For many of you around the world, Covid-19 brought an unprecedented new way of living.  In New York City, life was brought to a standstill and we spent months inside in an effort to contain the virus.  We adapted.  We changed.  We became more creative and more resilient.  Many of us needed to reinvent the way we lived and worked.  Much of the world mourned the loss of loved ones and had to adapt to changes in life that were previously unimaginable.  But we have faced this difficult time with determination and courage and no doubt, we will conquer this, hopefully, to find a world that is even more thoughtful and compassionate towards each other.

NYC Exhibition leaders hunkered down in Brooklyn.   We organized two fantastic online exhibitions; Manhattan 2020 and The Empire State Salon.  Our community of photographers and artists grew and we discovered  new talent in the far corners of the world.  Online friendships evolved and collaborations were created.  Zoom meetings were held and discussions about inclusion and diversity were propelled into the spotlight.

 Manhattan 2020 SALON

For Manhattan 2020, we had an absolutely amazing jury team, including two presidents Riccardo Busi from FIAP and Elena McTighe from PSA, plus a diverse panel of jury members from India, Serbia, California, Ecuador, and New York.  We were so excited and started to make travel plans to welcome our friends for the big day.  But after the shut-down, we needed to regroup and reinvent how we were going to judge.  Despite the pandemic, we adopted a  “Let’s Win Together” attitude and invited people to enter the salon.   With optimism, hard work, and help from our members, we hosted a salon with nearly 1000 photographers from around the world at the height of the pandemic, with nearly 100 of them from the United States alone.  With permission from FIAP and PSA, we completed the judging remotely and were able to get the digital results immediately.  But we hit a wall with how to judge the print sections because of NYS social distancing rules!  No one really knew how to finish the print section safely with the selected jury.  Thankfully, we had direction from FIAP director, Roman Nero.  After much discussion, he gave us the green light to assemble a new jury of diverse, talented photographers from NYC.  They gathered in-person, with masks, to judge the print section on a cold Autumn day and got the job done. We are so thankful for their willingness to brave the cold and to follow all of the social distancing rules of Covicalm-19.

Global Leadership Clear Vision and Guidance

It is much easier to lead an organization during times of peace.  But the pandemic has necessitated leaders to become more flexible, more thoughtful, and more creative.   NYC Exhibition recognizes the great leadership skills of the FIAP and PSA presidents. Led by Riccardo Busi, FIAP continues to lead the International movement of photography salons and has created a tremendous community for people around the world thanks to his inspirational leadership. Simultaneously, led by Elena McTighe, Photographic Society Amerca (PSA) is an amazing International organization that has flourished under her leadership. This year, NYC Exhibition and the Art Bureau USA have established new Global Leadership Awards, and both leaders will receive beautiful crystal awards to show our appreciation for their incredible work.

We are also deeply appreciative of the guidance of Romain Nero of FIAP and Nadia Filiaggi of PSA for helping to give us clear direction during the pandemic in how to successfully judge our salons. Two special awards for Clear Vision and Guidance will go this year to executive managers Romain Nero (FIAP) and Nadia Filiaggi (PSA).  Thank you so much for your commitment to the NYC Exhibition and Art Bureau USA community.  We are so deeply grateful.

We hope that you will join us for future salons and continue to participate in our international events.  We look forward to a time when we can meet you in person.   Please feel free to share the news of our upcoming salons with your own community and photography societies.  And don’t forget to enter your submissions to Brooklyn 2020 (closing on Dec 31st, 2020).  We are excited to see the amazing talent that is part of our NYC Exhibition community.  Sending love to all of you and a big thank you to FIAP and PSA for their continued support.