CdRF becomes the meeting place for ten renowned curators who will get in touch with Romanian photography and meet some of the most representative photographers in a unique event. It promises to be a busy weekend. Friday from 18.00 - the opening of the exhibitions signed by Ioana Moldovan and PAC, Saturday from 12.00 - presentation of portfolios, Sunday - mingle. It really happens and we managed to align some planets, not a few and we thank Rezo Agency for the support. The ten curators are: Barbara Čeferin, Natan Dvir, Sára Jeleňová, Weronika Kobylińska, Jenny Lindhe, Wiktoria Michalkiewicz, Arianna Rinaldo, Marta Szymanska, István Virágvölgyi, Jessica Williams. Barbara Čeferin Barbara Čeferin is the owner of Galerija Fotografija, which she runs, and a member of the organizing and curatorial committee of Kranj Foto Fest. Over the past 18 years, Barbara has organized more than 150 exhibitions of Slovenian and foreign artists in Galerija Fotografija, as well as in other locations in Slovenia and abroad. In 2018, under her guidance, at the Slovenian Book Fair she opened a special section for photography books called Fotocona. In 2022, Galerija Fotografija was one of the founders of ETC. The magazine, dedicated to the presentation of current artistic production from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. Natan Dvir Natan Dvir is an educator and conceptual documentary photographer who focuses on the human aspects of cultural, social and political issues. He received an MBA from Tel Aviv University and an MA in photography from the School of Visual Arts (NY), after which he became an adjunct faculty member at the International Center of Photography (ICP). Sára Jeleňová Sára Jeleňová currently works in the curatorial team of the festival of contemporary photography and new media OFF Bratislava. He is also curator and exhibition coordinator in the FOG Gallery. Her work is deeply rooted in a passion for contemporary photography, with a focus on supporting new talent and innovative visual approaches. Her approach to curating emphasizes cultural dialogue and the exploration of diverse artistic expressions, reflecting Sara's commitment to enriching the photography community both locally and internationally. Weronika Kobylińska Dr. Weronika Kobylińska, president of the Photo Archeology Foundation in Warsaw, is an art historian, curator and professor at the National Film, Television and Theater School in Łódź. She coordinates the Polish branch of the international research network Ars Graphica. Her second book, focused on Polish photography ("The Avant-Garde Film"), was nominated for the J. Długosz Award (2022). Jenny Lindhe Jenny Lindhe works as an artist and curator, graduate of the School of Photography, Gothenburg University. Heads the exhibition department of Landskrona Art Hall & Museum / Landskrona Photo. She is also the founder and organizer of the Landskrona Foto & Breadfield Dummy Award and publisher of Breadfield Press. Wiktoria Michalkiewicz Dr Wiktoria Michałkiewicz is an interdisciplinary specialist with a deep passion for stories, talent management, journalism and photography. Operating from multiple global hubs in Warsaw (Poland), Stockholm (Sweden) and Lisbon (Portugal), Dr. Michałkiewicz bridges cultures and perspectives, connecting artists with opportunities around the world. Dr. Michałkiewicz was instrumental in the expansion of Fotografiska Stockholm to Tallinn and New York as part of Fotografiska International. Arianna Rinaldo Arianna Rinaldo is a freelance professional who works with photography in a wide range. From 2012 to 2021 he was artistic director of Cortona On The Move, international festival of visual narrative. Since 2016 she has been curator of photography at PhEST, a photography and contemporary arts festival in Puglia. He is on the selection committee of various institutions, including the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, the British Photography Journal "Ones to Watch" and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Award. Marta Szymanska Marta Szymanska is a photography curator from Poland. She co-founded Fotofestiwal - the International Photography Festival in Lodz in 2005 and is a member of the curatorial team responsible for the festival program. He was deputy director of the Foundation for the Archeology of Photography, which deals with the preservation, development and promotion of archives of Polish photographers. Her curatorial experience also includes cooperation with the Lodz Art Museum, Poland; Photography Month in Minsk, Belarus; CinEast Central and Eastern Film Festival in Luxembourg and others. István Virágvölgyi Since 2014 he has been working as a curator of the Robert Capa Center for Contemporary Photography, and since 2023 he is also the artistic director; is secretary of the Capa Ungaria Grand Prize and editor of the Weekly Fortepan blog. Since 2016 he has been a cultural adviser of the Archiabe of Pannonhalma, since 2018 volunteer editor of the digital photo archive Fortepan, since 2021 member of the board of directors of the József Pécsi Photography Scholarship for young artists. Jessica Williams Jessica Williams is a conceptual artist, curator, editor and educator whose vast practice is based on the act of seeing. Her works, often collective and collaborative, address uncomfortable and complex themes that affect us all, including belonging and the climate crisis. Publishing, photography, text and new media are often combined to produce intimate, layered and visceral works of art. — The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding. Cultural project co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

When: August 28 - September 3 Where: Photography Resource Center / Popa Tatu 68 It happens. How do we celebrate the opening of the Photography Resource Center (CdRF) other than with pomp (or, rather, with fest)? IS THIS A FEST? it's an artistic, educational and photography promotion event for any photography enthusiast, from amateurs to professionals with fancy lenses. With and about photography, IS THIS A FEST? comes to the aid of aspiring photographers. We know what it's like to get lost in all the tips & tricks content on YouTube. We offer four workshops on introduction to composition (August 28, with Andrei Păcuraru), product photography with the phone (August 29, with Sorin Florea), portraiture (August 30, with Cornel Lazia) and aesthetics (August 31, with Adi Bulboacă) . Between September 1 - 3 we organize openings (we fill the walls with photos and marvel at them), artist talks (because it's not enough to take a photo, you have to talk about it), parties (how artists feel good ), masterclass (for master photographers), portfolio reviews (for photographers looking for a job or who want to sell themselves better) and partnerships with other galleries (networking at its best). To make the experience complete, the photography festival IS THIS A FEST? brings together some of the best Romanian and Norwegian photographers. We want international recognition of Romanian photography. There is nothing like it in the cultural landscape of Bucharest, a "home" for photography lovers. CdRF provides an ideal space to spend the day, the Is This Art? gallery, a haven for amateurs, beginners or experts in photography, but we welcome you even if you just want to drink a good coffee. We connect photos with each other, but also with professionals from other fields and with the general public.

* The artistic residency on the theme "Sexualization of women and femininity" is ongoing. The two artists selected following the call are Virginia Lupu and Ilina Schileru. Soon we announce artist talks with them, masterclasses and the exhibition. * The CdRF team is in full process of mentoring on cultural entrepreneurship in photography. Among our mentors are Dr. Wiktoria Michałkiewicz (Fotografiska, REZO), Amelie Schüle (FOAM), Ellen K Willas (Willas Gallery) or Natan Dvir (ICP). We learn and improve CdRF with their help. * We launched the CdRF school. We have the most consistent and serious photography course, the equivalent of an academic program. We also have an early bird promotion until May 10th. Places are very limited, the course is state of the art. It starts in June and ends in August. At the end you will know not only what to do with the camera but also what to do in photography. * The next workshops are "Rooftops" with Cornel Lazia, "Performance Photography" with Adi Bulboacă and "Editorial Photography" with Ionuț Staicu. * We are preparing the official opening of the space. In June we will be waiting for you to visit – at the gallery, at the library or simply for a coffee. * We are preparing new pop-up events at OTOTO Victoriei. We will announce details soon. * We have started working on the CdRF archive and curating materials from the body of work of our photographers that tell stories of our recent cultural history. * We are preparing the photography festival. In September 2023. Details coming soon. What we can say at the moment is that we will have masterclasses held by international lecturers. See you soon!

We have launched a call to offer a residency. For visual artists, of course. That's what we do at the Photography Resource Center. We also have a theme, namely: Sexualization of women and femininity within a minority in Romania. What the resident should do: follow the exploration of the sexualization of women and femininity within a minority, how the phenomenon propagates, if there are customs and visible repercussions within the community. Attention, we are talking about an international experience. Because the residency involves the collaboration between two visual artists who work mainly with photography to create one or more works. The team will consist of one artist from Norway and one from Romania. The two artists will be selected by the CdRF team from those who will respond to this call. The artists who will be selected will receive promotion and exposure, more precisely there will be two joint events to present the artistic approach and discuss with the public in Bucharest, at the Center's headquarters, on Strada Popa Tatu, 68. We will have a final exhibition with the completed work(s) (we do not aim to reach a certain number of works!), also at our place, at CdRF. Nonetheless, there will be a workshop/masterclass held by each of the two artists on a topic relevant to their artistic approach, also in Bucharest, also at CdRF. How long is the residency? One month. From February 23 to March 23. The allocated budget: 20,000 lei for each artist (around 4000 EUR). The money covers: the artist's fee and the logistical costs of accommodation, transport, etc. An important note, you know how it is in such cases: CdRF as organizer retains partial right to the final work or works. The call is open until February 13, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Those who will apply must send an email to hello@cdrf.ro with the following: - a brief description (maximum one A4 page) of the artistic project proposal for the residence; - portfolio in pdf format. We will announce the results of the selection on the website www.cdrf.ro on February 17, 2023, not earlier, but not later. For any questions about this project, we invite you to contact us in writing at hello@cdrf.ro. We will answer you. #supportlocalphotographers #supportlocalphotography #sprijinăfotografiilocali #sprijinăfotografialocala #CdRF #resursefoto #rocultura #eeagrants The Photography Resource Center project is financed by the EEA Grants 2014 - 2021 within the RO-CULTURE Program. The EEA Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecuti ve grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA Grants amount to €1.55 billion. More details are available on: www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro. RO-CULTURE is implemented in Romania by the Ministry of Culture through the Project Management Unit. The Programme aims at strengthening social and economic development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. The total budget amounts to almost 34 million EUR. For more details access: www.ro-cultura.ro

Photo credit: Alex Iacob/ www.reptilianul.ro Last weekend was the #rooftops photography workshop coordinated by Cornel Lazia. In the words of Cornel "On the roofs all the sounds merge into a certain tonality, which I like to think gives the city an auditory signature that becomes relatively emblematic of the city itself." We started at Nor Sky Casual Restaurant, 136 meters above the city, where Cornel gave a presentation on how he approaches photography. The sky was clear and, being cold outside, visibility was very good (hint: the colder it gets the visibility is the better). At one point, a hawk passed by and posed for photos like a professional. Then, we moved from the north of Bucharest to Pantelimon, to the water tower managed by the Make a Point Association. With a bit of height sickness, we climbed the metal staircase that surrounds the tower and photographed blocks, shapes and lights characteristic of the neighborhood. From Pantelimon we moved to Prelungirea Ghencea where we climbed a high building and where we detached ourselves from the noise of the city and photographed it as a conglomeration of blocks of flats pressed by clouds. The last two rooftops brought us back to the center, being an interesting counterpoint to the bedroom neighborhoods photographed until then. First we went to the Sheraton Hotel, with a unique view of the Romană - Grădina Icoanei areas, where we caught a little rain and a rainbow; then to Magheru One, where we arrived just in time for the blue hour. The second day was the feedback, with Cornel commenting and offering suggestions on the participants' photos. We leave you with some photos of the rooftops atmosphere and get back to work as we have a busy week ahead - on November 26 and 27 we are waiting for you at the CdRF Foto Market. The whole team is coming (including Cornel and his wonderful photos). We promise to show you carefully printed photos, offer advice on the best visual gifts to give friends and family this December, play nice music carefully chosen by our team, talk about photography, and on Saturday evening, from 6:30 p.m., we are waiting for you with a glass of wine at Mezanin to socialize and present who we are and what we want from life. See you Saturday! CdRF team

The mission of the Photography Resource Center (CdRF) is taking Romanian photography to more international dimensions; we want Romanian photographers and their photos to have a greater presence, higher value and better visibility on international markets on the long term. In our view, an integrated system is needed to combine the synergies of education, work opportunities, exposure, production and sale of photography. CdRF's core pillars are educational, artistic and entrepreneurial consulting. We put the photographer in the center and try to offer solutions for his/her needs, from workflow and technical organisation to exposure, promotion and support in artistic endeavours. CdRF was conceived and planned by a homogeneous group with experience in various fields of photography. The coordination is ensured by Andreea Leu, Olga Abramescu and Alex Molovata and Ioana Moldovan, Andrei Păcuraru, Adrian Bulboacă, Cornel Lazia, Cristina Irian, Ionuț Staicu and Silviu Gheție are the center's core team. Each of them becomes a teacher, facilitator and mentor in relation to the CdRF community; each helps create the frame needed to bring the photograph into focus. In 2022 we are launching a program of courses, workshops and events. At the beginning of 2023, we are launching the 180-hour CdRF flagship course, given by 6 professors and accredited by ANC (The National Qualifications Authority), which starts with the history of photography and ends with a personal portfolio. Also in 2023, thanks to the partnership we have with Morten Bruun, we are bringing specialists and photographers from Norway for masterclasses and events in Bucharest. Last but not least, we have thought about and will launch artistic residencies, curate exhibitions and in the second half of the year we will organize a photography festival. For professional photographers we propose specialization courses, CdRF meetings for networking and discussions about photography, customization services according to their needs and a sustained approach to selling prints (not as a stock image but as an artistic product). For amateurs we propose longer or shorter courses, more theoretical or more practical (e.g. Introduction to photographic technique, Photo editing or the 180-hour course), photo workshops, one Tuesday per month of experiment (an event dedicated to the CdRF community in which we create, we play, we break rules under the guidance of a professional) and CdRF events. For non-photographers who appreciate photography, we offer photography history courses, exhibitions, print sales events and CdRF meetings. And for those who work with photography but do not take photos, we offer courses such as Product photography for entrepreneurs or B2B services. The CdRF space will be open from January 2023 and will include a library with over 100 titles, workspace (for post-processing), a small studio for experiments and learning, and a dedicated exhibition area. From January 2023 we will meet every Tuesday evening at the experiment session, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at classes (theoretical sessions), Fridays at openings and CdRF meetings, Saturdays and Sundays at practice sessions and workshops. Until then, we are waiting for you at the courses and workshops announced for this end of 2022 on www.cdrf.ro, at the CdRF meetings at Studio Opera (Sfinții Apostoli 44) and we invite you to the Mezzanine (Palatul Universul) on November 26 and 27 at the first print sale event.