International Photography Festival to open in September

The 16th International Photography Festival (PIP) is to open on September 19 in ancient city of Pingyao, central China's Shanxi province, according to a press conference held on Thursday.

This year's festival, entitled "Mind of the world, Sentiment for the homeland", will last for one week. It will be classified into an invitation exhibition and a sign-up exhibition, covering subjects ranging from social life, natural landscapes to concept art.

So far more than 1,600 photographers have signed up to take part in 237 exhibitions. There will 33 exhibitions of individual works from international photographers and photo agencies from 21 countries and regions.

The festival will also invite the world-famous documentary photographer JP Laffont to take part in the event.

This year, PIP has also invited 10 renowned curators to lead 10 groups in order to complete the exhibitions, representing the academic theme. Excellent young curators will be recruited, with the stand out given the chance to work alongside some of the top curators to complete the project.

In addition, the most popular part of this festival is the academic speeches given by professors from famous institutes at home and abroad. This year, their speeches and classes will be videoed and put online and on Wechat.

Wei Mingxi, the party chief of Pingyao city, said, "We will hold the 2016 International Photography Festival, supportied by the friendship, enthusiasm and passion."