NEW YORK, NY.- The New York Photo Festival (NYPH) grew out of a simple and stark conundrum: New York City, the world’s capital of photography, had no major photography festival. In fact, there was no American counterpart to the prestigious festivals of Europe. To fill the void, Daniel Power of PowerHouse Books and Frank Evers of VII Photo Agency—both based in the creative hotbed of DUMBO, Brooklyn—founded the New York Photo Festival in 2008. After debuting to international acclaim, the festival grew in 2009, in spite of the recession. The increasing success, especially given the circumstances, has affirmed the vital demand for the New York Photo Festival, as well as its staying power. The third annual festival will take place May 12—16, 2010 with expanded programming, more locations across the city, and extended hours.

To help create the festival, Power and Evers select four world-class curators to bring their personal visions of the most provocative and intriguing developments in contemporary photography to the event’s main pavilions. For NYPH’10, they have chosen Vince Aletti, Erik Kessels, Fred Ritchin, and Lou Reed. The curators’ exhibitions will be announced soon.

The New York Photo Festival has become not only an essential destination for photo professionals, amateurs and students from around the world, but also a favorite event of countless art and culture aficionados. The programming includes exhibitions, live performances, slideshows and book signings, in addition to seminars and workshops.

As before, the main festival sites will be in the Brooklyn waterfront community of DUMBO. However, this year, for the first time, events and pre-festival activities will also take place in other parts of the city. This year, the festival organizers will offer free public admission to exhibitions in the main pavilions and reduced ticket prices for events.