Pingyao international photography festival (2001-2020)

Abstract

Founded in 2001, Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIPF) has established a platform for photographic shows and academic exchanges. It has been making efforts to promote photography as media of expression, communication, and a form of art. This article seeks to portrait the festival through featured exhibitions and activities, including the group return of the Chinese conceptual photography, the introduction of photographic curatorial notions, the balance between professional and amateur photography, as well as the exchanges among photographic students and educators through exhibitions and forums. It also attempts to propose the main challenges PIPF confronts through the difficulties they encountered in the 2020 version, which happened without the personal presence of the international community because of the Covid-19 epidemic.