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Deadline for Early Registration - Friday, November 27

Register online now and take advantage of early registration fees: Consulter le lien
Early and non-profit registration deadline November 27, 2009
Regular registration deadline December 16, 2009
Inquiries: 416-539-9595
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CONTACT's open call for exhibitions has established the festival as the world's largest annual photography event. Register your exhibition to participate in a citywide celebration of photography with leading international artists.

Early registration fee: $425.00
Non-profit registration fee: $325.00
Regular registration fee: $465.00

*Organizations must provide proof of non-profit status prior to registration. Fees are subject to GST and are due upon registration*

Benefits of registration include:

Exhibition listing with one image reproduction in the CONTACT festival magazine and website;
Extensive publicity and promotion of the festival;
Press access to your downloadable image on the CONTACT website;
CONTACT venue signage;
Free copies of the CONTACT Festival Magazine;
Option to sell your magazines for the cover price and keep the proceeds.

Registration Details:

The registrant is responsible for all venue arrangements and exhibition installation requirements: CONTACT does not provide exhibition venues. Any type of venue may be used including galleries, private dealers/studios, restaurants, cafes, websites and other alternatives. Exhibitions can open prior to May 1 and close after May 31, but must include May 2010 exhibition dates. CONTACT event calendars only include the month of May. Your photography exhibition may focus on any subject, although a relationship to the festival theme Pervasive Influence is encouraged.

CONTACT 2010 THEMATIC FOCUS
Pervasive Influence

From within the midst of the Still Revolution in photography, we witness the transformation of the medium alongside the shifting social, political and cultural events of our times. In this era of instant information the image is stimulating sweeping, unprecedented change in the way we communicate.

In 1964 Marshall McLuhan wrote of the photograph as "The Brothel without Walls". He referred to a theatrical work by Jean Genet, which depicted society as a brothel surrounded by a revolution. McLuhan described photographs as "dreams that money can buy" which could be "hugged and thumbed more easily than public prostitutes." If we consider his metaphor within today's global culture rife with media saturation, is the illusion images create now preferable to reality? Has the authority of the photograph been enhanced over time? Does it command our choices and grow stronger as the technology evolves? Or is photography losing its power to communicate ideas? Is its ability to convey meaning now diluted by the widespread dissemination of images?

CONTACT 2010 will consider the ways in which photography informs and transforms human behavior. The festival will recognize the influence of Marshall McLuhan, on the 30th anniversary year of his death. We will present images that examine connections between mass media, advertising, art and photography. This includes conceptual approaches to photography that utilize the codes of advertising, the language of consumerism, the stylization of marketing campaigns and the force of propaganda. Photojournalism and socially concerned documentary photography will provide a realist-based examination of the emotional and political impact of images and their effect on society and culture. CONTACT 2010 will explore the personal and social consequences of the medium of photography, in a society devoted to the image.