(West Palm Beach, FL – December 12, 2023) Fatima NeJame, president and chief executive officer of the world-renowned Palm Beach Photographic Centre (PBPC), today announced that the nonprofit organization’s 29th annual FOTOfusion will celebrate distinguished photojournalist David Burnett, the recipient of the prestigious FOTOmentor Award 2024.

 

“The upcoming FOTOfusion will be dynamic as ever, with five days of live presentations by numerous world class photographers,” says NeJame. “This will be a great opportunity for professional and hobbyist photographers to engage, connect, and network with some of the leading names in digital photography. Our annual FOTOfusion Awards Dinner will be held on January 31.”

 

In conjunction with FOTOfusion 2024, the Palm Beach Photographic Centre is presenting a major new exhibition:

 

For nearly 70 years, David Burnett has weaved together a breathtaking tapestry of world history. He has photographed every American President since JFK in 1963 and produced a unique collection of portraits of the last 12 occupants of the White House. Curious about the unpredictable events that shape the world beyond America, he authored powerful stories on military and political conflicts, on man-made and natural tragedies across all continents from the Vietnam War to the Fall of the Berlin Wall, to the aftermaths of 9/11 and hurricane Katrina.

Since1974, he revisits the Beaches of Normandy and connects with American veterans who landed in France on June 6, 1944. Mankind’s ceaseless attempts to defy gravity remains an overriding theme as shown by his work on the exploration of space—from the launch of Apollo 11 in 1969 to that of Atlantis 40 years later—and on the achievements by athletes participating in Summer Olympics. FYI, he has covered all 10 games since Los Angeles in 1984. Not surprisingly, Burnett, the co-founder of Contact Press Images intends to visit France in 2024, with his usual array of multi-format cameras, and attend both the 80^th commemoration of D-Day at Omaha Beach, followed by the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris.

 

Born in 1946, Burnett grew up in Salt Lake City, where he began taking pictures for his high school yearbook. In 1968, upon graduation from Colorado College in Political Science, he began a long relationship with Life and Time magazines. It was for the latter that, in 1969, as a 22-year-old intern, he covered Apollo X, XI, and XII, and became forever enamored of the space program.

In 1970-1972, he covered the war in Vietnam before joining the Paris-based Gamma Agency for a couple of years. In 1976, he co-founded Contact Press Images, the international photojournalism agency, which distributes his work around the world. An award-winning photographer to which Reporters Without Borders devoted one of their “Freedom of the Press” albums, is the author or co-author of several acclaimed books, including: Iran, 44 Days and the Remaking of the World; Soul Rebel, An intimate portrait of Bob Marley, and most recently in France,Septembre au Chili—1971/1973, 

 

Previous FOTOmentor Awards winners include Keith Carter, Maggie Steber, Carol Guzy, Brian Skerry, Douglas Kirkland, Walter Ioos, Jr., Joyce Tenneson, Albert Watson, Ralph Gibson, Gordon Parks, Sebastiao Salgado, Arnold Newman, Ruth Bernhard, David Hume Kennerly, Duane Michaels and David Rubinger. 

 

Now celebrating its 29^th anniversary, FOTOfusion, the popular cultural festival “where creativity and technology fuse” attracts thousands of professional and hobbyist photographers to West Palm Beach for a series of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, multimedia presentations, portfolio reviews, hands-on computer classes, demonstrations, and photo shoots taught by world renowned photographers, digital imaging artists and picture editors – all of whom donate their time and expertise to educate, mentor and encourage creativity among participants of all levels and ages.

 

FOTOfusion will present 24 FREE community presentations in the Mandel Library auditorium, including four daily keynote presentations:

 

Other extraordinary photographers that will be teaching at FOTOfusion 2024 are Brendan Bannon, Dan Burkholder, Susan Currie, Jack Davis, Douglas Dubler, Jill Enfield, Peter Essick, Laurence Gartel, Lewis Kemper, Erika Larsen, J. Tomas Lopez, Stephen Mallon, Scott Mc Kiernan, Jari Poulin, Robin Rayne, John Reuter, Matt Stock, Adam Stoltman, Mickey Strand, Jeremy Sutton and Ben Willmore

The cost to attend FOTOfusion 2024 is $575 for SILVER Passport Members and $645 for nonmembers, which includes all 100, 500 and 600 Series presentations. The GOLD Passport is $825 for members and $895 for nonmembers and includes all presentations and two portfolio reviews.

 

 

 

The Photo Centre is located at the downtown City Center municipal complex at 415 Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach. Hours are 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Thursday, and 10 am to 5 pm Friday and Saturday. For more information, please call 561.253.2600 or visit www.workshop.org or www.fotofusion.org.

 

The Palm Beach Photographic Centre is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching life through the photographic arts. All donations are greatly appreciated at www.workshop.org/contrib.