Berlin – From October 19 to November 25, 2012, the European Month of  Photography Berlin makes the German capital the focus of local and international attention as a photo metropolis. With 100 participants and 110 exhibitions the festival offers  insights into Berlin’s impressive and complex photo scene and provides orientation and a  wide range of perspectives for national and international visitors.

This year’s theme „The View of the Other“ is a turn towards dialogue, a recognition of  an alien perspective, which in an age of ethnic hybridisation is necessarily a progressive transition from one’s own to that of the other. In photography, the theme generates an extremely interesting resonance. „The View of the Other“ is particularly immanent in  the medium. It can be seen as a plurality of dialogues that are all interrelated: dialogues  between the photographer and the object photographed, between the photograph and the  viewer, and between the photograph and the reality it depicts. But in what way do photographs show us the other? are they a reflection of the photographer’s specific way of  seeing and particular influences? What role does the medium itself play in the appropriation and construction of foreign cultures, in exoticising and colonising the other? Where borders are transgressed, who defines the borders? When do we change from viewers of intimate scenes to voyeurs? The 5th European Month of Photography Berlin presents a  broad spectrum of exhibitions and events that shed light on the theme from various perspectives, and in doing so reveal a multitude of thematic and media issues.

The heart of the festival is housed at Pariser Platz 4a: The Festival Centre is located directly at Brandenburger Tor. Here, the exhibition „Cairo. Open City – New Testimonies from an Ongoing revolution“, which has been given new accents for its presentation in  Berlin, is presented, a collaboration with the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig.  Furthermore, the festival catalogues as well as information materials on the exhibitions  of partners are available here.

This year’s exhibition project by the European network partners, Bratislava, Budapest,  ljubljana, luxembourg, Paris and Vienna, is titled „distUrBaNces: Can Fiction Beat reality?“. „distUrBaNces“ focuses on changes in photographic and artistic practice as near,  physically tangible worlds are increasingly interleaved with remote, digitised worlds in the  face of globalisation and a new dominance of the visual. In Berlin, two positions from this  exhibition are presented: the work „excursions in the Dark“ (2011) by Kaya Behkalam at  the Festival Centre within the framework of the exhibition „Cairo: Open City“ as well as  Thibault Brunet’s series „Vice City“ (2007–2012) in the Computerspielemuseum (Computer Game Museum) as a solo exhibition.

Within the framework of the 5th European Month of Photography Berlin, over 200 events will be presented in addition to the 110 exhibitions. The spectrum of events ranges from private viewings, tours and talks, to workshops, seminars and readings, to competitions and film screenings.. „show Photography! On showing and Being shown Photography“, a series of podium discussions, lecture performances and presentations, examines the different artistic, editorial and creative practices of showing, the significance of new technologies and the political dimension of the contemporary production of images. The series „a Visit with …“ and „Out and about with …“ are constant companions throughout the European Month of Photography. „a Visit with …“ integrates private collections and foundations as exhibition locations and spaces for dialogue, and at the same time provides a place for a conversation between the host and an invited photography expert, editor or photographer. In the interpretative format „Out and about with …“, selected moderators offer their own special tours of an exhibition from this year’s european Month of Photography and selected locations related to photography in the surrounding district of the city. The festival concludes on 24 and 25 November 2012 with a Portfolio review and a Portfolio Walk.

European Month of Photography Berlin
The European Month of Photography Berlin is the largest photo festival in Germany. It has taken place in Berlin every two years since 2004, presenting numerous exhibitions and events on historical and contemporary photography. The organiser is Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH in cooperation with museums, cultural institutions and galleries in Berlin and Potsdam.