Last night the organizers of the first New York Photo Festival, which opened today, hosted a party to welcome participants and the media to Dumbo, Brooklyn's historic industrial area. The assembled crowd filled powerHouse Arena to eat, drink and catch up on industry business.

Left: powerHouse Arena in action. Right, front: Holly Stuart Hughes of Photo District News and photographer Gillian Laub; center, Stephen Frailey, chair of BFA Photography program at School of Visual Arts.

The theme of this four-day event, which the organizers have billed as the first international photography festival in the U.S., is The Future of Photography. Through exhibitions, artist talks, panel discussions, workshops, book signings and demonstrations, the festival celebrates New York as the nexus of contemporary photography.

Center and right: Debra Klomp and Darren Ching of Dumbo's Klompching Gallery. Right: Penelope Umbrico's installation at The Ubiquitous Image exhibition curated by Lesley A. Martin, publisher of Aperture Books. All photographs: Peggy Roalf.

Festival co-founders, Daniel Power, Founder and Publisher of powerHouse Books and Frank Evers, Managing Director of VII Photo Agency, saw their neighborhood as a natural for a world class photography event. Daniel says, "When we first moved here, I was blown away by the space, and by the tremendous scale of human achievement here. I though, 'How fitting this place would be as an American Arles, a New York Perpignan, a place where people from all industries of photographer can gather, connect and brainstorm.'"

Four main exhibitions curated by Martin Parr, Lesley A. Martin, Tim Barber and Kathy Ryan are joined by satellite shows, all located in spaces within Dumbo's waterfront area. Each day, talks and panel discussions are scheduled, starting at 11:00 am, either at St. Ann's Warehouse or at powerHouse Arena. Evenings include special presentations and panel discussions on diverse subjects including curating, collecting and publishing photographs. And more parties.

In addition, VII Photo, which celebrates its seventh anniversary this year, will host its annual seminars in Dumbo this weekend. For information and to order tickets, please visit the VII Photo Agency website.

The New York Photo Festival runs from Thursday May 14 through Sunday May 18. For information, a calendar of events and to order tickets online, please visit the website