The first Risør International Photo Festival was a huge artistic success. During the festival, more than 22,000 entries were registered in the 20 participating local galleries. Roger Ballen, the world famous and controversial photographer from South Africa held a lecture at the Peace House, showing his work and explaining his approach to photography. His exhibition at gallery Solsiden 10 was among the most visited and also the most discussed. Ballen said, ”I am an artist and my photographs are quite personal. I like the images to create discussion and to create turmoil and confusion.”

There were very many positive reviews of the festival in the local, national, and international news media. Jim Casper, editor of Lens Culture in Paris, said, ”The Fotofestival in Risør was impressive in all aspects. The artistic level was very high, and the many of the galleries spaces were perfect for exhibiting fine art photography. And the festival itself was very well organized.” Casper said he was thrilled to take the trip from Paris to Risør to experience fine art photography — especially Norwegian photography which is little known outside of Norway.

Casper especially liked the exhibitions of Øyvind Hjelmen, Catherine Cameron, Herdis Maria Siegert, Jamie Parslow, and Liv Øvland.

There were exhibitions in 20 galleries, and by far the largest exhibition was in the Industry Hall of Holmen where Nordic School of Photography exhibited ”Verdens Tavler”. Economically the festival will be in balance or with a small deficit, all work is done with volunteer effort.

“We have tried to keep costs as low as possible, but it costs a lot to transport so many exhibitons to Risør. Other major expenses are otherwise accommodation and food for the artists. The festival has had a positive economic impact for Risør,”says the chairman Per Lunden.

“Now we have shown that we can achieve a professional implementation of a photo festival with great ambition and high artistic level. It can provide a basis for putting in place a larger budget for the next fotofestival in 2011,” says Per Lunden.

Ellen-K Syverstad, Tore Holter and Rolf M. Aagaard are on the artistic board for Risør International Photo Festival.