Photo Center to Spotlight Vincent Versace

"Untitled" by Vincent Versace

(PRESS RELEASE)_(West Palm Beach, FL – December 18, 2018) Fatima NeJame, president and chief executive officer of the world-renowned Palm Beach Photographic Centre (PBPC), today announced that the nonprofit organization’s 24th annual FOTOfusion will spotlight digital pioneer Vincent Versace, who will receive the 5-day festival’s prestigious FOTOmentor Award as his half-century career is celebrated in the exhibition:

Vincent Versace
Postcards from the Vacation that is my Life:
50 Years in Photography
January 22 to March 9
FREE Opening Reception on January 25, 6 to 8 pm

FOTOfusion, the popular cultural festival “where creativity and technology fuse” attracts thousands of professional and hobbyist photographers to West Palm Beach for five days of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, multimedia presentations, portfolio reviews, hands-on computer classes, demonstrations, and photo shoots taught by more than 60 world renowned photographers, digital imaging artists and picture editors – all of whom donate their time and expertise to educate, mentor and encourage creativity among participants of all levels and ages.

FOTOMentor Award

Each year, the PBPC Awards Committee selects a photographer to receive the FOTOmentor Award in honor of his/her lifetime achievements in the world of photography. Among the previous recipients of this prestigious award are Howard Schatz, Douglas Kirkland, Walter Ioos, Jr., Joyce Tenneson, Laurence Gartel, Ralph Gibson, Gordon Parks, Sebastiao Salgado, Arnold Newman, Ruth Bernhard, David Hume Kennerly, Duane Michaels and David Rubinger. 

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​The annual FOTOmentor Award 2019 will be presented to Vincent Versace, an internationally recognized pioneer in the art and science of digital photography. One of the founding Nikon Ambassadors who has been hailed as “one of the top photography artists and visual storytellers of this era,” Versace is a recipient of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in Media Arts & Entertainment and the Shellenberg fine art award. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History, and he has been published in numerous national newspapers and magazines.

Based in Los Angeles, Versace divides his time between commercial and fine art photography assignments, teaching, and consulting for such suppliers as Nikon, Epson, Nik, OnOne, X-Rite, Adobe, Sunbounce and others. His best-selling books include From Oz to Kansas: Almost Every Black & White Technique Known to Mankind and Welcome to Oz 2.0: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop, which Shutterbug Magazine called “the best how-to book of the year.”

His exhibition at the Photo Centre will feature images illustrating the many facets of Vincent’s work, from his beautiful portraits of flowers and landscapes to infrared images and cultural and celebrity portraits.

Versace will give a special Keynote presentation at 1 pm on Friday, January 25, in the auditorium of the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach, which is located directly across from the Photo Centre. Free to Centre members, and $10 for nonmembers, this is one of 24 different community presentations that are part of FOTOfusion 2019, including:

FOTOvision 2019

The public is invited to experience photography from around the globe at this free public event on the waterfront that will feature the World Premieres of 365: A Visual Review of 2018, including The Year of Paradise Lost and Climate Change Kids, a story told by ZUMA Press about a group of children taking on the government over the climate change crisis. Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Carol Guzy shares the  harrowing tale of a migrant caravan at the Tijuana/San Diego border.

There will be additional back stories from Ryan M. Kelly, this year’s Pulitzer Prize winner, on The Summer of Hate; and newspaper “photographer of the year” Richard Tsong-Taatarii on Refugees from Burma to Mexico. Many other top award winning photographers, their editors and actual subjects will also be presented.

FOTOvision will be held on Thursday, January 24, from 6 to 8 pm, in the Lakeside Pavilion on the Waterfront in downtown West Palm Beach.

Now on Exhibit at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre
Laurence Gartel
Digital Titan
Through January 5