Photography strikes a new pose

With the final product of the photographic form so highly regarded, the fun of the process can sometimes be forgotten. Luckily, Art & About Sydney has included a couple of events in its program that will have amateurs and professionals alike racing through the streets of Sydney in a snapping frenzy as exciting as the end result.

Players are given image clues of a location to swipe through on their smart device and are challenged to find where that location is in the real world. The game is multi-player and once you ‘unlock’ a new place and upload a photo of it, you can receive an award, such as a story, prize, or voucher.

As well as a fun challenge, Tag Town is an innovative platform that will allow Art & About Sydney to share some hidden features of Sydney with players, tying in with the festival’s ‘Private Lives … Public Places’ theme. The app is also a unique creative tool that lets people combine text and art with photo collections to create personal stories that can be shared.

Another challenge sure to get a few shutters clicking is the Foto Riesel Foto Rally. This is a one-day photography event in which people complete a series of photographic challenges revealed on the day of the rally. There will be a Sydney CBD event as well as suburban ones, and people are welcome to enter in both.

Images taken in the rally are uploaded onto the Foto Riesel website where a $1,500 prize pool is up for grabs. According to Foto Riesel’s Steve Piggott, ‘The judges will be looking for creative images that feature a unique interpretation of the photographic challenges given to them.’ Post-production on images is allowed.

Piggot stresses that Foto Riesel Foto Rally is open to everyone. ‘The inspiration for the rally was to get people interested in photography and give them a reason to get out and shoot. You do not need to be a professional or enthusiast photographer, you simply need to enjoy photography.’

Of course not every photographic event in Art & About Sydney need be a race against time. The popular competitions Sydney Life and the junior version Little Sydney Lives are happening again, with finalists being displayed in Hyde Park as large-scale works. Many other unique photographic exhibitions from emerging and established artists will also be occurring throughout the city, and all are listed on the Art & About Sydney website.

Art & About Sydney will run through Sydney from 20 September to 20 October.

For information about installations and events visit the Art & About Sydney website.