You look at it and you just feel better': this year's Photoville festival highlights

"I was so delighted it got selected, he enthusiastically told me. It's the most whimsical thing we have, it's about apples and how there are no two apples in nature that are the same. With exhibitions celebrating everything from cumbia music to the many ways people play soccer globally and even a fox sanctuary, Photoville may be more whimsical than ever, but the show also delivers a satisfying range of the hard-hitting reportage and documentation that have made prior years so vital."

"Collections this year run the gamut from turbocharged wildfires in the western US to how racial inequalities affect water access to the ways in which ICE has brought chaos to many American communities. In light of efforts by the Trump administration to erase the reality of trans people, Photoville offers two exhibits that attest to the enduring nature of trans lives. Special Girls, which draws from the mammoth archive of photographer Remsen Wolff, shows off 1990s-era photos of trans women, as well as gender nonconforming individuals such as crossdressers and drag queens."

"The world has changed dramatically from then to today, said Barzilay, this is a celebration of the fact that this is not a new idea. The photos themselves are a feast for the eyes, with their beautifully captured range of colors, textures, and posings of the human body. Archivist Jochem Brouwer, who was an associate of Wolff's during his lifetime made a promise to the photographer that he would make his body of work known to the world."

The 15th Photoville festival features more than 90 photographic portfolio exhibits from around the world, including Old Apples, which centers on bizarre, cosmic-looking apples and the idea that no two apples are the same. The festival also includes whimsical themes such as cumbia music, global soccer play, and a fox sanctuary, alongside hard-hitting documentation. Collections range from turbocharged wildfires in the western United States to how racial inequalities shape water access and the chaos caused by ICE in American communities. In response to efforts to erase the reality of trans people, two exhibits affirm enduring trans lives, including Special Girls, featuring 1990s photos of trans women and gender nonconforming individuals from Remsen Wolff’s archive.

Read at www.theguardian.com