Photokina, Where "Imaging is More"

The organizers of photokina will be bringing the "imaging is more" slogan to life with a diverse program of top-quality supporting events. This program will provide real added value to the international trade visitors and end-consumers of photographic products. At the heart of the events for imaging professionals from around the world will be the opportunity to share information on the latest sector trends at the international level. In addition, exciting events for the general public will offer interested consumers an insight into innovations in the world of digital imaging.

New: International panel discussion on digital printing
On the second day of the fair, the Deutsche Drucker Verlagsgesellschaft in cooperation with Koelnmesse will be organizing a panel discussion that will address issues related to digital printing. Appropriately, the event will be titled "Digital Printing: Innovative Products and Systems for the Imaging Market" with international participants. According to the latest information, the participants will be Antonio Perez, President and CEO of Kodak, Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Xerox, and Vyomesh Joshi, Executive Vice President of Hewlett Packard's Imaging and Printing Group. The discussions will address the wealth of possibilities for the printing of digital consumer photos and innovative products for professional large-format printing.
(September 27, 2006, Congress Center North)

International Specialist Trade Center Service
I information and convenience will be the main issues of the International Specialist Trade Center in Passage 2/4. The center will be open exclusively to international trade dealers, the most important target group of the World of Imaging. The International Specialist Trade Center is supported by the Federal Association of the Technical Retail Trade (BVT), which represents the interests of all specialist trade groups that sell digital imaging products.

The focal point will be the BVT Business Lounge. Each morning, dealers can prepare here thoroughly for an effective and efficient visit to the fair. The services and information offered include detailed trade fair information, specific product details, individual problem solving and access to special databases. For example, GfK Marketing Services will be offering ENCODEX, an electronic database containing master data for products and featuring a new product catalogue that provides access to a comprehensive range of imaging products at the touch of a button. Convenience will also be the name of the game at a spacious meeting area, where participants can hold in-depth talks. Meanwhile, visitors can relax and take some time out from the hectic fair in a quiet lounge.

The International Specialist Trade Center will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., in other words, from one hour before the start of the fair until one hour after it has closed.

GfK Market Briefings
The GfK Market Briefings (CC North, September 27, 28 and 29) have always offered a wealth of information. Key data and background information, as well as detailed market and product group studies on various economic regions from western and eastern Europe to southeast Asia and the U.S. make the events organized by GfK Marketing Services and Prophoto GmbH top-priority dates for all dealers and industry representatives worldwide. In the morning before the trade fair opens and in the evening after it has closed, participants will gain valuable knowledge for their future investment and marketing strategies.

New: Center of excellence for creative photographers and imaging professionals
Hall 1 of photokina will house an innovative meeting place for professional photographers and imaging professionals from agencies, publishing houses, colleges and the industrial sector. The Visual Gallery and the areas "Meet the Professionals" and "Academy meets photokina" will be accommodated here.

The third Visual Gallery will be the cultural highlight of photokina, captivating visitors with its many works by renowned artists and up-and-coming photographers. The best-known names at the Visual Gallery in 2006 will include the collector Prof. L. Fritz Gruber, who passed away last year and whose life work will be honored in a retrospective exhibition, the Magnum photographer Martin Parr and the rock star Bryan Adams. The latter is not only a renowned musician; he has also been successfully taking pictures of celebrities for many years. Adams will be displaying portraits of the actor Mickey Rourke in Cologne, and he will also visit the Visual Gallery in person.

Once again in 2006, "Meet the Professionals" will serve as a contact forum for representatives of the creative worlds of photography, advertising, press content services and electronic media. User associations and organizations, and trade publishers, will be holding information events and workshops on current topics of interest here. In addition, the 2006 "Young Faces" model contest of the Advertising, Fashion and Industrial Photography Working Group (AWI) will give young men and women aged 16 to 22 the chance to enter a fascinating career as a model. The top 40 candidates will demonstrate their skills at photokina, where a panel of experts will select the overall winner for 2006.

At "Academy meets photokina", colleges and academies from Germany and abroad will be presenting their latest photographic and imaging projects, exhibitions and degree projects. It is being held in close cooperation with the German Society for Photography (DGPh), which will contribute a number of trade-specific presentations. By combining events for and staged by imaging professionals, photokina 2006 will offer established photographers and up-and-coming talents the unique opportunity to share creative ideas, make new contacts and strike up new business partnerships. The concept has been especially well received by the new talents, and a particularly large number of applications have to date been received for "Academy meets photokina". This section of the fair is already fully booked.

New: Lifestyle media at photokina
Everyone's talking about how media are converging, but in practice there's only a vague understanding of what that means. Taking a holistic approach, the World of Imaging will be staging a new kind of presentation to show how the convergence of information, communication and entertainment technology might look in the home. Meanwhile, "Lifestyle media at photokina" in Hall 9 places the focus squarely on the practical use and the hands-on experience of complete system solutions and applications. The options for an expert and efficient implementation of these solutions will also be presented. Additional information will be provided through presentations for professional users, dealers and end-consumers.

MediaVision Cologne
On September 28 and 29, photokina will for the second time be putting the spotlight on high-resolution cinema, television and AV production. The participants of the MediaVision Cologne symposium at the Congress Center North will address and discuss issues related to HD in an event titled "Digital Cinema -- Multimedia Applications for Cinemas, Events, Home Cinemas and Mobile TV". Following its successful debut in 2004, this scientific symposium is returning in 2006. The symposium will be organized in close cooperation with two long-standing partners: the Broadcasting Institute (IRT) and the Television and Film Technology Association (FKTG).

"The Wider View" -- focusing on birds of prey
In 2004 they were an irresistible attraction: the birds of prey of the Hellenthal wildlife park. The event titled the "Wider View" will be held again this year, and the feathered aerial artists will be circling above the Piazza, an attractive new outdoor area along the Trade Fair Boulevard. Here, visitors will be able to watch the birds through highly sensitive binoculars from leading optics manufacturers, and to capture them on digital cameras connected to long-distance optical equipment. Such "digiscoping" is becoming increasingly popular, and it is sure to be a great attraction at photokina.

Young Imaging Days
Visitors interested in the latest photography trends by young artists will find what they are looking for at the Young Imaging Days. The event, organized by the Children's and Young People's Film Center (KJF), will feature workshops for the next generation of photographers. From the basics to low-tech ideas and high-tech experiments, the participants will receive a wealth of ideas on how to approach photography and imaging in a creative way. As in past years, the highlight of the Young Imaging Days will be the presentation of the German Young Photographer Prize on the last day of the fair.

New: Fotocommunity activity stage
Fotocommunity -- Europe's largest online platform for amateur photographers with over 280,000 registered members and a database of over two million photos -- will be staging a diverse program of events for ambitious amateurs in Hall 6. Here, visitors will be able to view the database at Internet terminals and to add their own photos. Various interesting presentations will offer a wealth of insider information, and a B2B area will give participants the chance to hold business discussions.

"Princess for one day"
Images of the greatest stars of the rock and pop music scenes have been captured through his lens: At photokina 2006, the famous photographer Guido Karp will once again offer penetrating insights into the tools of his art. And ambitious amateur photographers will have the chance to learn how to create professional-quality portraits using simple equipment. Female visitors of all ages can look forward to a special treat: On every day of the fair, top stylist Ulrich Remus will be transforming several visitors into "Princesses for one day", who will then be photographed in a masterful fashion by Karp himself.

Photography show at the exhibition center

Besides providing in-depth information and public events, photokina thrills visitors with fascinating photography shows by famous artists and talented amateurs. For example, the best pictures of the German newspaper reader photography competition "Blende" will be exhibited in the Entrance North area. The competition is a cooperative project organized by several daily newspapers and Prophoto GmbH. Amateur photographers submitted around 60,000 pictures in the categories "Male/Female", "Show Your True Colors", "Farewell", "Village Views/Cityscapes" and the big wildlife photography theme "From A for Aardvark to Z for Zebra".

Two of the shows will address political topics of a historical nature: "Verstrahlt - Verdrängt - Vergessen" (Irradiated - Ignored - Forgotten) is an emotional exhibition of pictures showing people in radioactively contaminated areas of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Many of the photos were shot in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, which became infamous 20 years ago following a major disaster. In his black-and-white photographs, Robert Knoth captured the suffering of the people living near the nuclear plant, as well as their daily life under difficult conditions and their attempts to find some happiness in their lives. The picture captions are taken from interviews with the people affected, conducted by the journalist Antoinette de Jong.

A photo installation titled "60 Years of Peace" will feature large-format pictures of post-war Cologne, focusing on the major challenge of rebuilding the city. Viewers will gain a moving insight into the unimaginable destruction of the city at the end of World War II, and an understanding of why Cologne has developed its own architectural style. The pictures come from the archive of the Hugo Schmölz photo studios, and were taken with a wooden camera on glass panels measuring 18x24 cm. A special exhibition of works by the Indian star photographer Farrokh Chothia at photokina 2006 is being supported by the magazine Photographie and Koelnmesse. On show will be portraits and photos of fashion, dancing and nudes, featuring some of the most beautiful women in India. The 40 striking, large-format prints have never been exhibited in Europe before. They offer a new view of modern India and take the viewer on an impressive visual voyage.

Information on all of the other photographic exhibitions and the supporting program of the World of Imaging (updated daily) is available at www.photokina-cologne.com

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