FlashWR 2017

The award-winning FlashWR, which started back in 2015, was another roaring success on Friday. For the third straight year it was a sold out show where the guests were treated to some spectacular imagery, both from the submitted work from local photographers, but also that of the three featured photographers—Alina Chirila, Peter Power, and Lissa Rivera—and of course, the headliner, Larry Towell.

Mr. Towell has the distinction of being the only Canadian member of the prestigious Magnum photography collective. He has documented multiple inaugurations, war zones, as well as the recent Dakota Access Pipeline protest. He spoke at length and showed countless images from his experiences shooting all over the world and even included some of his music to go along with it. Oh yeah, he’s a poet and singer/songwriter as well. It was hard to keep your eyes off the screen because his work is so enthralling and inspiring.

The committee behind the scenes did another top-notch job this year. The preparation, the organizing, managing the open call, and the promotion can all take, what I imagine, is an incredible amount of hard work and considering everything went pretty flawlessly I’d say they did their job well and then some. Craig Norris once again did a fantastic job as emcee and Mathew McCarthy lent his endless talent to creating and editing the videos of the three featured photographers.

And once again there was a donut bar for our enjoyment but I was too busy shooting the event to indulge. Next year, donut bar, next year.