Festival emphasises areas outside capital to ‘reach as many’ as possible

AMMAN — Image Festival founder Lina Khoury recently told The Jordan Times that this year’s festival was focusing on spreading photography outside the capital through a number of exhibitions and workshops scheduled for the coming days.

During an interview with The Jordan Times, Khoury said there were a total of 20 venues planning to host exhibitions this month, including locations in Madaba and Irbid.

“We wanted to reach as many photography enthusiasts as possible and we did not want to make this kind of events designed only for the capital,” she told The Jordan Times over the phone on Friday.

A total of 23 individual and five group exhibitions will be organised this month as part of the 8th Image Festival, which kicked off on April 1 and will wrap up at the end of the month.

Local, Western and Arab photographers are taking part in the festival, according to Khoury, who added that this year’s theme was “wandering”.

“The theme is wide and it has been represented in different aspects [of work], either by highlighting the physical aspect of the theme or simply through photographers documenting their wanderings,” she added.

Hussam Manasrah, a Jordanian photographers taking part in a group exhibition at the School of Architecture and Built Environment said the festival has given him, “the chance to meet new photographers and learn new ideas”.

“I am a fan of documentaries and this festival contributed to widening my perception of documentaries,” he added.

Mira Khleif, another Jordanian photographer taking part in the festival said it had provided her with a platform to exhibit her work in front of local and international photographers.

“It’s important to be part of such a prestigious platform where I can share my work with renowned photographers and the local community, get their thoughts and feedback and grow as an artist year by year,” she added.