After 24 years Focus on Imaging comes to an end !! –

The writing was on the wall and not totally unexpected

I can be the first to say this was on the cards anyway due to the lack of investment and forward motion of the event. It is a true shame but, lets hope the industry can create its own voice and move forward.

 

It is always sad to see things move and pass on, but lets hope that is this more to give room to a better event that does show the Photography community for what it is and can be. I do feel that photography in the UK has a bit of a stigma and a bit of an image problem if you excuse the pun.  Stuffy shows like FOI didnt really help counter this problem. The 2013’s show was not a bad show, but Mary was not leading forward and could of done more to push forward. Worrying less about the type of plants on the stands and bringing in more high profile stands like Sony. More attention should of been given to the education aspect of the event.  In my eyes, Focus was treated like a big shop, not a show to showcase and help the industry.  Sad to say, but it was true.

Even though, I did always look forward to Focus each year, it was nice to meet up and see other people in the industry. Look at new stuff and see people. It was more a social event for us and not really much more.  The costs for putting on the show are very high, and the returns are hard to account.  But, to do some networking…  that was great, but done at the Hilton rather than the event.

I guess we should all be booking our flights for Photokina and the other events to continue moving forward.