicated to modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions present a broad range of works, including photocollage, conceptual photography, politically engaged practices and works that embrace social and individual experience, as well as visual explorations of identity and personal narratives. 

The Exposure 2023 International Open Call exhibition will feature the work of photographers and visual artists based around the world who incorporate, celebrate, or challenge the photographic medium within their practices. Selected by Michèle Pearson Clarke, Artist, Writer, Educator and Photo Laureate for the City of Toronto (2019-2022), the exhibition will present the works of contemporary practitioners based in Canada, France, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Netherlands, UK, and USA. 

The Exposure 2023 Emerging Photographers Showcase celebrates the rich talent of early-career practitioners who are based in Alberta. Selected by Tiffany Jones, Publisher, Overlapse Books, the exhibition provides insight into the dynamic and growing community of fine art photographers here in our province.  

Exposure’s 2022 Emerging Photographer of the Year award recipient Raeann Cheung will be presenting her solo show ‘WE ARE IMMIGRANTS - The Hidden Hardships and Legacy of Early Chinese Canadian Immigrants’. The exhibition will explore the resilience of the early Chinese Canadian immigrants whose perseverance and hard work helped strengthen the geographic boundaries, armed forces, and economic capacity of this country from mid 19th century onward.

Exposure Fence: People & Place, is an outdoor exhibition at Calgary’s Olympic Plaza, presented in partnership with the Chinook Blast! Festival. Curated by Beth Kane, People & Place presents the work of five visual artists based in Treaty 6 and 7 territories, also known as Southern Alberta. The work and perspectives of this dynamic group of exhibiting artists provide us with both celebratory and critical visual insights regarding the complex, intertwined relationships between people and place within these traditional territories. In addition to activating public space in Calgary’s downtown core, the exhibition promotes wider understandings and increased access to the art of photography and visual storytelling, amplifying impactful narratives and connecting artists to a wide audience.

Exposure will also bring an exciting city-wide public exhibition to its audiences in Calgary. In partnership with Pattison Outdoor Advertising, Exposure Billboard will show the work of 31 international and local artists and photographers via digital billboards located throughout the city. Photographs will be hosted in three different locations for a three-week duration. Exposure continues to provide innovative ways for Calgarians to engage with the arts.

Registration for Exposure’s annual Portfolio Review is now live. This professional development event provides a unique opportunity to present photographic work to some of the most influential leading professionals in photography worldwide—from curators to practitioners, editors to educators. Reviewers new to the upcoming event include Alicia Buates Mckenzie, Interim Director of TRUCK Contemporary Art (Calgary), Anne Ewen, Chief Curator of Art and Heritage at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (Banff), Crista Dix, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA, USA), Leah Hennel, Photographer (Calgary), Lillian O'Brien Davis, Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto), Niamh Tracey, Curator and Coordinator of FORMAT International Photography Festival (Derby, UK), Phoebe Alice Evans, Assistant Curator in Photography at the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK) and more!

The 2023 event will take place on Saturday 11 February (online) and Saturday 25 February (in-person, at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary).

The Exposure 2023 exhibition programme encompasses over 20 shows that display a wide range of narratives, subjects, practices, and explorations of the photographic medium. Exposure’s 2023 Exhibition Partners promise an exciting programme of group and solo exhibitions and diverse curatorial themes that audiences can engage with in Calgary, Banff, Canmore, Edmonton, and Frank, hosted in galleries, museums, libraries, local businesses, outdoors and online! Venues include AUArts, Calgary Central Public Library, Canmore Art Guild Gallery, CBE Education Centre, Crowsnest Pass Public Art Gallery, cSPACE, Enbridge Centre, Framed on Fifth, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Lux Laundromat, Marion Nicoll Gallery, Sparrow Artspace, The Alberta Society of Artists, The GRAND, VIVIANEART, Whyte Museum, Wild Skies Art Gallery, and Women's Art Museum of Canada.

The Exposure 2023 events programme will continue to provide opportunities to learn, participate, connect, and celebrate photography and photographers. Be sure to attend the Exposure Launch Party at Contemporary Calgary on Thursday February 2 and follow Exposure’s Instagram and newsletter to hear about other upcoming events!