About

the Festival

Exposure plays a pivotal role in arts programming in photography in the City of Calgary and throughout Alberta. Each year Exposure introduces exciting new programming that extends its reach and visibility and draws attention to Calgary and Alberta as the site of an active, growing, creative community in the field of photography.

The annual Exposure Photography Festival presents exhibitions that showcase photographic work by internationally renowned practitioners, alongside emerging and established talent from Alberta. The festival provides an exciting, innovative meeting place for photographers and art lovers to connect with one another, along with curators and photography professionals from around the world. Exposure is inclusive and participatory, a collaboration amongst members of the photographic community. Recent festivals have received over 900,000+ visits from Exposure’s community of local and international, arts and non-arts engaged individuals and audience members. The festival brings people together to celebrate photography and Alberta’s thriving creative communities.

Established in 2004, the Calgary/Banff Photography Society, the organization that produces Exposure, is a registered non-profit run by an enthusiastic Board of Directors who are devoted to photography.

The next edition of Exposure Photography Festival will take place during February 2025.

EXPOSURE TEAM

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dona Schwartz, President and Board Chair
Angela Boehm
Hendrik de Vries
Beth Kane
Jennifer Kapala
Santosh Korthiwada
Sanja Lukac
Annie Rudd
Armando Salazar

FESTIVAL MANAGER
Emma Palm

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sam Benesh

VISION

To provide Alberta with an internationally renowned photography festival that includes exhibitions, events, public art, community engagement, and learning opportunities, offering dynamic programming to Calgary’s arts-engaged audiences while reaching out to and nurturing new audiences for photography.

MANDATE

Exposure’s mandate is to generate participation in photography by involving arts- and non-arts-engaged audiences in dialogue about the medium through accessible, inclusive, and relatable programming. 

We achieve this by focusing on three main objectives.

Provide Opportunity to the photography community by:

• Supporting local photographers by fostering opportunities to nurture their professional development and strengthen their practice.

• Keeping local photographers informed of current conversations within the international photography community, supporting their participation in the field.

• Creating opportunities for marginalized communities through our community relationships by providing ways for community stakeholders—such as local photographers, artists, curators, arts and non-arts spaces, institutions, businesses, organizations, and members of the public—to be a part of the festival’s programming.

• Forming international partnerships with photography organizations to provide opportunities for local practitioners to develop their practices, build networks, and connect with photographers and professionals internationally.

Increase Access to the Arts by:

• Encouraging participation from arts and non-arts communities to promote multiple dialogues and interactions surrounding photography.

• Contributing to the development of the active local community of photographers while advocating for photographic work made in Calgary and Alberta.

• Providing ways for local audiences to engage with internationally renowned practitioners and access photography that reflects contemporary practice.

Promote Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in photography by:

• Creating open space for collaborations with traditionally underrepresented people and communities.

• Presenting the work and diverse perspectives of traditionally underrepresented communities, gender and sexually diverse people, racially marginalized, women, Indigenous People, and people with disabilities.

FUNDERS