Annenberg Space for Photography One of the country’s largest private family foundations, the well-respected Annenberg Foundation is behind a new community space dedicated to both digital images and print photography in Los Angeles, California. In keeping with the Foundation’s emphasis on philanthropy in general and education in particular, the Space for Photography concentrates on work that “expresses the human condition.” Moreover, in a move that benefits both other photo-centric institutions and the public at large, the Space intends to bring to light photography collections that have been locked away in museum, gallery, and media center archives for lack of wall space. A cutting-edge high-resolution digital presentation system will make much of these “hidden collections” accessible to viewers for the first time. Now open on L.A.s’ Avenue of the Stars, the Space is sure to be an important destination for seeing new and undiscovered work. 

Aperture Gallery – Aperture Foundation The Aperture Foundation, which grew out of Aperture Magazine, the respected publication founded in 1952 by photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and others, oversees many photo-related activities. Among them is hosting exhibitions in their brand new Chelsea gallery in Manhattan. Local and traveling photo exhibitions will now have a new and likely prestigious venue. The Foundation also publishes Aperture Magazine and photography books, offers magazine internships to “individuals of special promise,” and has assembled a considerable archive of important prints. 

Belfast Exposed, Belfast (UK) Although Northern Ireland's only dedicated photo gallery exhibits a variety of contemporary reportage and art photography, its main interest is Belfast. The gallery has initiated and supported photo projects that document urban life in this famously troubled city. The results of this work form the backbone of the gallery’s collection; many narratives told from many different perspectives. 

Blue Sky Gallery, Portland (OR) Blue Sky Gallery boasts of having the best record of discovering new photographers of any artists' space in the country. Mounting 24 exhibitions a year with complementary lecture series and publications, this artists-run non-profit exhibition center certainly does have an imposing record of bringing new talent, be it local or international, to light. 

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!  

Light Work, Syracuse NY Light Work supports photo and digital imaging artists by mounting exhibitions in Syracuse University’s Robert B. Menschel Media Center. Donations from the diverse talents of their Artists-in-Residence program continues to build its permanent collection. The Syracuse-based organization also offers lectures and classes, and publishes Contact Sheet, a graceful monograph series. Click on the browse or search options atop the page. 

Photographic Center Northwest Based in Seattle, Photographic Center focuses on education and promotion of fine art photography through a wide variety of activities. The Center’s public face, its non-profit gallery, shows emerging and mid-career artists, organizes juried public exhibitions, runs an artist-in-residence program and offers darkroom rentals. Guidelines for portfolio submission to the gallery are helpfully spelled out in the gallery section of the site. As for its other mission, education, the Center’s school offers an accredited fine art photography certificate program, intensive 10-week courses, workshops, member and youth programs and lectures. Its site also includes a list of reviewed links, useful for Northwestern photographers.  

Photographic Resource Center, Boston University This vigorous and independent non-profit has given itself a wide-ranging mandate to engage a broad public with the art and ideas of photography, and judging by its excellent website, the Photographic Resource Center (PRC) certainly delivers. Located on the campus of Boston University, the PRC offers its members and the public up to eight annual gallery exhibitions, an ongoing series of web exhibitions, an education program which includes lectures and workshops, 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 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 their 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.