New York City Next Stop for Masters on Tour

15/10/2009 Scandinavian camera manufacturer Hasselblad is sharing its passion for photography with its Hasselblad Masters on Tour. This traveling exhibition includes seminars and hands-on sessions as well as featuring works from the hundred finalists entered in the 2009 Hasselblad Masters Awards competition. Following the successful exhibition stops in Hong Kong and Copenhagen, the exhibition will come to New York, opening on October 22 at the Milk Studios in New York City.

When industry insiders gather in New York for the kickoff of the Photo Plus Expo, Hasselblad will also be there to welcome visitors to the informative and entertaining event being held at the Milk Studios Penthouse in New York’s meatpacking district. At the event, participants will be able to try out the Hasselblad H3DII-50 under studio conditions and get practical tips from Hasselblad specialists. New York based model Silvi will be featured on a live shooting stage and Magnum member Bruce Davidson will also be on hand, providing with an exclusive portfolio review.

The Hasselblad Masters will be the focal point at the 3,000 sq. ft. Penthouse of Milk Studios. American photographer August Bradley, who was selected as a Hasselblad Master in the Up and Coming category for 2008, will host an exclusive live fashion and portrait photo seminar. The 100 finalists of the 2009 competition will also be exhibited. Ten finalists in each of ten categories, including Fashion, Landscape and Product photography, are vying for the coveted 2009 Hasselblad Master Award. The Masters on Tour exhibition will showcase one photograph from each of these one hundred photographers.

An acclaimed jury of photography experts will join the public in chosing the winners in each of the ten categories. This year, one vote per category will be decided through public voting. Those attending the event will be able to immediately vote for their favorite photographer directly at the event while still enjoying the inspiring works of the finalists at the Milk Studios venue. “I’m thrilled by the artistic and technical quality of the photography seen in our finalists,” says Christian Nørgaard, Photographer Relations Manager at Hasselblad, “and I’m eager to see which photographs will prevail in the public voting, considering the very strong competition.” Photo enthusiasts are invited to take part in the event and vote for their favorite Master‘s candidate.

The Masters on Tour New York exhibition at a glance

Venue: Milk Studios, Penthouse, 450 W. 15th Street, New York, NY 10011
Duration: October 22, 2009, 10 am – 10 pm
Program: Bruce Davidson: Exclusive portfolio review: 10 am – 2 pm / August Bradley: live fashion/portrait photo seminar: 2 pm – 4 pm / True Photography Studio: hands-on shooting with the H3DII-50: 10 am – 5 pm / Live model shooting with the H3DII-50 and New York model Silvi: 10 am – 5 pm / Masters Exhibition: 10 am – 10 pm
VIP party: 7 pm – 10 pm, Free admission
Contact E-Mail: Christian.Norgaard@Hasselblad.dk
Contact Mobile: +45 2927 4002

About the Hasselblad Masters Award

First held in 2001, the Hasselblad Masters Award is now regarded as one of the photography industry’s highest international honors. Presented annually, the award honors photographers from around the world. Previous years‘ winners include such famous photographers as Anton Corbijn, Patrick Demarchelier and Albert Watson.

Ten categories were introduced in 2008: General, Architecture, Product, Nature/Landscape, Fine Art, Up and Coming, Portrait, Editorial, Social/Wedding and Fashion/Beauty. The ten winners in 2008 were also the first to be asked to contribute a series of photographs on a theme chosen by Hasselblad for the Hasselblad Masters book. The first Masters book, dealing with the theme of Passion, was published by the teNeues publishing house (for more information and ordering information, go to www.teneues.com).

The Hasselblad Masters Award is a highly desirable accolade, as the winners will have the opportunity to contribute to the Hasselblad Masters book project, to be published by teNeues, focusing on the theme „Emotion“. Hasselblad will supply the necessary photographic production equipment. The book and the Hasselblad Masters images will be presented in a major exhibition at the Photokina 2010 in Cologne.

In past years, Hasselblad Masters were chosen by a jury consisting solely of industry experts, but this year the selection process will also include a public voting element. Any member of the public can go online at www.hasselblad.com/Masters-2009-Open-Jury and choose their favorites in each of the ten categories. The sum total of the public voting will be counted as one jury vote in the final decision.

After the opening event in Hong Kong on August 21-31, the Hasselblad on Tour exhibition moved to Copenhagen between August 28 – September 12, where Hasselblad is headquartered.

Each Masters exhibition is held in collaboration with HP, Hahnemühle, SanDisk, and Broncolor. HP has printed the 100 finalist images on TIPA award-winning Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta paper using their new Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer. Broncolor—winner of a TIPA Award for Best Studio Flash Generator for its Broncolor Scoro A4S—is supplying high-end lighting equipment for the exhibition venues, and, as they did last year, SanDisk is supplying CompactFlash memory cards to the winners.