Opening night for The AIPAD Photography Show at the Park Avenue Armory amassed a throng of collectors, art dealers, photographers, and members of the press – among them, Bill Cunningham of the New York Times (bottom row right). The newly renovated Wade Thompson Drill Hall has never offered a better home for North America's premier photo show; everything about the setting, from the gorgeous paint colors, gallery signage, and lighting to the even flooring, put the spotlight on photography. Here’s a preview:

Left: Philip-Lorca DiCorcia (center) at David Zwirner, NYC. Right: Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, NYC.

Left: HackelBury Fine Art, Ltd., London Right: Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta.

Left: One of two prints of Ansel Adams's Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, ca. 1941. Right: Picture Photo Space, Osaka.

Left: Yancey Richardson Gallery, NYC. Right: photographer Bill Cunningham (center) on the prowl for great looks.

The Photography Show runs through Sunday, April 1 at The Park Avenue Armory. 643 Park Avenue at 67^th Street, NY, NY. Seventy-five of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will present a wide range of museum-quality work, including contemporary, modern, and 19th-century photographs, as well as photo-based art, video, and new media. Information.

This year, AIPAD’s panel discussions will be held on Saturday, March 31, at Hunter College, the Hunter West Building, located at Lexington Avenue, corner of East 68^th Street, room HW615. Tickets, $10 for each panel, are available only at The Park Avenue Armory during show hours.

10 a.m. | A Conversation with Rineke Dijkstra This interview with the internationally recognized Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra will offer a rare opportunity to hear about her inspirations and thoughts before her upcoming retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in June 2012. The interview will be conducted by Jennifer Blessing, curator of photography, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

12 p.m. | Curator's Choice: Emerging Artists in Photography

Two major exhibitions in New York City during the run of The AIPAD Photography Show New York are of note -- the Whitney Biennial 2012 at the Whitney Museum and Perspectives 2012 at the International Center for Photography. Panelists will include: Sarah Meister, curator, Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art; Christopher Phillips, curator, International Center for Photography, New York; and Joshua Chuang, assistant curator, photography, Yale University Art Gallery. The moderator will be Lindsay Pollock, editor in chief, Art in America.

2 p.m. | How to Collect Photographs: What Collectors Need to Know Now

Speakers will include Kenneth Montague, director, Wedge Curatorial Projects, Toronto, and Joseph Baio, collector, New York. The moderator will be Steven Kasher,StevenKasher Gallery.

4 p.m. | A Celebration of Francesca Woodman

Panelists will include Julia Bryan-Wilson, associate professor, art history, University of California, Berkeley; Sloan Keck, a designer and friend of Francesca Woodman; and Elisabeth Subrin, artist, and assistant professor, film and media arts, Temple University, Philadelphia. The moderator will be Robert Klein, Robert Klein Gallery.

6 p.m. | Italian Contemporary Photography

During the run of The AIPAD Photography Show New York, an important exhibition will be on view at Hunter Art Gallery, New York. Peripheral Visions: Italian Photography, 1950s – Present. The moderator will be Sandra Phillips, Senior Curator of Photography at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Speakers will include Maria AntonellaPelizzari, exhibition curator and Professor in the History of Photography at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY; Yancey Richardson, Yancey Richardson Gallery; Julie Saul, Julie Saul Gallery; and Olivo Barbieri, artist.

This just in from Roger Archibald, Photo Editor, Society of Environmental Journalists:
As part of their 10th Annual Awards Competition, the Society of Environmental Journalists ( http://www.sej.org ) has added photojournalism to the existing awards categories. Since the category has just been created, it has not attracted a great deal of attention in the photojournalism community, and as a result, has received only a modest number of entries, even though it carries a possible first prize of $500. The entry deadline is set for next Monday, April 2nd. Information. Entry form.

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