Local photographers out there might be interested in this one … We learned about this project, the Brooklyn Photo Salon through Gary Fray, owner of 1158Dean Art Gallery.  Social entrepreneur, Regine Romaine, also known as “Gigi” has started a photography salon for local photographers to collaborate and share their work.  The project was referred to us because it is based in – you guessed it – Crown Heights.

Gigi sent us an email chock full of details about the project.  We tried to summarize it, but it all seemed so interesting we decided to include it all.  So here goes:

Brooklyn Photo Salon provides an exchange and interactive platform for photographers to connect with community members using photography as an active tool for social engagement and change. Our mission is to creatively and strategically have the image-making craft of photography play an active role in local and global issues of community recovery and renewal.  Betwixt light and shadows, film and digital, the Brooklyn Photo Salon provides a reflective gaze on photography, while fostering a dynamic, evolution between artists and the community.

The Brooklyn Photo Salon pays homage to the salons held during the Harlem Renaissance, while actively participating and shaping the contemporary Brooklyn renaissance. Brooklyn continues to evolve as the destination of choice, especially for those engaged in the arts, creative commerce and community building. We contribute to Brooklyn by sustaining a natural creative oasis that thrives on neighborhood communality.

Brooklyn Photo Salon endeavors to highlight diverse photographers in scope of work, style, gender, age, ethnicity and experience. We search for compelling photography through research and our networks. We also invite online submissions for our review. Developed since 2008, our signature program is The Quarterly Salons. Our new programs which will be launched incrementally are  BPS Fellowship, Living Legends, Community Workshops, The Social Documentary Project and  the International Lens.

The Quarterly Salons takes place in the home of Regine Romain, Director of Brooklyn Photo Salon, on a quarterly basis and  provides a safe intimate space, where invited guests are welcomed to the sounds of music, laughter and conversation. Guests are spread throughout the kitchen and living room with plates of savory home-cooked edibles delicately balanced on their laps anticipating the evening’s visual journeys. Art, the creative process, ideas, inspiration, culture, challenges, and technique are all open for discussion and debate. Our Quarterly Salons are about give and take – teaching and learning, engaging the community, receiving both praise and critique.

At each salon three photographers are invited to present and discuss their work. Since our 2008 inaugural year, twenty-five photographers have presented. Themes of home, loss, health, war, culture, migration, spirituality/religion, community engagement, natural disasters, identity, class and representation, are central to the work of many of our featured presenters.   Some of our featured emerging photographers were Philippe Dollo, Teru Kuwayama, Malin Fezehai, Russell Frederick, Geralyn Shukwit, and Saddi Khali; and established photographers included Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Ernesto Bazan, Bebeto Matthews, Alan Chin, Vladimir Syomin, and Jules Allen.

For all of you photographers out there, check it out.

Popularity: 17% [?]