FotoFest

This Sunday, join us at MFAH for the screening of "The Low Turn Row: A Journey in Time" by our co-founders Wendy Watriss and Frederick Baldwin.

In this long-term documentary project, Watriss and Baldwin returned to the East Central Texas community they had documented decades earlier, photographing and recording residents as they reflected on the complexities of integration and community history.

Following the screening, stay for a conversation with Watriss, filmmaker John Simmons, and 'Low Turn Row" associate producer Celia Lightfoot.

🎟️ Purchase tickets here: https://fotofest.org/biennial2026-mfah-films
📅 Sep 20 | 2–3:30 PM
📍 Museum of Fine Arts Houston (Brown Auditorium Theater), 1001 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX

📸 Family Musicians and Songsters Performing at a Large African American Family Reunion, East Central Texas, 1978. Photograph by Wendy Watriss and Frederick Baldwin, 1978.

Be sure to join us for our Shared Habitats Photo Walk with Bayou City Waterkeeper and Latino Outdoors this Saturday! 🐦

Led by Alenka Cardenas, participants will trek through Robert C. Park and explore photography as a way to document what becomes visible when we slow down and pay attention, and how images can help us better understand, value, and protect the shared habitats around us.

The walk will conclude with a kid-friendly Biodiversity Pod workshop.

🔗 Free registration here: https://fotofest.org/photowalk-3
🗓️ Sat, Sep 19 | 8:30–11 AM
📍 Meet at: Robert C. Stuart Park, 7250 Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX

📸 Greg Lavaty

We are excited for our fall 2026 exhibiton, "Across the Americas: FotoFest, Latin America, and Latino Cultures in the United States." It explores the organization’s long-standing engagement with artists from Latin America and Latino communities in the United States and reexamines FotoFest’s dialogue fostered among generations of artists, national histories, and photographic traditions over the past four decades.

The exhibition brings together documentary, conceptual, and experimental approaches to history, place, imagination, and identity. It is organized into four thematic chapters: "Image and the Constructed Self; Memory, Archive, and History; Place, Territory, and Transformation;" and "Experimental Worlds: Concept and Fiction."

RSVP for the opening reception here: https://fotofest.org/opening-reception-fall-2026

🗓️ On View: Oct 1 – Nov 14, 2026 | Wed–Sat, 12–5 PM
📍Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards St, Houston, TX

📸 Carlos and Miguel Vargas, “Isabel Sánchez Osorio,” Arequipa, Peru, c. 1926. Courtesy of Asociación Vargas Hnos.

Photo Walk Feature: Jessica Uresti

From our second Photo Walk with Reel Quick Film Lab, Friends of Columbia Tap, and TCAALH.

📆 Apr 2026
📸 Jessica Uresti

This month at FotoFest, gear up for professional development with The Meeting Place at FUJIKINA NYC 2026!

Additionally, join us for the long-awaited screening of "The Low Turn Row: A Journey Time" at MFAH, and a photo walk launching our fall 2026 exhibition, "Across the Americas: FotoFest, Latin America, and Latino Cultures in the United States."

View our Linktree for program details: https://linktr.ee/fotofest

📝 Ongoing — Registration for The Meeting Place by FotoFest at FUJIKINA NYC 2026
💼 9/16 — Virtual Workshop: Preparing for Portfolio Reviews*
🐦 9/19 — Shared Habitats Photo Walk / Caminata Fotográfica de Hábitats Compartidos
🎞️ 9/20 — Film Screening: "The Low Turn Row: A Journey in Time"
📌 9/23 — Virtual Workshop: Researching and Ranking Reviewers*

*For registrants of The Meeting Place by FotoFest at FUJIKINA NYC 2026.

📸 1–4, 6) Iain Cridland, Tere Garcia, Chris Spain
🖼️ 5) Photographers Wendy Watriss and Frederick Baldwin, East Central Texas. Photograph by Jerry Click for an article in the Houston Post, early 1970s.

Photo Walk Feature: Arlishia Smith

From our second Photo Walk with Reel Quick Film Lab, Friends of Columbia Tap, and TCAALH.

📆 Apr 2026
📸 Arlishia Smith

FotoFest brings The Meeting Place to FUJIKINA NYC 2026 for a half-day of portfolio reviews with 25 expert Portfolio Reviewers to review the work of 50 photographers.

Participating photographers will share their photography portfolio with three reviewers during one-on-one portfolio review sessions, each lasting 20 minutes. Physical portfolios of prints are encouraged but not required. Registration is first come, first served.

View the registration process here: https://fotofest.org/fujikina-2026

🗓️ Sat, Oct 17 | 9:30 AM–12 PM
📍 Lower East Side, New York City

📸 Tere Garcia

FotoFest came together with Reel Quick Film Lab, Friends of Columbia Tap, and TCAALH for another inspiring Photo Walk through Houston’s Third Ward!

Led by Naomi Carrier, participants explored historic landmarks and cultural sites along the Columbia Tap Trail while engaging with stories that shaped one of Houston’s most vibrant communities.

Join us for our next Photo Walk on Sep 19. Link in bio!

📆 Apr 2026
📸 Chris Wicker

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Kenneth Frederick, Secretary of FotoFest's Board of Directors.

Ken was a devoted supporter of FotoFest and an important member of its community. A photographer himself, with a particular interest in architectural subjects, he brought a deep appreciation for photography to his involvement with the organization. He joined the FotoFest Board of Directors in 2018 and became Board Secretary in 2024, serving with generosity, thoughtfulness, and commitment.

Frederick’s dedication to photography, arts, and culture extended beyond FotoFest. In his hometown of Rochester, New York, he served as a trustee of both the George Eastman Museum and the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House. In Houston, he was active in patron groups, including the Photography Subcommittee of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Frederick was kind, generous, and deeply supportive of FotoFest and the arts, and he will be greatly missed by the Board and staff, as well as by the many artists he befriended. Before devoting more of his time to his cultural and philanthropic interests, Ken had a distinguished career with ExxonMobil, from which he retired in 2018.

📸 Ken Frederick (left) with artist Brad Temkin (right) at the FotoFest Fine Print Auction, 2026. Photo: Johnny Than

In connection with FotoFest's fall 2026 exhibition, we're heading out for another Photo Walk! Join us, Bayou City Waterkeeper, and Latino Outdoors as we explore the connections among water, birds, people, and place.

Trekking through Robert C. Stuart Park, participants will explore photography as a way to document place, reflect on environmental change, and imagine more reciprocal relationships between people and the natural world, providing a better understanding of the shared habitats around us.

After the walk, participants will be invited to stay for refreshments and a kid-friendly activity station.

🔗 Free registration: https://fotofest.org/photowalk-3
🗓️ Sat, Sep 19 | 8:30–11 AM
📍 Meet at: Robert C. Stuart Park, 7250 Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX

📸🖼️
Image 1: Chris Spain
Images 2, 3, 4: Greg Lavaty