Putting Chicago on the Map: How Filter Festival Builds Photography Community

By JAYCEE ROCKHOLD

Even though the city of Chicago may be on the map, its photography community isn’t— which is exactly what Jennifer Murray, executive director of Filter Photo Festival and Filter Space, is trying to fix. A grad student turned Loyola University professor, Murray has always had her toes dipped in the Chicago photography community.

Still currently the only photography festival in the Midwest, Filter Photo Festival (running September 21- 24, 2017) was founded by Sarah Hadley as a small operation in 2009, but now encompasses hundreds of participants, in-depth portfolio reviews, artist talks and interactive events. “Filter actually began about nine years ago as an annual festival,” said Murray. “This upcoming September will be our ninth annual Filter Photo Festival taking place at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel, just a short walk away from the Museum of Contemporary Art.” The festival draws both a Chicago centric and national crowd, as well as a few international photographers eager to get their work reviewed.

Even though there are multiple facets of the festival, portfolio reviews make up a majority of the festival. Gathering a wide variety of artists and resources for both students and the public is one of the goals that solidifies Filter Photo Festival. It’s a high concentration of well-known artistic individuals in one area made available at a fair price.

“The portfolio reviews happen with professionals like gallerists and curators,” said Murray. “We invite them to come from across the country. We usually have around 30 and about 10 of those are Chicago based. We really want people to take advantage of the fact that you have all of these professionals in one specific location as opposed to thinking that you needed to go to San Francisco, New York and different cities around the country in order to have your work looked at.”  This year, Matt Austin, founder of Candor Arts, and Teresa Silva from Chicago Artists Coalition are among the Chicago-based reviewers.

Murray’s background in teaching urged her to place a heavy emphasis on portfolio reviews (she currently teaches photography at Chicago’s own Loyola University). Proud of the fact that she could practically talk about a piece and workshop it all day long, part of her drive for reviews stems from her experience working in A+D Gallery, a non-photo gallery at Columbia College Chicago. “Teaching photography but running a non-photo gallery really helped me understand the place photography has in the art world,” said Murray. “I think we tend to think of photography as the subset or separate thing and it’s really not.”

The public can purchase portfolio reviews in bulk, allowing the individual to spend 20 minutes discussing their work with multiple professionals, and runs on a first come first serve basis. Whoever submits a list of artists they wish to meet with quickly has more of a chance of speaking with the artists on their list.

For Murray, the Filter portfolio reviews emphasize that photographers are artists, and should consider themselves so. Ranging from still life to street photography, each photographer has their own artistic value.

Besides the public, portfolio reviews also attract plenty of students, who actually have an advantage for portfolio reviews. Not only do they get the chance to have their work reviewed by well-known artists, but they also can participate at a lower cost. Students who are faced with a tight budget can purchase single portfolio reviews versus the require bulk buy for others.

 “A lot of our local faculty will bring students and classes,” said Murray. “That’s really the goal; to create a festival, to create these four days of programming in Chicago that’s just not for people that can afford this. We really want it to be open to anybody. We want to provide opportunities to students.”

Hand-in-hand with portfolio reviews, Filter Photo Festival also organizes artists talks. Topics range from searching for and finding photography opportunities to discussing and showcasing a particular artist’s work. Some talks implement tours or other interactive aspects, such as the Leica Camera walk organized by Chicago’s Tamarkin Camera, in which participants are lent a Leica camera to take photos while walking around the city. This free activity allows people to step out of their own specific area of photography and experience something they wouldn’t have been able to before, especially students who may not be able to afford a Leica camera.

“It’s street photography and film based. It doesn’t have to be film, but it certainly could be,” said Murray. “It’s a nice community building opportunity. It’s a way to sample some gear but it’s also a way to be with other folks that want to walk around and take pictures.”

Some of the artists speaking at the event this year include photographer Jeffrey Wolin and Catherine Edelman, owner and director of Catherine Edelman gallery in Chicago, both of which will lead a gallery tour of Wolin’s exhibition Pigeon Hill: Then and Now, which includes his photographs taken in a housing project in southern Indiana. Photographers Sara J. Winston and Terry Evans will also lead their own talks as well. Even though the content of each talk will differ, one can expect healthy discussions of what it means to take contemporary photographs, as well as an enlightening method to learn about the artist and their work.

In addition to artist talks, Filter Photo also presents numerous opportunities for workshopping photographers. Following a similar formula to that of the portfolio reviews, some, like Filter Photo members and those who sign up when registration opens, get first pick on these workshops. Even though the workshops will give guidance like the reviews, they also take time to pose heavy questions to spur discussion. The workshop Getting Seen, Getting Shown: Professional Practices for the Fine Art Photographer With Sasha Wolf and Jess T. Dugan not only points out skills that a photographer should have to keep their head above water, but also questions when a photographer knows if when their work is ready to be shown, how to connect with others in the art world, and how social media intertwines with this all.

“People that take those workshops have the opportunity to develop a peer group with the other people that are there and develop a relationship with that artist,” said Murray. “Most of the time people will bring their own work to the workshop, so they not only hear what the artist has to say about their own practice and how to move forward in this particular area, but also have the opportunity to have the artist look at their own work. [The artist] provides really direct one-on-one feedback.”

Overall, the Filter Photo Festival, highlighted by portfolio reviews, artist talks, and workshops, bolsters a photography community. Murray, who hopes the festival continues to attract people from both Chicago and around the world, also intends the festival to stay around the same size as it is now in order to maintain the small, tight-knit community feel. The festival has definitely grown since its conception in 2009, but for now, it fill its own niche in the Midwestern photography community. At the end of the day, for Murray, the main concern isn’t the size of the festival, but the individuals that make it up. From amateur photographers to those who have decades of experience, from still life photographers to student photographers snapping pictures for their own personal project, Filter Festival provides a platform to aid them all.

“We know you’re serious and that this isn’t just a passing fad for you,” Murray said. “We know that you’re genuinely interested in being a part of this community and that this is really a career for you. We want to nurture those people.”

Photo: Courtesy of Filter Festival