Noorderlicht is a multifaceted and international podium for documentary photography that has embraces both traditional and non-traditional modes photographic story telling.
This year, the Photofestival is looking for work the explores the idea of the contemporary country side in non-Western areas.
Theme: non-Western rural areas
For its upcoming photo festival Noorderlicht wants to research the contemporary changes in non-Western rural areas. UN reports sketch a sombre picture of rural life in the non-Western world. The prospects for its inhabitants are even worse than those of the slum-dwellers in the cities. Poverty is rampant and there is a lack of schooling. Social mobility is limited to an exodus of the young to the city, so that the countryside is aging. It is expected that by 2030 only 40% of the world's population will be living in rural areas. In that year 80% of the urban population will be outside of the West, which means that particularly what are now smaller cities in Asia and Africa can expect rapid expansion by natural growth.
submissions for the 2010 Noorderlicht Photofestival are open until April 12th.
The festival is held from 5 September through 31 October (opening Sept 4th) with the Fries Museum as it's central location.
