This is part of the 10th Annual Lecture Series.

The OUR WORLD PORTFOLIO REVIEW is an annual call for photographers to participate in a review of their work by professionals from around the country. Participants are selected and show work in one-on-one meetings.

Leo Rubinfien's lecture on Friday at 7:30 is a PUBLIC EVENT. All are welcome.

In a programmatic partnership with the de Young Museum of San Francisco, PhotoAlliance presents an evening with Kael Alford and Thorne Anderson.

This talk corresponds with the opening of their exhibition at the Museum on February 9, 2013


Eye Level in Iraq: Photographs by Kael Alford and Thorne Anderson
February 9, 2013 - June 16, 2013

This exhibition presents the photographs of Kael Alford (American, b. 1971) and Thorne Anderson (American, b. 1966), two American-trained photo journalists who documented the impact and aftermath of the US-led allied invasion of Iraq in 2003. They made these photographs during a two-year span that began in the months leading up to the allied invasion in spring 2003 and covers the emergence of the armed militias that challenged the allied forces and later the new central Iraqi government.

The photographs were made outside the confines of the U.S. military’s embedded journalist program, in an attempt to get closer to the daily realities of Iraqi citizens. The photographers wanted to show Iraq from an important and often neglected point of view. This shift in physical perspective placed them in great danger, but they sought to learn how the war, and the seismic political and cultural shifts that accompanied it, were affecting ordinary people.

Baghdad fell to the allied forces on April 9, 2003. It is estimated that at least 650,000 Iraqis died as a result of the invasion and its aftermath, which saw public health decline and increased insecurity for Iraqi citizens. In the decade since, more than 4,000 American soldiers have perished in combat and many more have been severely wounded.

A decade later, reflecting on why this work was made, Kael Alford has stated “I consider these photographs invitations to the viewer to learn more, to explore the relationships between public policy objectives and their real world execution and to consider the legacies of human grief, anger, mistrust and dismay that surely follow violent conflict. I hope that these images will also open a window on the grace of Iraq and perhaps help to give a few of these memories a place to rest.”

This is part of the 1oth Anniversary Lecture Series.

Exhibition opening reception:
Wednesday, January 30, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

PhotoAlliance and the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries present Take Me Away, a juried photography exhibition comprised of over 100 works by regional photojournalists and fine artists.
Eighteen artists were selected through an open call for submissions that encouraged photographers to reflect on both real and imagined spaces one might visit in order to leave the everyday. The chosen works represent a myriad of places to escape, ranging from virtual space to locations as close as home.
In advance of the call for submissions, the jurors selected three established Bay Area photographers to present larger bodies of work. David Gardner’s series about people who trade stability for life in a motor home will sit beside Alice Shaw’s renowned series People Who Look Like Me, which depicts the artist stretching her own identity in order to look more like another person. Rebecca Horne’s domestic scenes contribute an unsettling and fantastical vision of daydreaming gone awry.
The exhibition ultimately examines human connections to respite, adventure, and fantasy, through ideas and spaces related to escapism.

Featuring David Gardner, Rebecca Horne, and Alice Shaw

Amanda Boe, Eric Carroll, Carlos Chavarria, Jeffrey Cheung, Monica Denevan,
Jamil Hellu, Sonja Hinrichsen, Adam Katseff, Amelia Konow, Nick Lally, Kseniya Makrova,
Michael Napper, Timothy Pinault, Meghan Riepenhoff, Eleonora Ronconi,
Raphael Villet, Sam Wolson, and Christopher Woodcock.

Jury Members: Ann Jastrub, gallery director, RayKo Photo Center; Aimee Le Duc, galleries manager, SFAC Galleries; Thom Sempere, executive director, PhotoAlliance

We would like to thank the 167 regional photographers who submitted works in response to the open call for submissions.

Exhibition Dates: January 30 - May 10, 2013
Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 30, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Exhibition Location: Ground Floor of City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
Viewing Hours: Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm, Free

This is part of the Exhibition at San Francisco City Hall Gallery.