PhotoFestWV is all about connecting photographers, exciting images and the local community who appreciate viewing photography. We strive to expand the presence of the visual arts and build a more enriching community. The local area is defined as Shepherdstown, WV and locations within the greater area (WV/MD/VA). The formats page of this site lists the many ways that we can achieve this objective. We also desire to serve a broader purpose and raise funds for local non-profits. We can raise money by seeking donations at events as well as possibly via ticket sales for events and sales of printed images. Sharing our images in printed formats such as books, posters, greeting cards, etc. adds to the impact that the images can have on the community. This is an ideal way for photographers that don't have access to an art gallery to share their work. While sharing via social media/websites is great, in person events where people can meet and chat with the photographers creates wonderful interactions. Finally, photographers can interact and share best practices and appreciate each other's art.

David Ehrlich a local resident (currently resides part time in Arlington, VA and Shepherdstown). He is in the process of developing the PhotoFestWV concept and seeking partners to help organize our first event. Currently, the priorities include establishing social media presence, scouting volunteers/photographers, and possible venues to display events and/or printed photos. Additional near term efforts include establishing an online gallery/store to feature the work of multiple local photographers. If you'd possibly be interested in joining this effort, please contact David at dave@finephotoworks.com. David operates a portrait studio in Arlington, VA where he has hosted photography workshops.

The goal is simply to share work of local photographers and have fun. The motivation of the organizers is not primarily profit or operating a business. Possible sources of revenue: - Events might have paid tickets to attend, while others might be free and seek donations. - At events, printed items may be sold as well as the audience could be encouraged to purchase print on demand items via a website at the event (or later from home). - When hosting an event at a venue that is charging us, we would expect to cover our costs via photographers paying a fee to participate and possible audience sales/donations. Possible sources of expenses: - The cost to print photographs for display as well as when images are ordered. - Venue rental fees which might cover insurance and overhead of the property. Additionally, the hope is that we (photographers and lovers of photography) can help raise funds for a worthy local non-profit or photography student at Shepherd University. This could be a portion of ticket sales and items sold at the events. Items sold via the website post-event might go to the photographer and would include both the cost to print the item and a small profit.

Thanks in advance for your interest in supporting photography in the local area. Currently, we would appreciate any introductions to photographers, local venues that might display photography or host an event. Also, please help spread the word and share our website and social media channels. Once events are announced, we hope you can join us. We will be adding the option to purchase printed items from various photographers on our website. You can sponsor an event by making a financial contribution toward the overhead involved in hosting the event.

To help make this effort a reality, it will take a handful of volunteers. Opportunities include: - Photographers can submit inquiries to provide some of their portfolios for display at future events/venues/online. We will also need a team to help determine which portfolios are most appropriate for future events/display opportunities. - Event assistance including scouting locations and coordinating details with venue and photographers (both projected curated events and printed uncurated shows) - Venue display management - scout venues where we can hang photographs and help coordinate the hanging of photos - Online efforts include social media channels and web sales gallery of photos - Marketing/outreach to expand the visibility of the effort - Scout non-profits that we can partner with for fundraising, outreach, and possible venue hosting - Host a meetup where photographers can learn from each other - Work at a photoshoot where we provide images to the community (eg. a dog photoshoot at a festival). Please contact David at dave@finephotoworks.com to start a dialog about how you can participate.

We're currently in the planning stages and hope to have an announcement soon regarding specific plans for an event.

You can follow our page on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/photofestwv and Instragram @ https://www.instagram.com/photofestwv A future email list option will also be available.

We anticipate hosting events where photographers share their work using a projector and/or physical prints. We're currently exploring the option to do our first event at the Opera House in Shepherdstown, WV. Over time, we might expand the event venues to include additional locations.

We would love to hear from any local venues that have some wall space and might be interested in working with us to display one or more photographs taken by a local photographer. We would include a small sign that references the photographer's name as well as the photofestWV website. We can also work with you to tailor the type of images you might want to display.

Yes, we would love any help you can offer in terms of putting out materials that promote the program.

Yes, we would love to provide you with items that you can sell at a profit at your venue. We can work with you to tailor the content as well as the form (eg. landscapes of the local area printed as a book or puzzle or greeting card, etc.).

For each event, we will seek photographers who are interested in displaying their work and ideally feature a variety of themes. The show will be curated by local photographers who help organize the event. We would also like to display select work at local venues and online at our social media pages. If any of your images are posted on our social media, we would welcome including a link to your portfolio and/or a photo credit. If you're a local amateur or professional photographer (Shepherdstown, WV and locations within the greater area (WV/MD/VA) that might be interested in displaying your work at a venue or show, please contact David. Please include a link to a website and/or a sample of your portfolio. We're also seeking volunteers to assist with locating venues for shows and display of our work, event coordination, and marketing.

We imagine two types of events: ones where the images are presented via a digital projector AND other events that feature printed photographs. Both would feature photography from multiple photographers. At the projector events, we would include time for discussion/Q&A with the photographers and the audience. An example of a venue suitable for the projector type is the Opera House. The war memorial building or Evolve would be examples of where we could host printed shows. Finally, we would seek venues that want to include printed photographs on some of their empty wall space. At the projector events, there might be some space to display a few printed examples of your work, such as greeting cards, a book, or a framed photograph.

While we have not finalized the details, the overall goal is to share our work without a lot of financial transactions. We would like to include a fundraising component to our effort, so some proceeds would be donated. Depending on the venue, there may be a fee involved. Our primary goal is to cover our costs and there may be opportunities to sell printed copies of your work as audiences are exposed to your portfolio (either at events, displays at venues, and on our website and social media platforms). The goal is to create a marketplace linked from this website as well as sell printed items (books, cards, prints, puzzles, etc.). The ultimate goal would be for each photographer who desires to sell items, they could manage their own store or request assistance in doing so. A portion of the funds collected at live events would ideally be shared with the photographer as well as possibly a non-profit and the organizer/venue. Exact details will be shared prior to registration to participate in any specific event.