We are just days away from the ONWARD Compé ‘12 Exhibition opening reception and the inaugural ONWARD Summit! For those of you looking to maybe grab a drink or a bite to eat somewhere on the day of the ONWARD festivities, we have come up with some recommendations (see below) that are close to both Project Basho and the location of the Summit. Click on the map above to see where everything is.

Don’t forget, the opening reception will be held at Project Basho Gallery from 2-4pm with the Summit beginning at 5pm at the Crane Old School building.

Schedule for the day

Portfolio Reviews

• 11am-1pm (registration begins at 10:30am)
• Location: Crane Old School
• Registration required SOLD OUT

ONWARD Compé ’12 Exhibition Opening Reception

• 2-4pm
• Location: Project Basho Gallery
• FREE & open to the public
• Award recipients will be announced at 3pm

ONWARD Summit

• 5-10pm (registration begins at 4:30pm)
• Location: Crane Old School
• Tickets available in advance or at the door
• Schedule of the Summit (PDF)

Restaurants in the Area

Lite Bites


• Cafe La Maude – This French-inspired place serves really great sandwiches and has a great atmosphere.
• Taco Riendo – Great Mexican restaurant around the corner from Project Basho. They serve great tacos, burritos, and other authentic favorites.
• Quince- This quaint, cute place serves very healthy, honest food day in, day out. Also great to grab a cup of joe. Say hi to  the owner Nicole, she’s very lovely to chat with!
• Paesano’s – Simply put: the best Italian-inspired sandwiches you’ll find anywhere on Earth. They beat Bobby Flay in a Throwdown!
• The Foodery – If you are looking for good, fresh sandwiches, this is the spot to go. They also have a huge selection of take-out beers.
• Rustica – This is where we always go for pizza. They have tons of awesome experimental toppings.
• One Shot Coffee – A really awesome place to sit for a while and grab a cup of coffee or something small to eat.

Dinner and Drinks


• Bar Ferdinand – This Spanish tapas restaurant is first-rate.
• El Camino Real – Try their Tex-Mex BBQ. They have great margaritas as well.
• Tiffin – If you are looking for great Indian food, this is the place.
• North 3rd – Great selection of bar food.
• Standard Tap – One of the best selections of local beers.
• Johnny Brenda’s – Cool vibes and a great take on bar food, think falafel, burgers, and beer. Concerts almost every night.
• Frankford Hall – New German-style beer hall.

We recently sat down with ONWARD Compé ’12 juror, Todd Hido to discuss his work as a photographer. From from his days as a teenager to the present, Todd’s photography has almost always been rooted in some notion of home. Whether he’s shooting landscapes or portraits, his work creates a stark narrative where the viewer is encouraged to bring their own experiences to the table.

For the video interview, Todd was kind enough to show us the early stages of his upcoming book, Silver Meadows, which will be published in 2012.

Todd Hido is a keynote speaker at the inaugural ONWARD Summit on Saturday, February 11th. He will also be at the opening reception for the ONWARD Compé ’12 Exhibition that same day.  We hope you’ll be joining us!

Our idea is to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing and talking about their current photographic projects and interests. We would like to encourage the type of informal portfolio sharing that often takes place at photo events outside the parameters of the official portfolio reviews: spontaneous and serendipitous.

After registration, the Summit starts off with a reception and this is also the time for attendees to share their work with one another. There will be a few tables set up for this purpose, and you are welcome to find any space available to share your work. This is simply a chance to have fellow photographers see your work.

Dos

A small portfolio: A book, small selection of 8″x10″ prints, images on your iPad, et cetera are a good idea. (It is important to keep in mind that there will be food and drinks out at the reception during the informal portfolio sharing.).

Ask people to show you their photographs. It is a common courtesy for those who create!

Don’ts

No massive box with matted prints: You certainly do not want to be toting around such big box or potentially have a drink spilled on your nice prints.

No WiFi connection: If you are bringing a tablet computer, have your pictures on the tablet’s internal memory unless you have your own WiFi. There is no open Wifi at the event.

Hope these tips will help you to get ready for the portfolio sharing at Summit!

• All of the Summit speakers will be in attendance: Todd Hido, Hiroh Kikai, Peter Barberie, and Zoe Strauss. This is a great chance to get to know them, share hors d’ oeuvres drinks and hear about their work face to face.
• A selection of portraits by Hiroh Kikai will be displayed, and he will share more images with the party attendees.
• Most of the reviewers from the portfolio review will also be in attendance.
• Those who purchase these tickets will be made aware of the location of the private party a day or so before. For now, we can let you know it will be at a private residence in Center City, Philadelphia.

There are still a limited number of private party tickets available for $300, which includes both a ticket to the private party as well as the Summit. To purchase tickets click here.

Looking forward to seeing you at this special occasion!

A special rate of $109 per night is available for rooms on February 10th and 11th, 2012. Book by February 1st to guarantee this special rate.

Simply click here to make your reservations. Group code: “onwonwa”. You may also call in your reservation: 1-800-321-2211.

From the hotel, the location of the Summit is easily accessible via the Market-Frankford subway line.

There are a few notes to make about the price structure and different tickets available for the event. Each ticket type includes admission to the conference.

• The General Admission ticket is $65, those with means to pay the full cost are asked to do so.
• Additionally, a limited number of $35 “Starving Artist” tickets are available for those who cannot afford the full cost. (Starving Artist tickets are now sold out, for any additional ticket deals, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook).
• There is a very special limited ticket option (only 10 5 are available) for $300. This special ticket includes an invitation to a private party with the guest speakers on February 10th (the evening before the Summit). This is a unique opportunity to speak with them over dinner and to see and hear about their work. Upon purchase and closer to the date, you will be notified of the location of the private party, which is in Center City Philadelphia.
• There is a special discount on all tickets for those who submitted to the ONWARD Compé ’12 and Friends of Project Basho. Check you email inbox for your discount code.

When you purchase your tickets through our online form you will also be able to purchase discounted copies of Hiroh Kikai and Todd Hido’s books to be picked up at the Summit. If you have any questions about ordering your ticket, please contacts us at 215.238.0928.

For information on discounted hotel rates, please click here.

See you on February 11th!

Hiroh Kikai, A man who confided that he once built quite a business 2001

By Diana Bloomfield

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer -Ansel Adams.

At first glance, Kikai Hiroh’s portraits are reminiscent of those Diane Arbus images we all have etched somewhere in our brains: square images, printed in black and white, subjects looking directly, unblinkingly, at the camera– but that’s where any similarities end.

Kikai Hiroh’s portraits are all his own.

I was not previously familiar with Kikai Hiroh, nor his photographs, but after having received his most recent book, Tokyo Portraits, published in 2011, I now can’t seem to get these beautifully rendered images out of my mind.

The entire book, with the exception of translated (into English) captions, is written in Japanese. I can’t read Japanese, nor have I ever visited Japan, but no matter. The images are what count, and they are, at once, universal and unorthodox. When I look at these portraits, these people seem familiar to me. I know them. I understand their unabashed gaze into the camera lens, their smiles, their body language, their gestures. That universality and timelessness is, in part, what gives these portraits their strength. And, yet, they (the images and the people) are also unconventional, and sometimes a little strange.

Hiroh Kikai, A woman living by herself and her pet 1985

The photographs themselves are stripped of all color. Color can be such a seductive presence in a photograph, that I often feel I have to wade through all that saturated pigment before getting to the ‘realness,’ or the essence, of an image. Kikai has taken care of that. And even though these black and white portraits were all made in Tokyo, they could be from anywhere. He has chosen to pose the majority of his subjects in front of a bare stone wall, and they typically stop just short of being full-length portraits. He doesn’t inundate us with peripheral and unnecessary information. Kikai’s efficiency is again repeated in his captions– tiny one-line narratives, which seem like small, slightly ajar, windows, opening into much deeper stories.

From what I understand, Kikai visits a certain district in Toyko, and he watches and waits. He is selective in those he chooses to photograph, and why he’s drawn to these particular people is anyone’s guess. Based on the captions, they obviously and freely converse with him. This seems like a collaborative effort, with open and willing participants on all sides. That these people trust Kikai is obvious. And they are right to do so. There is no judgement in his gaze, nor in his simple, often mundane, captions.

The images span from 1973 up to 2005. Kikai has gone to this same Tokyo location for decades. Some of the people he photographed in 1985, he has photographed again, years later. Whether he immediately recognizes them, or they see Kikai and remember him, is unclear.

Hiroh Kikai, Higashiogu, Arakawa-ku 1983

Additionally, about forty photographs of various street scenes, taken in and around Tokyo, are interspersed among the portraits. They are also visually rich, but in a way that differs from the portraits. These black and white streetscapes present a complicated convergence of space and tangible information, resulting in near-perfect juxtapositions. Although devoid of people, the imprint of human life, for better or worse, is evident in all. As a result, Kikai creates a wonderful tension in the seeming quiet of these street scenes and the complex, tangled web of visual stimuli he manages to so successfully fit into such a small square.

Tokyo Portraits strongly suggests that Kikai is an astute observer and a very patient photographer. For the instant gratification we all love from our digital cameras, one look at this book might convince some that dusting off the old film camera and simply looking closely, and taking our sweet time before we hit that shutter, might be worthwhile, and ultimately much more gratifying.

We have been working on this event for a several months now, and are elated to be able to share the details with you today!

ONWARD Summit is an annual photography conference and networking event for those who are inspired by unique imagery and perspectives. The one night event will bring engaging presentations by both established and emerging artists and an intimate party for the audience to share their portfolios with members of the photography community.

The idea of the ONWARD Summit is very simple: we want to create a platform where people who love the medium can meet in person, share their passion, and celebrate what others are creating within the medium. We want this event to be engaging, participatory, and, above all, inspiring for everyone.

Furthermore, what we are interested in is creating a cultural locus with a convergence of images, ideas, and people under one roof. Whether it comes from an inspiring presentation, a conversation with a fellow photographer, or seeing affecting images for the first time, we want to ignite sparks of excitement for photography.

We hope that ONWARD Summit will further stimulate your understanding and curiosity for the ever-evolving medium. See you at the Summit on Feburary 11th!