Focal Points
CatchLight Fellows and Everyday Bay Area Collective
Exhibition: May 3 - June 30, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 3, 2018, 6 - 8 PM
Public Programming: (see below)

PRESS RELEASE
Other Americas Appear in SF Camerawork's 'Focal Points,' KQED Arts, 9 May 2018
Youth in Prison Camp: their time in photographer's lens, SF Chronicle, 14 May 2018
New Show at SF Camerawork Shoots for Social Impact, SF Arts Monthly, 27 May 2018

SF Camerawork is proud to present Focal Points, an exhibition of the inaugural CatchLight Fellowship and Everyday Bay Area photography project, produced by CatchLight in partnership with United Photo Industries. 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 for 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. 

2017 CATCHLIGHT FELLOWS

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 Youth Conservation Camp 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 not only 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. Based 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.

This exhibition is produced and curated in partnership with United Photo Industries, and will be traveling to Photoville in Brooklyn Bridge Park from September 12 - 23, 2018.
Printing support and services by Digital Silver Imaging. 

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 3, 2018, 6 - 8 PM
Artist Talk: Tomas Van Houtryve | Lines and Lineage, Friday, May 4, 2018, 7:30 - 9:30 PM
                   At Palo Alto Photography Forum
Storytellers Lecture Series: Brian Frank & Talia Herman, Tuesday, May 15, 2018, 6 - 8 PM
Photography Presentation, Conversation, and Photowalk: Saturday, June 2, 2018, 12 - 2 PM
                   Private Life in the Public Eye: Ethics of Street Photography, at SF Camerawork with Everyday Bay Area Photographers,                            Moderated by Ken Walton (Streetforo SF)
Closing Reception: Thursday, June 28, 2018, 6 - 8 PM

EDBA COMMUNITY WALL LIVE PRINTING SESSIONS
May 9, 2018, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
May 15, 2018, 5:00 - 6:30 PM
May 22, 2018, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
June 2, 2018, 12:00 - 2:00 PM
June 8, 2018, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
June 28, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM

To be a part of this growing community portrait of the Bay Area, post your photographs with the hashtag #EDBAFocalPoints on Instagram or email them to hi@catchlight.io with the subject line "EDBA Focal Points Submission."

CATCHLIGHT
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 mida outlet focused on an in-depth, year-long visual storytelling project.

UNITED PHOTO INDUSTRIES
United Photo Industries is a New York based art-presenting non-profit that works to promote a winder understanding and increase access to the art of photography.  Founded in 2011, UPI has consistently showcased thought provoking, challenging, and exceptional photography from across the globe through cultivating strategic and creative partnerships.  UPI has presented dozens of exhibitions and public art installations across the United States and worldwide with numerous festivals, city agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.  UPI is also the producer of Photoville -- the largest annual photographic event in NYC, all free to the public.