Preview of the annual “Art of Photography” show coming to the Gaslamp in August from the San Diego Examiner art writer Max Donner, with a chunk of interview with organizer Steven Churchill.

The Art of Photography Show recently announced its plans for the 2009 event in San Diego. This year’s show will open August 29 and present the best of 16,000 entries from 57 countries. The thirty percent increase in entries over last year marks the achievement of world class status for this international event.

Art of Photography Show Producer Steven Churchill shared a preview of the event in a brief Q&A with Examiner.com:

Q: How is the San Diego show distinctive of photography shows in other areas?

A: A key element about the Art of Photography Show, something which distinguishes it from other photography exhibitions, is that our judges are all highly acclaimed museum directors and curators. Here is a list of our judges to date:

• Charlotte Cotton, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Curator and Director of Photography
• Carol McCusker, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts
• Neal Benezra, Director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Tim Wride, Director (at that time) of Photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Hugh Davies, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
• Arthur Ollman, Director (at that time) of the Museum of Photographic Arts

Another distinction is that this show is a very large project, truly international in scope. This year we received 16,000 images from 57 countries. One other distinction we like to mention is that this exhibit is the opposite of a “vanity show” — we provide a plethora of tangible benefits to the exhibiting artists, including the fact that we sell a high percentage of the art in the exhibit.

Read the rest of this article here: San Diego Fine Arts Examiner | Steven Churchill | Art of Photography Show | San Diego.