This May, Toronto gives itself over to all things photo-based, from gallery exhibitions throughout the city to public installations, films on photography and more.

Click HERE for the CONTACT website.

Bert Teunissen, Nuit St. Georges #1, 24/4/1998 14:23. Image: bertteunissen.com

CONTACT’S main exhibition, as always, is a curated photography show that responds to the festival theme – this year:

Between Memory & History: From the Epic to the Everyday.

May 1 – June 1, 2008

Held at Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, the exhibition features work by Raymonde April (Canada) Robert Burley (Canada) Luc Delahaye (France) Nan Goldin (USA) Adi Nes (Israel) Martin Parr (UK) Chi Peng (China) Thomas Ruff (Germany) Alessandra Sanguinetti (Argentina/USA) Bert Teunissen (The Netherlands)

Thomas Ruff, Nudes FN06 (Legs), 2001. Image: artnet.com

Raymonde April, Les coeurs en bois de reve, 1988. Image: raymondeapril.com

For more info on the exhibiton and tonight’s opening party, please click HERE.

FILMS ON PHOTOGRAPHY

Another great part of CONTACT is the film programme. VoCA recommends these films for film and photography lovers.

Friday May 9 @ 7 pm
1. Perspective: A Documentary of Wim & Donata Wenders

Director Eiki Takahashi will introduce his film, in which the German filmmaker Wim Wenders and his photographer wife, Donata, held a photo exhibition in Tokyo called A Journey To Onamichi, the setting of a Yasujiro Ozu film that Wenders adores. This rare documentary chronicles their photography opening and records the couple’s views on film, photography and Japan.

2. Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy of Edward & Charis Weston

Edward Weston, Charis, Lake Ediza, 1937. Image: huntington.org

This moving film is about the relationship between famed photographer Edward Weston and his former wife Charis Wilson. For 12 years, Charis Wilson was Edward Weston’s model, muse and wife. Now 90, Charis shares her vivid memories of the times they shared and the images they created. She candidly recounts their painful break-up and Weston’s final years battling Parkinson’s disease.

Saturday May 10, 9:15 pm
3. David Lachapelle — Du Pop Art a la Provocation

Hilka Sinning followed provocative photographer David LaChapelle over four years: at the shooting of an ad for the Lavazza café in Malibu, at work in his studio, at the launch of his exhibition in Milan and also during private moments. This portrait includes interviews with the photographer as well as his collaborators and subjects, who attest to his creativity and seductive charms. Since his idol, Andy Warhol, gave him his first break in the mid-80s, LaChapelle has created unforgettable images of Hollywood superstars, sports, fashion and music.

Sunday May 11, 4 pm
4. MORIMURA — Chapter 2: This is the Archive

Yasumasa Morimura, Yasumasa Morimura, Portrait (Twins), 1988. Image: risd.edu

Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura is widely known for his photographic self-portrait series, in which he re-enacts iconic figures depicted in various art historical masterpieces. Kishimoto’s films Morimura’s on-stage narration and commentary recorded at a film presentation in Kyoto in 2006.

All films are screening at the NFB. Click HERE for the website.