Aperture Foundation The Aperture Foundation has built on the strength of Aperture Magazine, the respected publication founded in 1952 by photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White, historian Beaumont Newhall, and writer/curator Nancy Newhall. The Foundation publishes books, Hosts lectures, manages a considerable archive of important prints, offers an educational program for interns, and mounts exhibitions in the Foundation’s Manhattan headquarters at the Burden Gallery in Manhattan. 

Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar Founded in 1973 by a group of newspaper, magazine and wire-service photojournalists, the Atlanta Seminar is a venerable institution and has long been the meeting place for working photojournalists. The seminar consists of a lecture series with a lineup of notable guest speakers working in the field, hands-on workshops dealing with techniques, technology and issues in photojournalism, as well as a merchant’s display of the latest photo gear. The annual portfolio review is one of the event’s most popular functions, with editors from all over the country critiquing portfolios of students and professionals. The non-profit also hosts an annual digital photo contest, awarding over $5,000.00 in prizes for a surprisingly wide range of editorial photographs. Categories range from “Sports News” to “Feature Picture.”  

Backlight, Tampere, Finland A thinking person’s event, Backlight considers critical questions and theory in documentary photography, using its three-year intervals to reflect on the artistic and social realities of the times. Composed of a symposium and exhibition series, Backlight mixes major documentary and art photographers with scholars, multimedia artists and dancers - all working with a general theme. Like more conventional festivals, Backlight also features lectures, a film series, a portfolio review and workshops. The website is fully translated into English and the events are conducted in Finnish or English.  

Camera Club of New York Founded in 1884, the Camera Club of New York has a very long history of supporting the art photography. This fine old institution offers its members photo and darkroom classes, 24-hour access to darkrooms, an ongoing lecture series, both physical and online gallery space, and the support of a like-minded community. The Club also offers an attractive darkroom residency for emerging artists, and also hosts an annual photo contest that is typically juried by a single, well-established photographer whose comments about the entries are published on the site.  

Center for Creative Photography, Tucson Part of the University of Arizona, the CCP manages one of the largest photo collections on the continent. Emphasizing North-American photographers, the Center opens its collections to the public, offering print viewing for the general public and consultations of the archives and collections by appointment. The collections are also the base for the CCP educational mandate, which features lectures, seminars, free public education programs, research fellowships and internships. 

Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY The Center for Photography at Woodstock’s stated intention is “to build audiences, enhance dialogue, and encourage inquiry about contemporary photography and related media.” Their busy web site testifies to the diversity of ways in which they go about achieving their mission: workshops and lectures series, exhibitions in their gallery space, publishing Photography Quarterly, holding auctions, offering artists residencies and internships, as well as the Photographer’s Fellowship Fund. These people are active!  

FotoFusion Organized by the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, this general conference is designed to appeal to photographers of all levels and specializations, with an emphasis on the technical side of photography and photo imaging. The schedule of events is a mix of corporate-sponsored workshops on new imaging software; visits to local points of interest; and lectures by specialists such as photojournalists, landscape and fine art photographers. There are previews of the latest in photo gear, portfolio reviews and even photo appraisals. The other aim of the conference, networking, is provided for in the nightly “Fuse and Schmooze” parties. 

Fotovision This organization’s mission seems to be to keep the spirit and impact of photojournalism alive in the generations to come. Through workshops and master classes given by recognized talents in the photojournalism world, as well as the professional experience of printers, publishers and arts administrators, the Bay Area-based non-profit helps photographers “create and edit a body of work, and learn to fund and distribute it.” The schedule includes lectures, day-long “studios” and open portfolio reviews. Appropriately, Fotovision funds this work, in part, through the sale of fine print series and signed volumes by acclaimed photojournalists.  

Fotoweek. D.C. A week-long celebration of photography in America’s capital city, Fotoweek D.C. includes a variety of events that consider the many facets of the practice of photography. Exhibitions, lectures, talks, workshops and projections are packed into the week-long schedule, many taking place in some of Washington’s inventory of storied venues, including the Smithsonian and the National Geographic Headquarters. 

International Center for Photography, New York In its elegant digs on New York’s Avenue of the Americas, the International Center for Photography’s museum exhibits challenging new work while reconsidering the meaning and resonance of historical work. Its substantial photography collections reflect changes in the medium since its inception and is replete with documentary and reportage photography. The museum and collection round out the Center’s comprehensive mission as a school and center for photographers.
 

Los Angeles County Museum of Art – Lectures on Photography Although not as well known as the encyclopedic international art collections (or the famous fossils of the neighboring La Brea tar pits), the LACMA has a strong contemporary photography collection that merits attention. The semi-annual Ralph M. Parsons Lectures on Photography series, which features talks by internationally recognized writers, critics and curators, was likely initiated to help explore the Museum’s largely post-1940 collection. It ranges from honored names such as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and Berenice Abbott to mid-century trouble-makers such as Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Robert Frank - and let us not forget the unsung photographic work of author William S. Burroughs (!) The Museum collects the work of established international photographers as well as those known and emerging on the L.A. scene. Lecture information is posted on the site’s Education calendar.  

Lucid Art Foundation The Lucid Art Foundation is interested in exploring the “phenomena of the inner worlds and deep levels of consciousness through visual arts, lectures, artist seminars, exhibitions, publications and by other means.” The practical work to this end involves supporting artists through educational and residential programs, managing a the Foundation’s collection and archive, collaborating with museums and cultural institutions who share the Foundation’s interest, as well as organizing public lectures by art historians, scholars and artists in Lucid Art’s Northern California base. 

Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego The museum’s collection and exhibition schedule highlight modern and contemporary work which deals with social and historical issues. Its other, complimentary, strength is a commitment to public outreach and public education programs, through lectures, workshops and after-school programs.  

Photographic Resource Center, Boston University - Lectures Photographic Resource Center, Boston’s vigorous and independent photo non-profit, fulfills part of its wide-ranging mandate by offering an ongoing series lectures by photographers, curators and others. Detailed background information, dates and places are laid out on the Center’s site. The PRC’s many other activities are designed to engage a broad public with the art and ideas of photography. Located on the campus of Boston University, the PRC offers its members and the wider public up to eight annual gallery exhibitions, research resources based in the PRC’s Aaron Siskind Library and other unique events. If that were not enough, the PRC also hosts a web-based photo discussion forum, publishes In the Loupe, its stylish newsletter, and offers the annual Leopold Godowsky Jr. Color Photography Awards. Vigorous indeed!  

SF Camerawork Camerawork This is the online resource center for SF Camerawork, the San Francisco based community-minded organization that fosters the work of emerging and mid-career photographers. Exhibitions in the online and physical gallery spaces, a lecture series, workshops and the journal Camerawork: A Journal of Photographic Arts are there to engage the wider world on photography’s aesthetic and social concerns. The organization’s mentoring program invites photographers to act locally and teach the craft to youth at risk.  

Smithsonian Photography Initiative Born in the same era as photography, the Smithsonian Institution boasts an astounding 13 million photographs, spread across its many museums and collections. The challenge of making all of these images accessible to the public has been met by the Smithsonian Photographic Initiative, a beautiful and highly functional site (a Webby Award winner), that allows users to locate and view photos from the Smithsonian’s science, technology and history museums, art galleries, and research centers, even from the National Zoo! Among the many ways the Initiative allows us to explore and study this vast collection is an ongoing series of lectures, conferences and workshops that give a deeper understanding of different aspects of the collection. Sponsored by the SPI, the conferences and lectures happen all over the country – see the site’s Conference Series page for details.  

Society of Publication Designers Founded 1965, SPD’s site proclaims that it is still the only organization that specifically addresses the concerns of trade, corporate, institutional, newspaper and consumer editorial art directors. The Society provides programs that foster the collaborative work of the best illustrators, photographers and typographers, while examining “the real impact of evolving technologies.” Guidance is provided by a board of directors composed of top editorial art directors and allied professionals.