The Photographic Nights of Selma Festival highlights photography as an art form and joins people from across the globe to share time together in a place with a rich history. Photographic Nights of Selma features high quality professional work, and annually spotlights a well known photographer, as the guest of honor, to exhibit and speak about their work. Festival participants are given a chance to
spend time with artists, to learn about their craft, and to discover the meaning behind the work they create. Education is a core component of the festival that includes presentations, exhibit tours, and outreach programming for area students. Photographs across a wide spectrum of subject matter from documentary to fashion, are shared through a combination of exhibits in downtown Selma. The festival culminates in an evening digital display of photographs in an outdoor setting located near the famed Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the 1965 conflict of Bloody Sunday. Winners of the festival will be given international exposure and be invited to travel to the sister festivals in France, as well as Morocco. Photographic Nights of Selma was founded by Stephane Kossmann and JoAnne Bland. Kossmann is an internationally acclaimed photographer known for photographing the stars of the red carpet in Cannes. As the founder of photography festivals in France and North Africa, Kossman shares his time between New York and France. Bland was an 11 year old foot soldier during the famed Selma to Montgomery March. She is the co-founder and former director of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, and currently runs a tour agency specializing in Civil Rights tours. In a part of our world known for its dreamers and the power of the change they inspired, the leaders of Photographic Nights of Selma invite you to walk with them, hand in hand, for common good.
