The Focus Awards recognize individuals making critical contributions to the promotion, curation and presentation of photography.
In our thirteenth year, the awards celebrate two individuals instrumental in building greater awareness of the photographic arts in the general public. We will present The Lifetime Achievement Award to Steven Sasson and to Alexis Gerard.
The Focus Awards will take place on October 28, 2018 as part of a symposium that includes an award distribution and a reception. The lectures and awards’ event is at the Griffin Museum at 67 Shore Rd. in Winchester, MA 01890.
The lectures begin with a lecture by Todd Gustavson at 10:00 AM. Gustavson’s lecture is called Photography before Steve Sasson: The evolution of analog photographic technology from handmade to mass manufactured products.
Following is a lecture by Alexis Gerard at 11:30 AM. His lecture is called, A Passion for Technology and Image Making. For the past 25 years, Alexis Gerard has helped people make sense of the transformations taking place in the imaging industry and markets. He will define and explain the five overlapping waves of technology that have driven this evolution from the early 1980s to the present, and analyze the new (and still very much evolving) place of images in society and culture. Having co-hosted the 2018 edition of the Visual 1st executive conference just a few days before this event, he will share some insights gathered there as to what the future holds. Also a passionate lifelong photographer, Alexis will show and discuss images from his latest project – a book of fine art photography due for publication in 2020 that presents the life of the French revolutionary, general and statesman Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte from his birth in Corsica to his death on the island of Saint Helena off the coast of South Africa, via Italy, Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Poland and Russia among others.
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Following Gerard, Steven Sasson’s lecture Film-less Photography, The Story Behind the Invention of the First Digital Camera will take place in the afternoon at 2 PM. A short awards’ presentation will take place directly after Sasson’s talk. A reception will follow with wine and modest fare.
We are offering a limited amount of (10) free tickets to full-time students of our Academic Membership Institutions. These tickets are for the lectures only. Valid Student ID required.
Pricing is $20 per lecture. $50 for all three lectures. All lecture and Ms. Jastrab’s portfolio review ticketed guests are welcome at awards’ distribution and reception event. Tickets to the awards’ presentation and reception only are available for $10.
2018 Focus Awards Press Release
Lifetime – 2018
Alexis Gerard on left
After holding executive positions in new technologies marketing with Apple Computer throughout the 1980s, Gerard founded imaging think-tank Future Image Inc. in 1991. Future Image’s continuous information services (The Future Image Report), research studies, and consulting services made it the leading independent source of expertise on the convergence of imaging, information and telecommunications technology for executives, entrepreneurs and investors worldwide, with particular emphasis on digital cameras, Internet imaging, and mobile imaging.
www.futureimage.com
Presented by: Ann Jastrab
Ann M. Jastrab is an independent curator, photography consultant, editor, and writer. She writes extensively about photographers and photography for the acclaimed website All About Photo where she is the Editor-in-Chief. She worked as the gallery director at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco for the past decade until their recent closure in 2017. She is currently working at the Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco.
Lifetime – 2018
Steven Sasson
Steven Sasson is an American electrical engineer and the inventor of the first self-contained (portable) digital camera. Samson is a 1972 (BS and 1973 (MS) graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in electrical engineering. He attended and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. He worked for Eastman Kodak since shortly after his graduation from engineering school. He is currently on the board of the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Sasson
Presented by: Todd Gustavson
Todd Gustavson is Curator of Technology at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, where he is responsible for the cataloging, storage, and maintenance of more than 16,000 artifacts, one of the world’s largest collections of photographic and cinematic equipment. He is the author of the book Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital, has curated or co-curated ten exhibitions for the museum, including the critically acclaimed traveling exhibition The Brownie at 100.Formerly a staff photographer at Chautauqua Institution in Upstate New York, Gustavson received his B.F.A. in Photography from Louisiana Tech University in 1980.
The Focus Awards have been presented in the following categories:
- The Lifetime Achievement Award Given to an individual whose ongoing commitment to photography has created far reaching impact.
- The Rising Star Award Given to an emerging force that the photographic community is watching with great enthusiasm.
- The New England Beacon Award Given to a local individual whose work brings prominence to the local photographic scene.
- The Spotlight Award Given to an entity that consistently shines a light on photography and has created a far reaching impact in the field.
- The Scribe Award Given for excellence in writing on the subject of photographic arts.
- The Quicksilver Award Given to an individual who has made significant advances in using and exploring new technologies, as well as innovative approaches to photography utilizing nontraditional ways to showcase photography as an ever changing media.
- The Commonwealth Award Given to an entity whose work brings prominence to the local photographic scene.
- A Culture of Legacy Award Given to an individual (or entity) who demonstrates a life course philosophy with respect to photographic endeavor. A culture of legacy takes place when history informs the present and works towards a better future with conscience.
