#Photokina has come and gone

A friend who is very active on #Commons went to Photokina this weekend. He came back realising that a show like Photokina is an opportunity for the Wikimedia Foundation to promote its cause. Some of the best amateur photographers come to shows like this, they shoot many pictures and what we can do is give them recognition.

Photokina 1954

Part of the show is bringing communities together. In what we are looking for, we are interested in the Photoshop enthusiasts, the people who capture critters witPeter'sh their camera, the landscape photographers even many holiday snappers can be of interest because there are so many subjects we do not have a picture off.

Photokina 2010

 These are Peter's impressions of the show:

Photokina is the largest trade fair on photography in the world. It takes place in the halls of koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Even from a distance major brands and their commercials can be seen on large displays and walls.
The free of cost area of Photokina has several galleries displaying photographs and their projects. It is a cross section of what photography can be and what photographers make out of it.

Besides this free hall, the photokina features six other two-level halls with exhibitors from all over the world. Major brands like Canon, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, etc. have huge stands presenting the future of photography. Their newest solutions for filming, photographing, printing, displaying. For producers of system cameras models were engaged, or settings were built to try their equipment. 3D filming and display solutions, more sophisticated DSLR cameras and printing were major subjects of photokina.

The exhibitors split in two groups: the professionals and the communities.
The professionals focus on business solutions and are not that interesting for the common visitor. The communities however focus on people who take part in photography projects, online communities etc.

Thanks,
     GerardM